|
|
Using "I"
in a verb form ... |
| |
| In
English, when you're making a sentence, you always say the
"I" first. |
| I go every day. |
I swim 10 laps. |
I try so hard. |
I study daily. |
I read a lot. |
|
| You
have to use the pronoun "I" to get the point
across as to who is doing the deed. |
| This
isn't so in Spanish. You don't need to say "yo"
at all - unless you're making a point! |
In
Spanish, all you have to do is take almost any infinitive
and drop the last 2 letters,
substituting them with an -o.
Take into account that we're starting off with REGULAR
verbs here. They're easier to learn right off the bat! |
| |
|
Infinitive
|
English
|
Result
after using the formula above: |
| hablar |
to
speak |
hablar
- ar = habl
+ o = hablo
(I speak, I am speaking, I do speak) |
| trabajar |
to
work |
trabajar
- ar = trabaj
+ o = trabajo (I work, I do work, I am working) |
| nadar |
to
swim |
nadar
- ar = nad
+ o = nado (I swim, I do swim, I am swimming) |
| estudiar |
to
study |
estudiar
- ar = estudi
+ o = estudio (I study, I do study, I am studying) |
| aprender |
to
learn |
aprender
- er = aprend
+ o = aprendo (I learn, I do learn, I am learning) |
| comer |
to
eat |
comer
- er = com
+ o = como (I eat, I do eat, I am eating) |
| correr |
to
run |
correr
- er = corr
+ o = corro (I run, I do run, I am running) |
| vivir |
to
live |
vivir
- ir = viv
+ o = vivo (I live, I'm living, I do live) |
| describir |
to
describe |
describir
- ir = describ
+ o = describo (I describe, I'm describing, I do describe) |
| existir |
to
exist |
existir
- ir = exist
+ o = existo (I exist, I do exist, I am existing) |
|
| |
Changing
a verb like this to correspond to the person who's doing
the action is called conjugation. When you take the last
2 letters off of the infinitive, what you have left is
the verb stem. Notice that
in this chart we have included regular -ar, -er, and -ir
verbs. This is to show you that this occurs in many verbs
in Spanish. |
If
you want to make it even easier on yourself, just remember
to drop the last 2 letters (-ar, -er, or -ir) from the
infinitive and say "o" after what's left. That's
the "yo" form of the verb and implies that "I"
am doing it! |
Since
"o" is a vowel, and you DO remember the
stress rules
- if a word ends in a vowel you stress the next to last
syllable - remember to say the syllable at the tail end
of the stem just a little bit louder ! When you listen
to the infinitives below, notice that the LAST syllable
is stressed because the word ends in an -r. You're going
to have to MOVE the emphasis one syllable back. |
|
Exercises: Change the following verbs into the "yo"
form: |
|
Infinitive
|
English
|
Yo
form |
English
Meaning |
| abrir |
to
open |
abro |
I
open, I'm opening |
| temer |
to
fear |
temo |
I
fear, I'm afraid |
| admirar |
to
admire |
admiro |
I
admire, I'm admiring |
| ignorar |
to
ignore |
ignoro |
I
ignore, I'm ignoring |
| insistir |
to
insist |
insisto |
I
insist, I'm insisting |
| pesar |
to
weigh |
peso |
I
weigh, I'm weighing
|
| preguntar |
to
ask |
pregunto |
I
ask, I'm asking
|
| prometer |
to
promise |
prometo |
I
promise, I'm promising
|
| sorprender |
to
surprise |
sorprendo |
I
surprise, I'm surprising
|
| cubrir |
to
cover |
cubro |
I
cover, I'm covering
|
|
Double-click
your mouse cursor in the center of a cell under the words
"Yo form." This will highlight the answer -
and show you if you got it right or not! |
Remember
that this formula does NOT work for all verbs. There are
irregular verbs that a formed differently for "yo."
This formula is only for REGULAR verbs ... And believe
me, ... you have got a head start !!! |
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