Learn how to make sense out of individual verbs and also how an individual verb relates to the verbal system in general
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Beatriz: Buenos días, me llamo Beatriz. |
| Joseph: Joseph here. The Present Tense and Timeless Truth. Buen día, how is everything going? My name is Joseph and once again I’m graced with the presence of Beatriz. |
| Beatriz: Hola Joseph, ¿cómo te va? |
| Joseph: Todo tranquilo, gracias. It’s really great to be back here today for our third edition of the Verb Conjugation Series. |
| Beatriz: Igualmente, Joseph. I’m really looking forward to starting these conjugations. |
| Joseph: Yeah ,me too. Since for our first two Lessons we basically introduced ourselves to the study of verbs. Today we are going to have our first crack of trying out some of these conjugations. |
| Beatriz: This is so exciting. |
| Joseph: It really is. This is going to be a big step for many of our students and an important one at that. |
| Beatriz: That’s right. It actually starts here. |
| Joseph: Well, we have a lot to cover today. So hold on tight. |
| Beatriz: And join us for this Lesson of SpanishPod101.com. |
Lesson focus |
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| Joseph: So Beatriz, what are we going to look at today? |
| Beatriz: We’ll start off by learning how to form verbs in the present tense of the indicative mode. |
| Joseph: Right. And is there only one usage for this tense or there a number of different usages? |
| Beatriz: There are many usages. |
| Joseph: Okay, so which usage are we going to focus on? |
| Beatriz: Nos enfocaremos en el tiempo presente cuando expresa una verdad atemporal. |
| Joseph: So we’ll focus on the present tense when it expresses timeless truth. Sounds very interesting. First, we’ll look at how verbs in the present tense can be used to express a truth that is not bound by time. And then we’ll look at how to form verbs in the present tense for the first, second and third conjugation. |
| Beatriz: Oye, ¿y el extra audio, Joseph? ¡Díles! |
| Joseph: Ahh. Right, right. Also, don’t forget to check out the premium audio for this Lesson where you get a review track to remember the vocabs and phrases, a paradigm track where we walk you through the paradigms and a quiz track where you can test yourself to see how much you’ve retained. Alright, should we start here, Bea? |
| Beatriz: Okay. ¡Empecemos! |
| Joseph: Now Beatriz, we’ve said that to we are going to be looking at the present tense of the indicative mode. |
| Beatriz: That’s right. |
| Joseph: So let me ask you, if I say “un triángulo tiene tres lados”, “a triangle has three sides.” What’s the tense of the verb here? |
| Beatriz: It’s in the present tense. |
| Joseph: Right and if I say “estudio la geometría”, “I study geometry.” What’s the tense of the verb now? |
| Beatriz: It’s still in the present tense. |
| Joseph: Okay. But there seems to be something different about these two examples. Are they both in the indicative mode or is one in the subjunctive mode? |
| Beatriz: No, they are both in the indicative mode. |
| Joseph: So if they are both in the indicative mode and they are both in the present tense it’s got to be something else. In the first example “un triángulo tiene tres lados”, “a triangle has three sides”, could this be true today and false tomorrow? |
| Beatriz: No, no, no. Para nada. |
| Joseph: Okay. And what about the second example “estudio la geometría”, “I study geometry”? Could this one be true today and false tomorrow? |
| Beatriz: Sure. You could stop study in it, like for example, if today is the last day of your course. |
| Joseph: Right. So if the verbs these sentences are in the same mode and the same tense, what’s different about them? |
| Beatriz: El uso. |
| Joseph: Right, the usage is different. So for today, let’s focus on the usage of the first example. “Un triángulo tiene tres lados”, “a triangle has three sides.” We said that this cannot be true one day and false the next, right? |
| Beatriz: Right, Joseph. |
| Joseph: So the truth of this sentence is not bound by time? |
| Beatriz: No, it’s not. |
| Joseph: Nice. And it’s in the present tense of the indicative mode, right? |
| Beatriz: It is. |
| Joseph: So can we say that we use this tense in mode to express a timeless truth? |
| Beatriz: Yes, Joseph. You know there is a good example of this Beginner Lesson 6. “Un cajón es un tambor”, “a ‘cajón’ is a drum.” |
| Joseph: Great example. So can a “cajón” be a drum one day and something else on the next? |
| Beatriz: Nope. |
| Joseph: Right, that would be absurd. And because of this we see that the verb “es” has been conjugated to the present tense of the indicative mode. It’s from the verb “ser”. You know there was another example in Beginner Lesson 13 where Profesor Puga says “Mariana, ¿Cuántos son cuatro más tres?”. “Mariana, how much is four plus three?” And Mariana response “Cuatro más tres son siete”, “four plus three equals seven.” |
| Beatriz: Claro, es otro ejemplo del tiempo presente cuando expresa una verdad atemporal. |
| Joseph: Right, right. It expresses the truth that is not bind up by time. Now examples in Math are particularly useful to understand this concept. |
| Beatriz: Right. Another example of this usage comes up in Beginner Lesson 14 where Professor Puga says “Y Eduardo, ¿cuántos son veinte menos siete?”. |
| Joseph: “And Eduardo how much is twenty minus seven?” Right. So again we can see that the present tense is used to express a atemporal truths or timeless truths or simply truths that are not bound up by time. |
| Beatriz: Now let’s look at the formation of some verbs. |
| Joseph: Sounds great. Let’s begin with an example. |
| Beatriz: Alright. |
| Joseph: If I say “Jorge ama a Susana”, “Jorge loves Susana”. Does the action of the verb seem real or merely possible? |
| Beatriz: It seems real. |
| Joseph: And if a verb expresses an action as real, do we say that it’s in the indicative mode or the subjunctive mode? |
| Beatriz: We call this the indicative mode. |
| Joseph: So we know that the verb “ama” is in the indicative mode. Now, in the same example “Jorge ama a Susana”, “Jorge loves Susana.” Are we saying that he used to love her, that he loves her now or that he will love her tomorrow? |
| Beatriz: We are saying that he loves her now. |
| Joseph: Exactly. Does this tells us that the action of the verb is in the past, present or future tense? |
| Beatriz: It’s in the present tense. |
| Joseph: Fantastic. So today we are going to focus on verbs in the present tense of the indicative mode. That is verbs that express actions as real which takes place right now. |
| Beatriz: So Joseph, how many types of verbs did we say there are in the Spanish language? |
| Joseph: We said there are many types but that we can group the regular verbs into three basic categories or conjugations. |
| Beatriz: And what are these three conjugations? |
| Joseph: There are those that end in “ar”, the first conjugation; “er”, the second conjugation; and “ir”, the third conjugation. |
| Beatriz: So then which conjugation does the verb “amar” belong to? |
| Joseph: Well, because it ends in “-ar”, “ar”, it would belong to the first conjugation. |
| Beatriz: Right. And what about the verb “comer”, “to eat”? |
| Joseph: This one has got an “er” ending, I would say it belongs to the second conjugation. |
| Beatriz: And now, how about “partir”, “to leave”? |
| Joseph: Well, with the “ir” ending I would have to say it belongs to the third conjugation. |
| Beatriz: ¡Excelente! Usemos estos verbos como modelos. |
| Joseph: Good idea. We use these verbs as models as we learn how to form the endings. Now before we jump in here let’s remember that when we see a verb with either an “ar”, “er” or “ir” endings we are looking at it in the infinitive form. This is key because it tells us which conjugation it belongs to and this is also how you would find it in a dictionary and on a vocabulary list. So let’s start by figuring out what the stem of the verb “amar” is. Bea, could you tell us? |
| Beatriz: Of course. The stem is “am” spelt “a-m”. |
| Joseph: So if the verb is “amar” and the stem is “am”, the ending is going to be... |
| Beatriz: “Ar”, spell “ar”. |
| Joseph: Right. So because this ending is “-ar” we can say that belongs to the first conjugation or that it’s an “ar” verb. |
| Beatriz: Así es. |
| Joseph: Now Bea, if we want to say “I love”, how do we change the ending? |
| Beatriz: We just need to remove the ending from the infinitive end “-ar” and add “-o”. From “amar”, “amo”, “I love.” |
| Joseph: And if we want to say “you love”, where we are just addressing one single person informally. |
| Beatriz: Here we would just remove the ending from the infinitive form and add “as”. From “amar”, “amas”, “you love.” |
| Joseph: Now if you want to say “he loves”, how would we do it? |
| Beatriz: This time we would drop the infinitive ending and just add “a”. From “amar”, “ama”, “he loves.” |
| Joseph: Nice. And what about if we want to say “she loves”? |
| Beatriz: It could also be “ama”. |
| Joseph: Then how would we know that it’s referring to she and not to he? |
| Beatriz: Well, if wasn’t explicit in the context we would add the personal pronoun “ella” in saying “ella ama”. |
| Joseph: So the personal pronoun are not required in Spanish? |
| Beatriz: No Joseph, they are not. |
| Joseph: Then when do we use them? |
| Beatriz: Only when the statement would otherwise be ambiguous or if we want to add emphasis to the subject. |
| Joseph: Got you. So what about if you want to say “you love” and we’re addressing one person but this time formally? |
| Beatriz: It’s the same as the last. We would just say “ama” or with the personal pronoun “usted ama”. |
| Joseph: Well, this is great. Now that we have covered the first, second and third person singular of the first conjugation. So if we want to say “we love”? |
| Beatriz: Then we would use the ending “amos” spell “a-m-o-s”. From “amar”, “amamos”, “we love.” |
| Joseph: And if we are addressing a group of people informally, how would you say “you all love”? |
| Beatriz: We would add the ending “áis” spell “á” with an accent “is”. From “amar”, “amáis”, “you all love.” |
| Joseph: And what about “they love”? |
| Beatriz: Yes, like we saw in the third person singular, the verb form is the same when we are talking about they, the man or the masculine things , they, the woman or the feminine things, or you all in the formal sense. |
| Joseph: And what’s the ending? |
| Beatriz: It’s just “an” spell “a-n”. From “amar”, “aman”, “they love” or “you all love.” |
| Joseph: Okay, let’s move on to the verb “comer”. Beatriz can you help us identify the stem? |
| Beatriz: The stem is “com”. |
| Joseph: Okay. And if the stem is “com” then the ending would be... |
| Beatriz: “Er”, spell “e-r”. |
| Joseph: So this is an “er” verb which means that the vowel “e” going to take the place of the vowel “a” as we saw in the first conjugation. So Beatriz, how would we say “I eat”? |
| Beatriz: “Yo como”. |
| Joseph: And to form this we would remove that “er” ending from the infinitive form and add an “o” just like we did with the verb “amar”. From “comer”, “como”, “I eat.” And Beatriz if we want to say “you eat” addressing one person informally? |
| Beatriz: “Comes”. |
| Joseph: And this time we are just removing the infinitive ending “er” and we are adding the “es” instead of that “as” which we saw in that first conjugation. So now from “comer”, “comes”, “you eat.” |
| Beatriz: That’s right. |
| Joseph: Okay. And we know that we use the same verb form to say “he eats”, “she eats” or “you eat” when we are speaking to someone formally, so how would we do this? |
| Beatriz: We would remove the “er” ending from the infinitive form and simply add an “e”. From “comer”, “come”, “he eats”, “she eats” or “you eat.” |
| Joseph: And now that we have covered the first, second and third person singular for the second conjugation or for a regular “er” verb. Now let’s move on to the plural. How would say “we eat”? |
| Beatriz: Well, remember when we did this with an “ar” verb? |
| Joseph: Yeah removed the “ar” ending from the infinitive and then we added “amos” to get “amamos”, “we love.” |
| Beatriz: Well, because this is an “er” verb we are going to remove the infinitive ending and add “emos”. From “comer”, “comemos”, “we eat.” |
| Joseph: And if we are addressing a group of people informally, how would we say “we all eat”? |
| Beatriz: “Vosotros coméis”. |
| Joseph: Right, right. And this time we’ve dropped the infinitive ending which we are doing for all of these verbs and then we added “-éis” spelled “e” with an accent and “is”. From “comer”, “coméis”, “you all eat.” So we know that the verb form for the third person is the same whether we are talking about they, the man, or the masculine things or they, the woman or the feminine things, or you all in a formal sentence, so how do we form this verb, Bea? |
| Beatriz: We’ll drop the “er” ending from the infinitive and add the ending “en” spelled “en”. From “comer”, “comen”, “they eat” or “you all eat.” |
| Joseph: Now let’s look at the verb “partir” which belongs to the third conjugation. So to get us started what can we say the stem for this verb is? |
| Beatriz: “Part”. |
| Joseph: Right. And if the stem is “part” that means the ending in the infinitive is... |
| Beatriz: “Ir”, spelled “i-r”. |
| Joseph: So can we expect to see the same changes in the vowel of the ending as we saw in the “ar” and “er” verbs? |
| Beatriz: Well, you will think so but that’s not really the case. |
| Joseph: No? |
| Beatriz: Regular verbs of the third conjugation are formed a lot like verbs of the second conjugation. |
| Joseph: So in other words “ir” verbs are formed a lot like “er” verbs? |
| Beatriz: Right. They only different in two places. |
| Joseph: And where are those places? |
| Beatriz: In the first and second person plural. |
| Joseph: Okay. Let’s run through the conjugation and see how this happens. So how would I say “I leave”? |
| Beatriz: “Parto”. |
| Joseph: So we’ve removed the “ir” ending from the infinitive and added an “o”. |
| Beatriz: Right, from “partir”, “parto”, “I leave.” |
| Joseph: And to say “you leave” addressing just one person informally? |
| Beatriz: “Partes”. |
| Joseph: Ahh, so it does look an “er” verb. Here we’ve removed the “ir” ending from the infinitive which we always do with these verbs and added “es”. |
| Beatriz: Right, Joseph. From “partir”, “partes”, “you leave.” |
| Joseph: And to say “he leaves”, “she leaves” or “you leave” when we are addressing someone formally? |
| Beatriz: “Parte”. |
| Joseph: So again, this formation so far is identical to that of regular “er” verbs, in the sense that we’ve removed the infinitive ending and added an “e”. |
| Beatriz: From “partir”, “parte”. |
| Joseph: So that’s the first second and third person singular and we haven’t seen anything from the “er” verb yet. Bea, how do we say “we leave”? |
| Beatriz: We will remove the infinitive ending and add “-imos”, spelled “i-m-o-s”. |
| Joseph: So from “partir” to “partimos”, “we leave.” So I guess I spoke too soon? Here we see that the “-imos” ending has the “i” vowel in it which reminds us that it’s an “ir” verb. This we didn’t see with the “er” verb “comer”. So what about if we want to say “you all leave” If we are addressing a group of people informally? |
| Beatriz: This one too is different from the “er” verb. |
| Joseph: Alright, let’s see how. |
| Beatriz: Here we drop the infinitive ending and add “-ís”, spelled “i” with an accent “s”. |
| Joseph: So from “partir” to “partís”, “you all leave.” And again this ending is proper to regular “ir” verbs. We didn’t see this one in the conjugation of an “er” verb. |
| Beatriz: No, we didn’t. |
| Joseph: So there is just one more form, Bea. How would we say “they leave” whether we are talking about the men, women, masculine things, feminine things or addressing a group of people formally? |
| Beatriz: We would say “parten”, adding the “en” ending to the stem. |
| Joseph: Ahh. So from “partir” to “parten”. Now this form is identical to that of the “er” verb conjugation. |
| Beatriz: Right. So again the only difference is with the conjugation of “er” and “ir” verbs occur in the first and second person plural. |
Outro |
| Joseph: Well, this has been a really great Lesson. I know that we’ve covered a lot but we’ve taken such a big step in conjugating one verb from each conjugation. |
| Beatriz: I think we have made some real progress. |
| Joseph: Me too. So be sure to check out the premium audio for this Lesson, where you will get the review track to reinforce the vocabulary, the paradigms to make sure you remember the conjugations we’ve covered here and the quiz to test your understanding of the grammar related to verbs. Thanks for joining us and we will see you soon. |
| Beatriz: Gracias por acompañarnos y ya nos vemos muy pronto. |
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