AGUEST SAID
LECCION DOS – CONJUGANDO LOS VERBOS IRREGULARES (Lesson Two - Conjugating Irregular Verbs)
Okay, chickens (buenas dias y paz a todos!), in the previous lesson you were given various “regular” verbs (which I forgot to notate as such – remember, I don’t claim to be a Spanish teacher – LOLOL!. They are those verbs that follow the conjugation rule where the lexeme doesn’t change and so you just use the default endings) to work with. Now, we’ll move to “irregular” verbs (those verbs that don’t follow the conjugation rule, where the lexeme changes), which are just a tad more challenging.
First, though, you might want to understand what a couple words I’ve used mean. For example:
Conjugate = Used, here, it’s when you inflect a verb in its forms for distinctions as to person (I, you, he/she, they, we, etc.).
Lexeme = The fundamental unit of a lexicon language. For example, the verb ”comer” (to eat). The lexeme (fundamental unit, comer) changes as the distinction of person changes (to “como” for “I eat”, “comes” for “you eat”, “comen” for “they eat” and so on).
Inflect = When you change the ending of a verb, as done when distinguishing person (I, you, me, they, etc.).
Irregular verbs are done a bit differently, though. The verb lexemes may be entirely changed... and the inflections don’t necessarily follow the same pattern. Because of this, I am going to set them out a bit differently than I did the regular verbs I posted. Rather than give you the inflection order, I am going to post them so that you can review them (I wish I could do this in a proper table, but... ah, well).
I thought, though, that if you got the gist as to how to conjugate regular verbs (and my thanks to dear GLT for including the “ir” ending conjugation – I forgot those, sorry!) and understood the inflection of the lexeme THERE, it would only be a short leap to get it for irregular ones, which are done differently. So, what that in mind, let’s look at how you conjugate irregular verbs (note, in the lessons I’ll post, we’ll only deal with present tense because that’s what you would most probably use on a vacation).
SOME THOUGHTS/REMINDERS before we begin:
1. All infinitive verbs end in either “ar,” “er,” or “ir,” and to conjugate these you simply replace the ar/er/ir with the appropriate ending. For example (conjugated in the order of “I... you... he/she/it... we... we (in Spain)... and they”):
Pasar (to pass) = conjugated to paso, pases, pase, pasemos, pasáis, pasan
Beber (to drink) = conjugated to bebo, bebes, bebe, bebemos, bebéis, beben
Vivir (to live) = conjugated to vivo, vives, vive, vivemos, vivís, viven
I also forgot our dear friends across the Pond and left out the ending for regular verbs used in Spain. They are: áis, éis, ís (for regular verbs ending in “ar,” “er,” and “ir.” Pertinent words, then, for example, those above, are pronounced:
Pasáis = paa-saw-ees Bebéis = beh-beh-ees Vivís = beh-bees or veh-vees)
2. ALWAYS “trill” those r’s (more where they are doubled)
3. ALWAYS pronounce the “mos” endings (i.e., hablamos, comemos, pintamos) with the long “o”, as in “most.”
Okay, so, here goes, in the order of “I... you... he/she/it... we... we (Spain)... and they”:
Dar (to give) – pronounced “dahr” Doy (I give) – pronounced “doy” Das (You give) – pronounced “dahs” Da (He/she/it gives) – pronounced “dah” Damos (We give) – pronounced “dah-mos” Dáis (We give; Spain) – pronounced “dah-ees” Dan (They give) – pronounced “dahn”
Decir (to say/tell) – pronounced “deh-seer” Digo (I say/tell) – pronounced “dee-goh” Dices (You say/tell) – pronounced “dee-ses” Dice (He/she says/tells) – pronounced “dee-say” Decimos (We say/tell) – pronounced “deh-see-mos” (long “o”) Decís (We say/tell; Spain) – pronounced “deh-sees” Dicen (They say/tell) – pronounced “dee-sen”
Hacer (to do/make) - pronounced “ah-sair” (remember, the “hache/h” is always silent!) Hago (I do/make) – pronounced “ah-go” Haces (You do/make) – pronounced “ah-ses” Hace (He/she does/makes) – pronounced “ah-say” Hacemos (We do/make) – pronounced “ah-say-mos” Hacéis (We do/make; Spain) – pronounced “ah-say-ees” Hacen (They do/make) – pronounced “ah-sen”
Ir (to go) - pronounced “eer” (the “r” is trilled, chickens!) Voy (I go) – pronounced “boy” or “voy” (either is fine US, but “b” only in Spain, Vas (You go) – pronounced “bahs”/“vahs” Va (He/She goes) – pronounced “bah”/“vah” Vamos (We go) – pronounced “bah-mos”/“vah-mos” Váis (We go; Spain) – pronounced “bah-ees”/”vah-ees” Van (They go) – pronounced “bahn” or “vahn”
Oir (to hear) - pronounced “oy-eer” (roll that “r”!) Oigo (I hear) – pronounced “oy-goh” Oyes (You hear) – pronounced “oy-yes” Oye (He/she hears) – pronounced “oy-yay” Oimos (We hear) – pronounced “oy-mos” Oís (We hear; Spain) – pronounced “oy-ees” Oyen (They hear) – pronounced “oy-yen”
Poder (to be able) – pronounced “po-dair” (hard “d” and roll that r!) Puedo (I can) – pronounced “pweh-tho” (the “ue” is always pronounced as a “weh” and the “d” is very “soft”) Puedes (You can) – pronounced “pweh-thes” Puede (He/she/it can) – pronounced “pweh-they” Podemos (We can) – pronounced “po-deh-mos” (hard “d”) Podéis (We can; Spain) – pronounced “po-deh-ees” Pueden (They can) – pronounced “pweh-den”
Poner (to put/place) – pronounced “poe-nair” Pongo (I put/place) – pronounced “pone-go” (long “o”, not short “o” or “pawn-go”, dear ‘Mom – LOLOL!) Pones – (You put/place) – pronounced “po-nes” Pone – (He/she/it puts/places) – pronounced “po-nay” Ponemos – (We put/place) – pronounced “po-nay-mos” Ponéis – (We put/place; Spain) – pronounced “po-nay-ees” Ponen – (They put/place) – pronounced “po-nen”
Querer (to want/wish) – pronounced “keh-rrehr” (all r’s are trilled, the first one a lot!) Quiero (I want) – pronounced “kee-err-rroh” (roll those r’s!!) Quieres (You want) – pronounced “kee-err-rress” (“s” sound, not the “z” sound) Quiere (He/she wants) – pronounced “kee-err-rray (ROLL ‘em!) Queremos (We want) – pronounced “keh-rreh-mos” (roll...) Queréis (We want; Spain) – pronounced “kehr-rreh-eess” Queren (They want) – pronounced “kehr-rren”
Saber (to know) – pronounced “sah-bair” Sé (I know) – pronounced “say” Sabes (You know) – pronounced “sah-bess” or “sah-vess” (yeah, that “b”/”v” thing...) Sabe (He/She knows) – pronounced “sah-bey” or “sah-vey” (hence, “savvy”) Sabemos (We know) – pronounced “sah-bey-mos” or “sah-vey-mos” Sabéis (We know; Spain) – pronounced “sah-bey-eess” or “sah-vey-eess” Saben (They know) – pronounced “sah-ben” or “sah-ven”
Salir (to leave/go out from) – pronounced “sah-leer” (roll...) Salgo (I leave/go out) – pronounced “sol-goh” Sales (You go) – pronounced “sah-less” Salimos (We go) – pronounced “sah-lee-mos” Salís (We go; Spain) – pronounced “sah-leess” (soft “s”, not “z” sound) Salen (They go) – pronounced “sah-len”
Tener (to have) – pronounced “ten-nair” Tengo (I have) – pronounced “taing-o” Tienes (You have) – pronounced “tee-en-ess” (soft “s”) Tiene (He/She has) – pronounced “tee-en-ney” Tenemos (We have) – pronounced “te-ney-mos” Tenéis (We have; Spain) – pronounced “te-ney-eess” Tienen (They have) – pronounced “tee-en-nen”
Traer (to bring) – pronounced “try-air” (roll the r’s!) Traigo (I bring) – pronounced “trry-go” (the “ai” makes the long “i” sound; roll the r!) Traes (You bring) – pronounced “trry-ess” Trae (He/She brings) – pronounced “trry-ay” Traemos (We bring) – pronounced “trry-eh-mos” Traéis (We bring; Spain) – pronounced “trry-eess” Traen (They bring) – pronounced “trry-en”
Venir (to come) – pronounced “beh-neerr” or veh-neerr” Vengo (I come) – pronounced “bain-go” or “vain-go” Vienes (You come) – pronounced “bee-in-iss” or “vee-en-iss” Viene (He/She/it comes) – pronounced “bee-in-nay” or “vee-en-nay” Venimos (We come) – pronounced “beh-nee-mos” or “veh-nee-mos” Venís (We come; Spanish) – pronounced “beh-neess” or “veh-neess” Vienen (They come) – pronounced “bee-en-nen” or “vee-en-nen”
Ver (to see) – pronounced “bairr” or “vairr” (roll!) Veo (I see) – pronounced “bay-yo” or “vay-yo” Ves (You see) – pronounced “beys” or “veys” (or “bes” or “ves”) Ve (He/She sees) – pronounced “bey” or “vey” Vemos (We see) – pronounced “bey-mos” or “vey-mos” Véis (We see; Spanish) – pronounced “bey-ees” or “vey-ees” Ven (They see) – pronounced “beyn” or “veyn”
Finally, there are two irregular verbs that express various forms of “to be”: ser and estar. Ser is more of a passive verb, while estar is the active, grammatically speaking. Ser tells you what something IS, the nature of its BEING, while estar is more about what something DOES. So, for example, you might use soy (the first person present tense of ser) to tell what you ARE (male, female, a mother, a Canadian, etc.), while using estoy (the first person present tense of estar) to say what you are temporarily BEING/DOING (feeling tired, driving, running, learning, etc.).
Hence (again, in the “I... you... he/she... we... we (Spain)... and they” order:
Ser (to be) – pronounced “sairr” (roll, roll, roll!) Soy (I am) – pronounced just like it looks! Eres (You are) – pronounced “err-rres” (do I have to say it? Okay, roll those r’s!) Es (He/She/it is) – pronounced like the letter “s” Somos (We are) – pronounced “so-mos” (long “o”s) Soís (We are; Spain) – pronounced “soy-ees” (s’s not z’s) Son (They are) – pronounced “sone” (NOT like “bone”... don’t draw that “o” out, cowpokes!)
Estar (to be) – pronounced “ess-starr” Estoy (I am) – pronounced like it looks! Estás (You are) – pronounced “eh-stas” Está (He/She/it is) – pronounced “eh-stay” Estamos (We are) – pronounced “eh-stah-mos” Estáis (We are; Spain) – pronounced “eh-stah-ees” Estan (They are) – pronounced “eh-stan”
And there you have it! Lesson 2 done!
I will post more on how to use these verbs in simple sentences in the next lesson. For those of you who have little or no Spanish under your belt, you really should spend time to get to know these verbs because it you get this down, putting them to use is SO much easier! If you’re more fluent and/or are feeling “froggy” (i.e., impatient with the pace – LOLOL!)... by all means do your thing and go ahead and try some phrases/sentences for yourselves.
NOTE: I TRIED to italicize the emphasis for each word; again, our forum’s formatting made that SO onerous I abandoned the effort (however, I think it's important so I might have to invoke my editing "authorities" to get it done - LOLOLOL! In the meantime, if you wish to know how to pronounce a particular word, then, simply post it and any of us who know can help you out.
I truly hope this helps some... and thank you ALL for YOUR patience![/b] _________________ Paz a todos!
Su sirviente, compañera de estudios, y un esclava de Cristo,
SA
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