VERB CONJUGATIONS. THE PRESENT TENSE

Verbs are the words in a sentence that narrate the action; they tell you what is going on. Unlike in English, the letters at the end of a verb in Spanish let you know who is doing the action. 

The infinitive of a verb is its simplest form, the starting place before it is conjugated or changed to correspond to a specific person. In English the infinitive starts with TO: to jump, to eat, to travel. All Spanish infinitives end in the letters -AR, or -ER, or -IR.

Below is a chart that shows you how to conjugate verbs in the PRESENT TENSE. 

The present tense describes actions that are happening now or describes what happens regularly, as in every day, every summer, in the morning, etc.

Below you will find a chart that shows you the verb endings for the three kinds of verbs: 

Examples:

Cristina hablA mucho.​

Cristina speaks a lot.

ComO chocolate en febrero.​

I eat chocolate in February.

VivIMOS en Chihuahua, México.​

We live in Chihuahua, Mexico.

¿VivEN los tigres en África?​

Do tigers live in Africa?

IN THE CHART ABOVE YOU WILL SEE THAT THE "YOU ALL" FAMILIAR ENDS IN -AIS, -EIS, -IS. THOSE ENDINGS CORRESPOND TO THE PRONOUN "VOSOTROS" WHICH IS USED ONLY IN SPAIN. IN SOUTH AMERICA, THE PRONOUN USED FOR "YOU ALL" IS "USTEDES", WHICH IS THE ONE WE USE IN CLASS.

EXERCISES

`Write beside the sentence the pronoun for who is doing the action (yo, tú, …) If you don't know the pronouns in Spanish write them in English (I, you, he , we, etc)

1. Rompemos las ventanas con el balón.   (                )
2. Camino al instituto con mis amigos.   (                )
3. Beben Coca-Cola porque hace calor.     (                )
4. Marisa nada en el mar.  .   (                )
5. ¿Por qué lees el periódico?      (                )
6. Los chicos, compran las pizzas en la pizzeria.       (                )
7. Ana abre la ventana.   .   (                )
8. MI papa y yo comemos hamburguesas.      (                )
9. Canta en su dormitorio(habitación)       (                )
10. ¿Quieres bailar?      (                )
11. Mis hermanos y yo vivimos en Los Angeles.    (                )

Fill in the line with the correct form of the verb in parenthesis

1. Yo _______________________(estudiar) todos los días.

1. Ella_________________________(caminar) al supermercado.

1. Ellas _______________________________(comprar) un gorro de lana.

1. Tú______________________________(hablar) español.

1. Nosotros_____________________________ ( nadar) en el mar

1. Ellos ___________________________(correr) en la playa

1. Yo __________________________(pescar) muchos peces