The Subject
In Spanish, the subject is the person or thing that is doing or being acted upon by the verb. The subject can be a noun, a pronoun, or an implied subject.
For example, in the sentence "Yo como una manzana," the subject is "yo." In the sentence "La manzana es roja," the subject is "la manzana." In the sentence "Llueve," the subject is implied.
The Tense
The tense of a verb indicates the time of the action or event. In Spanish, there are three main tenses: the present tense, the past tense, and the future tense.
Present Tense
* -ar verbs:
- 1st person singular: -o
- 2nd person singular: -as
- 3rd person singular: -a
- 1st person plural: -amos
- 2nd person plural: -áis
- 3rd person plural: -an
* -er/-ir verbs:
- 1st person singular: -o
- 2nd person singular: -es
- 3rd person singular: -e
- 1st person plural: -emos
- 2nd person plural: -éis
- 3rd person plural: -en
Past Tense
- For -ar verbs, the past tense ending is -é for all subjects.
- For -er/-ir verbs, the past tense ending is -í for all subjects.
Future Tense
* -ar verbs:
- 1st person singular: -aré
- 2nd person singular: -arás
- 3rd person singular: -ará
- 1st person plural: -aremos
- 2nd person plural: -aréis
- 3rd person plural: -arán
* -er/-ir verbs:
- 1st person singular: -eré
- 2nd person singular: -erás
- 3rd person singular: -erá
- 1st person plural: -eremos
- 2nd person plural: -eréis
- 3rd person plural: -erán
To Conjugate a Verb
To conjugate a verb, you need to know the subject and the tense. Once you know these, you can use the chart above to find the correct verb ending.
For example, to conjugate the verb "comer" (to eat) in the present tense, you would use the following endings:
* 1st person singular: como
* 2nd person singular: comes
* 3rd person singular: come
* 1st person plural: comemos
* 2nd person plural: coméis
* 3rd person plural: comen
To conjugate the verb "comer" in the past tense, you would use the following endings:
* 1st person singular: comí
* 2nd person singular: comiste
* 3rd person singular: comió
* 1st person plural: comimos
* 2nd person plural: comisteis
* 3rd person plural: comieron
To conjugate the verb "comer" in the future tense, you would use the following endings:
* 1st person singular: comeré
* 2nd person singular: comerás
* 3rd person singular: comerá
* 1st person plural: comeremos
* 2nd person plural: comeréis
* 3rd person plural: comerán