How to Master Spanish Sentences with Verbs and Correct Verb Tenses
Many different ways exist to write and say Spanish sentences with verbs that change depending on their context.
Most of the time, conjugation rules give us comprehensive ways to properly use Spanish verbs. Other times, irregular verbs may present a real challenge. A great way to learn all the different Spanish sentences with verbs is by looking at examples.
Spanish sentences with verbs and nouns are divided into two parts: sujeto y predicado, or subject and predicate.
Sujeto is where you’ll find the noun; verbs like to hang out in el predicado. For example, take the sentence,
El perro come concentrado.
The dog eats dog food.
El perro is the sujeto, and come concentrado is the predicado. Sometimes, you’ll find that the sujeto likes to be sneaky and disappear.
For example:
Comí verduras cocidas.
I ate cooked vegetables.
There’s no clear noun that says who ate the vegetables, but if we look closely at the conjugation of comer, we can deduce that it’s a first-person verb in the past tense. The verb is (Yo) comí, and since we don’t say it in the sentence, it’s known as sujeto tácito.
Let’s take a look at more examples of Spanish sentences with verbs. Let us know in the comments if you find any that have sujeto tácito!
Regular Verbs
Spanish sentences with verbs ending in -ar, -er, or -ir are the meat and potatoes of verbs in Spanish—or should I say the tortilla y frijoles?
These are the infinitive forms of the verbs, and every single Spanish verb you’ll learn ends in -ar, -er, or -ir. Infinitive verbs have no tense, number, or person related to them.
If you find Spanish sentences with verbs in their infinitive form, you’ll have to get your tense, number, and person from context clues found in the sentence itself. Even the examples of reflexive, irregular, and stem-changing verbs we’ll see in this post all end in -ar, -er, or -ir.
Verbs Ending in -ar
Cantar
Mañana cantaré una serenata para mi novia.
Tomorrow I’ll sing a serenade for my girlfriend.
Bailar
Ayer bailamos cumbia con toda mi familia.
Yesterday we danced to cumbia songs with my whole family.
Soñar
Soñé que un pescado gigante me pedía sus sandalias mágicas.
I dreamt that a giant fish asked me for his magic sandals.
Amar
Mis hermanas y yo amamos jugar juegos de mesa.
My sisters and I love to play board games.
Cocinar
Estoy cocinando un pie de calabaza para mi tía.
I’m cooking an apple pie for my aunt.
Sanar
Si no sana hoy, sanará mañana.
If it doesn’t heal today, It’ll heal tomorrow
Verbs Ending in -er
Correr
El otro mes, correré mi primera maratón.
I’ll run my first marathon next month.
Amanecer
Hola, Lola. ¿Qué tal amaneciste hoy?
Hello, Lola. How did you sleep?
Creer
Creí que podía hacer ese salto.
I thought I could make that jump.
Perder
Siempre pierdo cuando juego contra tí.
I always lose when I play against you.
Conocer
Estoy emocionado porque conocerás a mis primos.
I’m excited because you’ll meet my cousins.
Barrer
He estado barriendo la bodega desde la mañana.
I’ve been sweeping the warehouse all morning.
Verbs Ending in -ir
Asistir
Asistiré a tu cumpleaños.
I’ll go to your birthday party.
Percibir
Percibo que estás más contenta de lo normal hoy.
It seems you’re happier than usual today.
Discutir
Juan discutió sus notas con el profesor.
Juan discussed his grades with the professor.
Divertir
Me divertí mucho en el parque de diversiones.
I had a lot of fun at the amusement park.
Preferir
Prefiero si vienes conmigo al cine.
I prefer if you come with me to the movies.
Prohibir
Si sacas malas notas, te prohibiré ver televisión.
If you get bad grades, I’ll forbid you from watching TV.
Pronominal Verbs
Pronominal verbs are defined as verbs that relate to reflexive pronouns that connect to the noun. The most common pronominal verbs are preceded by me or se, and oftentimes you will find the se variant appearing after the verb and merged with the word, as we will see in the following examples.
Since these reflexive pronouns refer to the noun of the sentence, they serve no syntactic purpose, meaning that the sentence would make sense if you removed these pronouns.
Irse
Jimena quiere irse a España el otro año.
Jimena wants to go to Spain next year.
Sentirse
Está bien sentirse ansioso por los exámenes.
It’s alright to feel anxious about your tests.
Comerse
Julián quería comerse todo el pastel.
Julián wanted to eat the whole cake.
Despertarse
Rafa es muy lento para despertarse por las mañanas.
Rafa is very slow to wake up in the mornings.
Dormirse
¡Qué rico es dormirse temprano!
It’s so nice to go to sleep early!
Agacharse
Después de lastimarse la espalda, Estuardo no podía agacharse.
After hurting his back, Estuardo couldn’t bend over.
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs appearing in Spanish sentences with verbs can be confusing. Unfortunately, these verbs have no tricks or rules to them; you have to memorize their conjugations.
These examples are 10 of the most common irregular verbs, so if any of these catch your attention, make sure to check out the full posts that detail how to conjugate them easily. They even come with free PDF files for you to reference and practice with!
If you want to learn more about irregular verbs, read our post on the 50 most common irregular verbs in Spanish. With this handy list, you’ll be able to practice irregular verbs to your heart’s content.
Ser
Soy un niño valiente.
I’m a brave boy.
Learn all about ser conjugation!
Estar
Estoy comiendo un rico helado de mango.
I’m eating tasty mango ice cream.
Learn all about estar conjugation!
Tener
Tenías que traer seis vasos en vez de cuatro.
You had to bring six cups instead of four.
Learn all about tener conjugation!
Hacer
Hizo lo que pudo con lo que tenía.
He did what he could with what he had.
Learn all about hacer conjugation!
Ir
Vamos a la playa por cocos frescos.
Let’s go to the beach for fresh coconuts.
Learn all about ir conjugation!
Poder
Seguramente podrá lograr su cometido.
Surely she’ll be able to achieve her goal.
Saber
La jefa supo como manejar la situación.
The boss knew how to handle the situation.
Learn all about tener conjugation!
Poner
Me pongo tres suéteres cuando tengo frío.
I put on three sweaters when I’m cold.
Haber
Habrá mucha alegría en las calles durante Navidad.
There will be a lot of joy in the streets during Christmas.
Learn all about haber conjugation!
Decir
Te diré mi secreto si me das la mitad de tu emparedado.
I’ll tell you my secret if you give me half of your sandwich.
Stem-changing Verbs
Stem-changing verbs are verbs whose stem or root changes when they are conjugated. As always, Spanish sentences with verbs may have exceptions and special cases, but some general rules for stem-changing verbs are as follows:
Spanish sentences with verbs with
- -e that changes to -ie
- -o that changes to -ue
- -e that changes to -i
- -i that changes to -ie
- -u that changes to -ue
It’s important to note that stem-changing verbs don’t always change their stem. For example, the word pienso is the first-person simple present of pensar, but the third-person simple past is pensó. The former changes its stem, while the latter doesn’t.
Pensar
Pienso, luego existo.
I think, therefore I am.
Volver
Las cosas no siempre vuelven a ser las mismas.
Things do not always go back to how they used to be.
Pedir
Te pediré un favor cuando regreses de tu viaje.
I’ll ask you a favor when you come back from your trip.
Dormir
Durmamos en la carpa grande.
Let’s sleep in the big tent.
Servir
El cuchillo nuevo le sirvió para cortar el pastel.
The new knife proved useful to cut the cake.
Mostrar
Aléjate para que te muestre un truco de magia.
Step back so I can show you a magic trick.
Spanish Verbs in Action!
Spanish verbs and nouns are like cereal and milk—they coexist in a perfect balance that can bring wonderful things to our lives. Anyone can savor the magic of Spanish sentences with verbs and nouns! While the many kinds of verbs and their conjugations can be overwhelming at first, with practice you’ll get better.
Most infinitive forms of the verbs can be easily conjugated with the appropriate rules, with the exceptions being irregular verbs, pronominal verbs, and stem-changing verbs. Lucky for us, most of these exceptions have their own rules that, over time, will make you into an expert Spanish speaker.
The best way to bust through this language barrier is to start talking! If you want to practice your Spanish conversation skills, pronunciation, vocabulary, and verb conjugation, take a free class with one of our certified Spanish teachers and begin the journey into a new language with ease.
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