When a regular –er or -ir verb is conjugated, the –er or –ir of the infinitive is dropped, and the following endings are added: -o, -es, -e, emos (for –er verbs) or -imos (for -ir verbs), éis (for -er verbs) or ís (for -ir verbs), and -en.

Note the similarity with hablar: all of the consonants are the same; only the vowels differ.

Verb forms from now on will be presented without the subject pronouns. As each form has its unique vowel or vowel + consonant ending, you should regularly be able to deduce the subject from the verb form.

Remember the four possible common translations of the present tense. Bebo, for example, may translate as:

1. I drink.
2. I am drinking.
3. I do drink.
4. I will (am going to) drink. (According to the context.)

Vocabulario básico 

Verbos:

abrir- to open
aprender- to learn
asistir- to attend (false friend)
beber- to drink (cognate: imbibe)
comer- to eat
contestar- to answer
creer- to believe (cognates: credible, credo)
discutir- to argue, to discuss
enviar- to send (cognate: envoi)
escribir- to write
leer- to read (cognate: legible)
mandar- to send, to order (cognate: mandate)
recibir- to receive
subir- to go up, to climb
vender- to sell
vivir- to live

Sustantivos:

el asunto- matter, issue, affair (esp. in pl.), question
el barrio- neighborhood
la calle- street
la carta- letter, playing card
el colegio- high school (false friend)
el correo- mail
el correo electrónico- e-mail
la dirección- address, direction on compass
el estado- state
el extranjero- abroad, foreign countries
el extranjero/-a- foreigner
la guerra- war
la letra- letter of alphabet, handwriting (false friend)
la oficina de correos- post office
el sello- stamp
la tarjeta- card, greeting card (tarjeta postal- postcard)
la tienda- store
el/la vecino/-a- neighbor (cognate: vicinity)

Adjetivo:

extranjero- foreign

Preposiciones:

contra- against
durante- during

Expresiones:

al extranjero- abroad (destination)
creer que no- to think not, not to think so
creer que sí- to think so
en el extranjero- abroad (location)
por lo menos, al menos- at least

The following verbs are very high-frequency and all are irregular in the first-person singular, while ir is irregular throughout.

The verb ir often combines with the preposition a + infinitive to render future meaning (esp. near future), as in English.

The verb hacer is used to express various weather phenomena:

Note in the second example about that, like idioms with tener, those used with hacer also take nouns. Therefore, you will see a form of mucho, not muy modifying them.

Do not confuse Hace frío with Tengo frío or Hace calor with Tiene calor. The expressions with tener can only take a person (or animal) as subject:

Also do not confuse hace with “have” o “has” when translating. Although they look similar, their meaning never is the same.

Vocabulario básico 

Verbos:

desear- to desire, to wish, to want
trabajar- to work

Sustantivos:

el/la amigo/-a- friend
la estación- season
el fin de semana- weekend
la gente- people
el invierno- winter
el jardín- garden, yard
el/ la maestro/-a- teacher, master
la mentira- lie
el otoño- autumn, fall
la playa- beach
la primavera- spring
el pueblo- town, people (in a national sense)
la selva- jungle
el sur- south
el trabajo- work, written work, term paper
el verano- summer
la verdad- truth

Los meses del año (Months of the Year):

enero- January
febrero- February
marzo- March
abril- April
mayo- May
junio- June
julio- July
agosto- August
septiembre- September
octubre- October
noviembre- November
diciembre- December

Adjetivos:

junto- together
primero- first
próximo- next
simpático- nice, friendly
último- last

Adverbios:

adentro (dentro)- inside
afuera (fuera)- outside
junto- together

Expresiones:

hacer un viaje- to take a trip
la semana que viene (la semana próxima)- next week
Es verdad.- It’s true
¿No es verdad?- Isn’t it so (true)?
¿verdad?- isn’t it so (true)?
¿no?- isn’t it so (true)? (used after an affirmative statement only)

When the direct object of a verb is a human being, the marker a is placed before it. (Often the marker is not used when the direct object is an indefinite person or persons [Buscan alumnos…], but this is not a translation problem). This a is never translated. It is at times also seen before countries, cities, concepts and animals when these are personalized, that is, the speaker feels strongly about them.

At times the personal a distinguishes between the subject and direct object. In the first example below, the personal a indicates the direct object, i.e., “She is waiting for someone.” (“Whom” is the direct object in the first example, and “who” is the subject in the second.) The main point is simply not to translate the a.

When followed by el, unless part of a proper name, the personal a contracts with it to form al.

The preposition a normally precedes an indirect object, and it is often translated as “to,” depending on how the English is rendered:

In very occasional cases, when both a direct and an indirect object are spelled out (not used in pronoun form), the personal a is omitted before the direct object so that the reader can tell which is the direct object and which is the indirect, as word order does not specify that the direct object must always precede the indirect.

It is very common for adjectives in Spanish to take the place of nouns. Study the following examples.

To write el hombre viejo, el muchacho joven, or las personas ciegas would normally be considered redundant. Although you may encounter it, it is much more common to see the noun omitted and the adjective used in its place.

Vocabulario básico 

Verbos:

amar- to love
deber- to owe; ought, should*
mantener- to maintain, to keep up; to support financially**

Sustantivos:

la botánica- botany
el/la médico/-a- doctor, physician
el/la novio/-a- boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, fiancée
la patria- country, native land, homeland
la tontería- nonsense, silliness, foolishness

Adjetivos:

ciego- blind
cierto- (a) certain
joven- young
largo- long (false friend)
mismo- same, very
mudo- mute
semejante- similar, such
sordo- deaf
tal- such, such a
tonto- silly, stupid

*Deber is not a synonym of tener que, which indicates strong obligation or necessity. Although they are at times quite close in meaning, deber tends to be “softer,” indicating what one should or ought to do.

**Mantener has all of the irregularities of tener, in the present tense, as well as others to be studied later.

The indefinite article is at time omitted in Spanish when it is used in English. In these cases, or when the English sounds awkward or incorrect, merely add the indefinite article to your translation. The common cases in which Spanish omits the indefinite article are:

1. Before a profession unmodified by an adjective:

But it is used when the noun is modified:

2. Before certain adjectives:

3. In an exclamation, after Qué:

4. Because of the ambiguity between the number one (uno) and the indefinite article, the latter is often omitted when the meaning is “a” or “an”:

To insert the indefinite article un in the above sentences could imply “one car” or “one boyfriend” versus two.

Here are the conjugations of more high-frequency verbs that are irregular in the first-person singular of the present tense. You need to be able to recognize all of these forms actively.

More verbs to memorize so that you can quickly translate them:

Vocabulario básico 

Verbos:

alquilar- to rent
barrer- to sweep
pasar- to happen; to spend (time); pasar por- to pass by; pasar a- to pass into
recoger- to pick up, to collect, to gather
secar- to dry

Sustantivos:

la alcoba- bedroom
la alfombra- rug, carpet
la antigüedad- antique
el baño- bathroom
la cama- bed
la cocina- kitchen
el comedor- dining room
el/la criado/-a- maid, servant
el cuarto- room, bedroom
el dormitorio- bedroom (false friend)
la escalera- stairway, stairs
el estante- shelf
el fondo- back, rear; bottom, bed (of a river, etc.)
la habitación- room
el hogar- home
la hoja- leaf; sheet of paper
el ladrillo- brick
el lugar- place, space
la mesa- table
el mueble- piece of furniture*
el pasillo- hallway
el piso- floor; floor/story (building); apartment
el quehacer- household (domestic) chore, task
el ruido- noise
la sala- room; living room; classroom
el salón- living room, drawing room, reception, salon
el siglo- century
la silla- chair

Adjetivos:

cómodo- comfortable
descompuesto- broken
incómodo- uncomfortable
limpio- clean
lleno- full
sucio- dirty, soiled
vacío- empty (cognate: vacant)

Preposición:

desde- of, from, since

Conjunción:

pues- since, as, because, for

Expresiones:

en alguna parte- somewhere
en ninguna parte- nowhere
en todas partes- everywhere
dar un paseo- to take a walk, ride
poner la mesa- to set the table
por todos lados- everywhere

*Mueble is one piece of furniture. The plural, or collective noun, is muebles.