Presente/ Present Tense

A verb expresses an action or indicates a state or condition.

An infinitive is the form of a verb that shows no subject or number, such as comprar/ to buy, vender/ to sell, recibir/ to receive.

Verbs consist of a stem, such as compr in comprar, vend in vender, recib in recibir , and an ending, such as -ar, -er, -ir. Stems of regular verbs do not change, but stems of irregular verbs sometimes do change.

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Clasificación de los verbos/ Classification of verbs

In Spanish, verbs are classified according to the endings of their infinitive.

1. First conjugation: verbs ending in -ar
2. Second conjugation: verbs ending in -er
3. Third conjugation: verbs ending in -ir

 

Unlike English, each subject has a distinct verb ending.

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FIRST CONJUGATION:

Comprar/ to buy

yo compro/ I buy tú compras/ you buy él, ella, usted compra/ he, she, you (formal) buy(s) nosotros compramos/ we buy vosotros compráis/ you buy ellos, ustedes compran/ they, you buy

LESSONS: Business Set-up I & Bus. Set-up Ia

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SECOND AND THIRD CONJUGATIONS:

The endings for the second and third groups are identical except for the nosotros and vosotros.

Vender/ to sell	Recibir/ to receive
yo vendo tú vendes él vende nos.vendemos vos. vendéis ellos venden	yo recibo tú recibes él recibe nos. recibimos vos. recibís ellos reciben
LESSONS: Bus. Set-up II Bus. Set-up IIa	LESSONS: Bus. Set-up III Bus. Set-up IIIa

 

NOTE: In the above examples, to conjugate a verb, the ending of the infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir) is removed and an appropriate ending is added.

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Use the present tense in the following situations:

The Spanish present tense is equivalent to following 4 forms in English:

Yo firmo el contracto.

I sign the contract. I do sign the contract. I am signing the contract. I will sign the contract. (in the immediate future)

1. It is used to indicate what is happening now.

EXAMPLE:

• Yo como ahora./ I am eating right now.

 

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2. The present tense is also used to express an action that will take place in the immediate future:

EXAMPLE:

• Firmo el contracto mañana./ I will sign the contract tomorrow.

 

LESSONS: Bus. Set-up IV & Bus. Set-up IVa

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3. It is also used to make a request or ask for instructions:

EXAMPLES:

• ¿Quieren cenar conmigo? Will you have dinner with me?
• ¿Escribo el cheque?/ Shall I write the check?

 

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4. This tense is used to indicate habitual actions:

EXAMPLES:

• Los Argentinos cenan alrededor de las 10 de la noche./ Argentines eat dinner around 10 P.M.
• Los españoles duermen una siesta después de almorzar./ Spanish people take a nap after lunch.

 

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NOTE: Since the verb endings indicate who the subject is, the subject pronouns are frequently omitted; however, it is ALWAYS used when there are 2 subjects and 2 verbs.

EXAMPLES:

• Correct: Yo tomo, y ella come./ I drink, and she eats.
• Incorrect: Tomo y come./ I drink, and she eats.

 

Furthermore, subject pronouns are used to emphasize or clarify a sentence. To further study Pronouns click here.

LESSONS: Bus. Set-up V