Are you learning Spanish but are you having a difficult time understanding how to conjugate verbs into the present indicative? Don’t worry! It’s much easier than you think once you understand the process. We can think of present tense indicative verb conjugations in Spanish as endings. All we do is change the ending of the infinitive verb, and replace that ending with the the one designated to the appropriate pronouns.
Let’s go over some examples.
“Hablar” is an infinitive verb in Spanish meaning “to speak” or “to talk”, and it ends in ar. We can match this verb’s conjugations, or “endings” with the appropriate pronouns. Examples are provided below.
Yo hablo (the ar changes to an o).
Tú hablas (the ar changes to an as).
Él habla (the ar changes to an a).
Ella habla (the ar changes to an a).
Usted habla (the ar changes to an a).
Nosotros hablamos (the ar changes to amos).
Nosotras hablamos (the ar changes to amos).
Ellos hablan (the ar changes to an).
Ellas hablan (the ar changes to an).
and
Ustedes hablan (the ar changes to an).
See? Easy-peasy! This verb is easier to conjugate because it is not a stem-changing verb. Stem-changing verbs have vowel placements that differ from non-stem-changing verbs.
The following verb, “venir” is a stem-changing verb when it is conjugated in the present indicative.
As we can see with the go, “yo vengo” has irregularities that change its spelling, and so do tú vienes, él viene, ella viene, usted viene, nosotros venimos, nosotras venimos, ellos vienen, ellas vienen, and ustedes vienen. Venir is a stem-changing verb, so its conjugations in the present indicative are spelled differently than non-stem-changing verbs.
There are also infinitive verbs like “tener” that end in er. Tener means “to have”, ad it is also a stem-changing verb when conjugated in the present indicative. See if you can spot the irregularities below.
Yo tengo
Tú tienes
Él tiene
Ella tiene
Usted tiene
Nosotros tenemos
Nosotras tenemos
Ellos tienen
Ellas tienen
and
Ustedes tienen
Learning how to conjugate verb can be frustrating for many learners of the Spanish language, but it is important that we learn how to conjugate so that we can decipher who is performing the action and when.
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