Lesson Eleven: Verb groups, ar endings and it

In this lesson we'll see the three main verb groups, how to conjugate verbs ending ar and where to put it in a sentence

In this lesson we'll look at:

• The three groups of verbs in Spanish
• How to change verbs ending 'ar' when you want to say he/she/it/you/they
• Where the word 'it' belongs in a sentence.

How verbs end

Remembering the 'to' form of a verb (e.g. "to have", "to show", "to eat") is the key to learning Spanish fast because for the most part verbs follow set rules.

So let's start with a quick recap on thinking out a verb we don't know in Spanish - to tolerate

• We look for the English version ending 'tion' - toleration
• We take off the 'tion' and add 'r' and get 'tolerar' (to tolerate).

Spanish	English
Tolerar	To tolerate

All Spanish verbs end one of the following aways

• ar - tolerar (to tolerate)
• er - comer (to eat)
• ar - venir (to come)

For all three of these groups, unless it is an irregular one, we take off the 'ar', 'er' or 'ir' - add an 'o' - and we have the 'I' version.

Spanish	English
Tolero	I tolerate

Remember the accent is going on the penultimate syllable. If you leave the accent on the last syllable (as you pronounce it in the 'to' form) you change the meaning.

• tolero - I tolerate
• tolerรณ - He tolerated

As you can see in the past tense (he tolerated) there is an accent on the 'o' to point out that is where the accent of the word should be.

So yes you have to be careful but hey, you are already learning a bit of the past tense so that's actually quite useful already!

Verb endings for he/she/it/you (formal)

Although there are three groups of Spanish verbs:

• Verbs ending ar - tolerar (to tolerate)
• Verbs ending er - comer (to eat)
• Verbs ending ir - venir (to come)

The rules mean we talk about verbs ending in 'ar' and the other two ('er' and 'ir') are handled differently but the same as each other.

Verbs ending 'ar' are the biggest group by far. In fact any new verbs which come into the language are always 'ar' verbs. For example:

Spanish	English
Twittear	To tweet
Facebookear	To Facebook
Googlear	To Google

So if taking off the 'ar' and replacing it with an 'o' gets US the 'I' form ... taking off the 'ar' and adding an 'a' gives us the form for he/she/it/you (informal).

Spanish	English
Iliminar	To illiminate
Ilimino	I illiminate
Ilimina	he/she/it/you (formal) illiminates

Illiminate (because we can figure it out by following the 'tion' form to get the Spanish verb) is a useful way of saying "I delete" or "he deletes".

To last

A period of time is a duration so .....

Spanish	English
Durar	To last
Dura mucho	It lasts a long time
No dura mucho	It doesn't last long

And here we see 'mucho' which most English speakers recognize for its meaning 'a lot'. Literally then 'Dura mucho' means "It lasts a lot" but it really means "It lasts a long time".

You could use this to refer to anything from a bar of soap to a movie.

To exagerate

OK, another quick practice to find the Spanish verb 'to exagerate.

• We look for the English version ending 'tion' - exageration
• We take off the 'tion' and add 'r' and get 'exagerar' (to exagerate).

Spanish	English
Demostración	Demonstration
Exageración	Exageration
Exagerar	To exagerate
Exagero	I exagerate
Exagera	He/she/it/you (formal) exagerates
No exagera	He/she/it/you (formal) isn't exagerating

Learning English by learning Spanish

One of the things learning Spanish will do is teach you some English words you might never have known or you might have reocgnized but never truly understood.

Here are two that were like that for me. The first is "mastication" ... which if like me you knew you'd hear it but you don't know why ... it means "to chew".

As this as a 'tion' version we can work out that the Spanish verb is probably 'masticar'.

Spanish	English
Masticar	To chew

Now the point is here that a useful exercise when you come across a new verb in Spanish is to see if you can track it back to an English version. In other words:

• Take off the 'r' - mastica
• add 'tion' - mastication
• see if the word exists in English.

This type of mental exercise not only helps you discover more English but it will also help the Spanish verb sink into your memory better, especially if you are surprised at what you find because surprise is something we remember more clearly.

Another one like this is:

Spanish	English
Morder	To bite

Now have a look at how many Dental Practices use 'Modent' in their name ....

But back to 'Masticar'

Spanish	English
Masticar	To chew
Mastico	I chew
Mastica	he/she/it/you (formal) chew

This 'a' sound at the end of the he/she/it/you (formal) version will provide us with the springboard to get the other forms of the verb.

So we add an 'n' to get the 'they' form and also 'you plural'. Eh? In a minute! Lets just work through an example

Spanish	English
Colaboración	Collaboration
Colaborar	To collaborate
Colaboro	I colaborate / I am collaborating
Colabora	he/she/it/you (formal) colaborates
Colaboran	they/you (plural) colaborate

Yes, OK, 'you plural' is something that doesn't exist in English but if you are talking to more than one person in Spanish the verb ending changes. The best way to demonstrate it is:

• You informal singular - "Are you going?"
• You formal singular - "Is sir going?"
• You formal/informal plural - "Are you guys going?"

The 'you plural' form can be used in both formal and informal situations so while I put "Are you guys going?" as a way to remember you can also use the 'you plural' form in formal situations where you are talking to more than one person and it won't be taken as "you guys"!

Hablar - to speak

... and remember in Spanish h is silent ...

Spanish	English
Hablar	To speak
Hablo	I speak / I am speaking
Habla	he/she/it/you (formal) speak
No hablan con Pablo	They're not speaking with Pablo
Quiero hablar	I want to speak
Voy a hablar	I'm going to speak

Now if we go back to 'habla' but this time add an 's' instead of an 'n' we get the 'you (informal)' version

Spanish	English
Hablas	You (informal) speak / you are speaking

Where to put lo, la, los, las

As we saw earlier these words mean he, she, them. Where they go in a sentence depends on the form of the verb and we'll talk about two ways to express this:

• the 'to verb' - hablar (to speak).
• the 'changed verb' - hablo (I speak)

In the second example - hablo - the verb has been changed to suit the situation, in this case to express that "I am speaking". The 'changed verb' is one that does not end 'ar'.

If we are using a changed verb then lo,la,los,las must come before the verb.

Spanish	English
Lo quiero	I want it

But for the 'to verb' lo, la, los, las can come at the beginning or at the end - we can choose.

Spanish	English
Lo quiero ver	I want to see it
Quiero verlo	I want to see it
Debo invitarlo	I must invite him
Lo debo invitar	I must invite him

We do the same thing in English - "Him I must invite" and "I must invite him". The first puts more emphasis on the importance of inviting 'him'. In Spanish the two different ways are equal in meaning and emphasis.

Lesson 12: How to know which words are feminine and how verbs ending 'er' and 'ir' work