by Ashley ReidJanuary 19, 2020 Homeschooling, Spanish Grammar0 comments

Present Tense Verbs in Spanish Part 1: The Simple Present

When you just start to learn a foreign language, the grammar is completely overwhelming. You probably don’t think about which verbs you use and how to conjugate them in everyday speech, right? Now, with a new language (especially one like Spanish), it probably seems that grammar is all you think about!

It can be extremely easy to get lost in all the verb tenses and moods that Spanish has. A good place to start is with a verb tense that can get you through basic conversations, directions, and questions: the simple present.

The Simple Present: An Overview

What’s in a Name?

While the term “simple present” seems to imply that this tense is uncomplicated, there are a few things that may come as a surprise to you. First, let’s look at the name. In Spanish, the simple present is called el presente del indicativo. While you may want to refer to it as el presente simple, there are actually two different presente simple tenses in Spanish.

Yes, you read that correctly!

Spanish tenses are divided into three different moods:

Interestingly, both the indicative and subjunctive moods have a simple present tense. For now, that’s all you need to know; stay tuned for another blog post that explores the differences between the moods more extensively.

So, while “simple present” refers to one specific thing in English, it includes two separate tenses in Spanish. Therefore, when talking with your HSA Spanish teacher, make sure to use el presente del indicativo to ask questions about the simple present. From now on, we will use the term “simple present indicative” to refer to this tense just to get you in the practice of differentiating between the moods and to avoid any confusion.

Uses of the Presente del Indicativo

To understand the uses of the simple present indicative, we are going to first look at some examples of the simple present in English and then compare them to the Spanish form.

We go to Mexico every summer.

When it rains, it pours.

We start school on January 6th.

From these sentences, you can see that we use the simple present in English for

habitual activities
general truths
set future events

Now, for the simple present indicative in Spanish, we use it for these three uses and more! (If you want to skip to the conjugations, scroll down below the uses!)

How Spanish Uses the Simple Present Indicative

1. Habitual Activities

Just like in English, we use the simple present indicative to talk about habitual activities in Spanish.

Vamos a México cada verano.
We go to Mexico every summer.

Me cepillo cada mañana.
I brush my teeth every morning.

Siempre leo un capítulo de mi libro antes de dormir.
I always read a chapter from my book before sleeping.

2. General Truths

Likewise, we use simple present in both languages to talk about general truths (including the zero conditional for all you English grammar aficionados).

Cuando llueve, llueve a cántaros.
When it rains, it pours.

El sol sale en el este y se pone en el oeste.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

El agua se congela a los cero grados Celsius.
Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.

3. Set Future Events

While it may seem backward to use the simple present tense to talk about events in the future, we actually use it quite often in English and Spanish. (If you would like more explanation about this particular use, check out Part Three of our Future Tenses in Spanish blog post.)

Empezamos la escuela el 6 de enero.
We start school on January 6th.

Su boda es el 24 de septiembre.
Their wedding is on September 24th.

El avión aterriza a las 9:04 de la mañana el martes.
The plane lands at 9:04 am on Tuesday.

4. Current Actions

present tense verbs in spanish Now, this is where the simple present indicative starts to differ from English. When you talk about actions happening right now in English, you use the present continuous:

I am doing – yo estoy haciendo

However, in Spanish, you can use either the present continuous or the simple present indicative.

For example, a common question in English is “What are you doing?” which is in the present continuous form. Using the simple present “What do you do?” has a completely different meaning. Meanwhile, in Spanish, both types of questions are appropriate: ¿Qué estás haciendo? and ¿Qué haces? can be used interchangeably.

You can often hear native speakers using the simple present indicative to talk about the activities they are currently doing. Here are some examples:

Voy a la tienda para comprar un poco de azúcar.
I’m going to the store to buy a little bit of sugar.

Ella hace la limpieza en la sala.
She is cleaning the living room.

Caminamos en el parque.
We are walking in the park.

5. Events in the Near Future

Just like how you can use the simple present indicative for current actions, you can also apply it to events happening soon. These activities do not have to be set in stone but are considered to still be within the realm of the “present,” hence why you use the simple present indicative.

Mañana viajamos a la playa.
We’re going to the beach tomorrow.

Terminamos en más o menos una hora.
We’ll finish in about an hour.

Ahorita regresa ella.
She’ll be right back.

6. “If” Clauses

In English grammar, we call this type of sentence the 1st Conditional. However, in Spanish, we don’t use that title because the tenses are much simpler. Remember, even when you talk about events in the near future in Spanish, you use the present tense. The “present” in Spanish encompasses much more than it does in English. With that in mind, when you talk about hypothetical situations in the present, you use only the simple present indicative in Spanish. There is no need to involve the future tense like in English.

Si llueve, se arruina la fiesta.
If it rains, the party will be ruined.

Si llegamos tarde, no nos dejan entrar.
If we arrive late, they won’t let us in.

Si pierdo este examen, no gano la clase.
If I fail this test, I won’t pass the class

7. Passing of Time

There are so many similarities in English and Spanish grammar that Spanish learners sometimes assume every aspect of grammar is the same in both languages. While many grammatical structures are the same, the uses often vary in subtle ways. For example, when you talk about an event that has continued for an extended period of time, you use the present perfect (we have studied – hemos estudiado) in English. This tense is acceptable in Spanish, but there is another way to express the same idea using hace (ago) and the simple present indicative.

Hace un mes que trabajamos en este proyecto.
We’ve been working on this project for a month.

Hace un año que no nos vemos.
We haven’t seen each other for a year.

Hace tres horas que te esperamos aquí.
We’ve been waiting for you here for three hours.

8. Ordering Food and Drink

Similar to the previous example, using the simple present indicative for ordering food is not the only acceptable verb tense. There are multiple ways of ordering food in Spanish. However, if you’re anything like me, you probably wouldn’t think of using the simple present indicative in this scenario. It is very common, though, which is why it appears on this list. Check out some examples:

Me trae un vaso de agua, por favor.
Can you bring me a glass of water, please?

Quiero dos pupusas y una limonada, por favor.
I would like two pupusas and lemonade, please.

Me trae más picante, por favor.
Could you bring me more hot sauce, please?

Note that to maintain the formality of the situation and show respect to the waiter, you use the usted form in each of these sentences.

Regular Verbs in the Simple Present Indicative

Now that you are familiar with the uses of the simple present indicative in Spanish, it’s time to learn about the conjugations. The Spanish conjugation chart below is divided into three sections: -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs. These titles refer to the three different endings for Spanish verbs in their infinitive (non-conjugated) form. The far left column contains the personal pronouns in Spanish. If you don’t quite remember what they mean, check out our pronoun blog post!

The following chart shows the endings for regular Spanish verbs in the simple present indicative. “Regular” means that the majority (not all!) of verbs in Spanish use the same endings listed below.

Conjugations of Regular Verbs in the Simple Present Indicative

	-AR Verbs	-ER Verbs	-IR Verbs
	Hablar (to talk)	Comer (to eat)	Vivir (to live)
Yo	hablo	como	vivo
Tú	hablas	comes	vives
Usted	habla	come	vive
Él / Ella	habla	come	vive
Nosotros	hablamos	comemos	vivimos
Ustedes	hablan	comen	viven
Ellos / Ellas	hablan	comen	viven

Do you see any patterns in the chart? There are a couple that can help you memorize the conjugations!

Conjugation Patterns

For all three types of verbs, the yo ending is the same: -o.
The conjugations for tú always end in -s.
The endings for usted, él, and ella are always a single vowel.
The conjugations for nosotros always end in -mos.
The conjugations for ustedes, ellos, and ellas always end in -n.
The endings for -AR verbs all start with the vowel a, except for the yo form.
The endings for -ER verbs all start with the vowel e, except for the yo form.
The conjugations for -ER and -IR verbs are the same, except for the nosotros forms in which the e changes to i for -IR verbs.

Irregular Verbs in the Simple Present Indicative

Here comes the most difficult part of any Spanish conjugation: the irregular verbs. Before you start panicking, there are more patterns that can help you memorize all the irregular verbs.

Stem-changing Verbs

These irregular verbs are called “stem-changing” because the base, or stem, of the verb changes slightly in the simple present indicative. Think of the stem as the part of the verb that remains when you take off the infinitive endings -AR, -ER, and -IR. For example, the stem of hablar is habl-. There are many verbs that alter their stem in the same way, so we have separated them into groups to represent those similar changes.

Stem Change: E to I

	Decir (to say)	Pedir (to ask for)	Servir (to serve)
Yo	digo	pido	sirvo
Tú	dices	pides	sirves
Usted	dice	pide	sirve
Él / Ella	dice	pide	sirve
Nosotros	decimos	pedimos	servimos
Ustedes	dicen	piden	sirven
Ellos / Ellas	dicen	piden	sirven

*Note that decir has an additional change in the yo form. The c changes to g.

Stem Change: E to EI

	Querer (to want)	Tener (to have)	Pensar (to think)
Yo	quiero	tengo	pienso
Tú	quieres	tienes	piensas
Usted	quiere	tiene	piensa
Él / Ella	quiere	tiene	piensa
Nosotros	queremos	tenemos	pensamos
Ustedes	quieren	tienen	piensan
Ellos / Ellas	quieren	tienen	piensan

*Note that tener, like decir, does not exactly follow the change in the yo form. Here, there is no stem change, and a g is added.

Stem Change: I to IE

	Adquirir (to acquire)	Inquirir (to inquire into)
Yo	adquiero	inquiero
Tú	adquieres	inquieres
Usted	adquiere	inquiere
Él / Ella	adquiere	inquiere
Nosotros	adquirimos	inquirimos
Ustedes	adquieren	inquieren
Ellos / Ellas	adquieren	inquieren

Stem Change: O to UE

	Soñar (to dream)	Mover (to move)	Recordar (to remember)
Yo	sueño	muevo	recuerdo
Tú	sueñas	mueves	recuerdas
Usted	sueña	mueve	recuerda
Él / Ella	sueña	mueve	recuerda
Nosotros	soñamos	movemos	recordamos
Ustedes	sueñan	mueven	recuerdan
Ellos / Ellas	sueñan	mueven	recuerdan

Stem Change: U to UE

	Jugar (to play)
Yo	juego
Tú	juegas
Usted	juega
Él / Ella	juega
Nosotros	jugamos
Ustedes	juegan
Ellos / Ellas	juegan

This list of stem-changing Spanish verbs represents but a few of the verbs that undergo such changes in the simple present indicative. There are numerous other verbs that change in the same way; the above verbs are some of the most common ones to get you started.

Stem-Changing… or Not?

Did you notice that one form never changed in any of the verbs? Exactly! The nosotros form does not participate in any stem change.

Pro Tip: any verb that ends with one of these stem-changing verbs also undergoes the same changes. For example, contener (contain) ends in tener, which is a stem-changing verb. Therefore, contenter is conjugated in the same way as tener, just with the prefix con- before each form.

Keep in mind that these stem changes are only for the simple present indicative. Many of the verbs on these lists are regular in other forms, and others are irregular but change in different ways.

Irregular 1st Person Singular (Yo)

We’ve already seen two verbs that have a unique yo form: tener and decir. There are other stem-changing verbs that do not follow the rule for yo.

Venir (E to IE) – Yo vengo. Tú vienes.
I come. You come.

Seguir (E to I) – Yo sigo. Tú sigues.
I follow. You follow.

Regular Verbs With An Irregular Yo Form

These next verbs are all regular except for the yo form. Many of the spelling changes occur to maintain the correct pronunciation of the verb.

Endings -ger, -guir, and -gir

As a rule, verbs that end in -ger, -guir, and -gir change only in the yo form because an o following a g changes the sound of the g. You can learn more about vowels and hard/soft letters in our pronunciation blog post.

	Escoger (to choose)	Distinguir (to distinguish)	Dirigir (to lead, manage)
Yo	escojo	distingo	dirijo
Tú	escoges	distingues	diriges
Usted	escoge	distingue	dirige
Él / Ella	escoge	distingue	dirige
Nosotros	escogemos	distinguimos	dirigimos
Ustedes	escogen	distinguen	dirigen
Ellos / Ellas	escogen	distinguen	dirigen

The chart shows verbs that end in -ger and -gir replace the g with j before adding the appropriate ending for the yo form. Any verb that ends in -guir removes u along with -ir before adding the yo ending. In all the other forms, the verbs are conjugated normally.

Endings -cer and -cir

Likewise, verbs that end in -cer and -cir add a z before the c in the yo form:

	Conocer (to know)	Producir (to produce)	Traducir (to translate)
Yo	conozco	produzco	traduzco

Add -g- or -ig-

	Poner (to put)	Hacer (to do)	Salir (to leave)
Yo	pongo	hago	salgo
	Traer (to bring)	Caer (to fall)
Yo	traigo	caigo

Add -y

	Dar (to give)	Estar (to be)
Yo	doy	estoy

*The other forms of estar have a bit of a twist to them. While the conjugations are the same as other -AR verbs, every form except nosotros has an accent over the a. (Tú estás. Ellos están.)

Unique Verbs

	Ver (to see)	Caber (to fit)	Saber (to know)
Yo	veo	quepo	sé

Completely Irregular Verbs

One last group of irregular verbs doesn’t quite fit into any of these other categories. Although unique, they are quite common in the Spanish language. Haber is a special auxiliary verb which we will explore in another blog post, so if you want to just focus on ir and ser for now, that’s completely fine!

	Ir (to go)	Ser (to be)	Haber (to have – auxiliary verb)
Yo	voy	soy	he
Tú	vas	eres	has
Usted	va	es	ha
Él / Ella	va	es	ha
Nosotros	vamos	somos	hemos
Ustedes	van	son	han
Ellos / Ellas	van	son	han

Keep Practicing!

Congratulations! You’ve survived your first Spanish grammar lesson! It may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but with practice, you can soon become a master of the simple present indicative. Remember, it even takes native Spanish speakers years to learn all the nuances of the conjugations and irregular verbs. Be patient with yourself! Also, if you have any questions or would like more practice, schedule a free class with one of our exceptionally knowledgeable Spanish teachers! ¡Tú puedes!

Check Out Our Latest Posts!

by Ashley ReidJanuary 13, 2020 High School Spanish, Homeschooling, Spanish Abroad, Spanish Grammar0 comments

How to Pamper Yourself in Spanish

We all need a day to pamper ourselves, right? The stress of work, life, school, family, and kids all builds up and drains us. Take some time for yourself and go to a nail salon or spa! Relájate. Now, if you are in a Spanish-speaking area and don’t know how to ask for a relaxing spa treatment, you might find it next to impossible to get the relaxing day you hoped for. Knowing the right Spanish vocabulary to overcome this hurdle is the key to treating yourself to the fullest. If you want to also get a haircut, brush up on the words and phrases you’ll need before you head off to the hair salon!

Cuál versus Qué

In your first couple of Spanish classes, your teacher probably taught you the question words: ¿Quién? ¿Qué? ¿Dónde? ¿Cuándo? ¿Por qué? ¿Cómo? ¿Cuánto? ¿Cuál? If your classes were anything like mine, you learned that qué means “what,” and cuál means “which.” Right? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that.

After living in Guatemala for several years, people have asked me my name a lot—by asking ¿Cómo te llamas? or ¿Cuál es tu nombre? However, they have never asked me ¿Qué es tu nombre?

That’s Wrong?!

Wait, what? That last sentence is incorrect? Yup. You should never say ¿Qué es tu nombre? When I realized this, I felt completely decepcionada. Why did my teacher tell me that qué means “what,” and cuál means “which,” if that’s not the case?

To be fair, cuál often translates to “which,” but not always. There are a couple of rules to remember when deciding whether to use qué or cuál in a question. (For the full list, you can visit this article on Qué vs Cuál.) Let’s take a look at them here:

4 Rules to Remember

If the question word is followed by a noun, use qué. (¿Qué libro te gusta más?)

A common question in Spanish is “what/which type…?” and translates to ¿cuál tipo…? Since the question word is followed by a noun (tipo), we always use qué. While in English we could say something like “Which book do you like best?” we could never say ¿Cuál libro te gusta más?
If the question word is followed by de, use cuál.

If you want to express a choice between things (nouns) without using qué, you can say cuál de. For example, ¿Cuál de los libros es tu favorito? This is essentially asking the same thing as our question in the previous point, but it is worded in a slightly different manner.
If you are asking to define something, use qué.

My favorite question is ¿Qué significa…? This is a perfect example of how we use qué when looking for a definition. As a Spanish learner, this is also a really important question to learn, along with ¿Qué es eso? Both questions are looking for clarification or a definition to something, which calls for the question word qué.
If it is an open-ended question, use cuál.

This last rule might be the most confusing one and may be difficult to get used to. In one of our previous examples, we looked at the correct question ¿Cuál es tu nombre?Here, we must use cuálbecause we are not looking for a definition. And the answer could be any number of things—it is an open-ended question. Another common question that is often said incorrectly is ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? Yes, here we also use cuál! It may take time to break the habit of using quéfor all these questions, but with practice, you can master it!

Compound words

Do you remember learning about compound words in elementary school? Some examples are butterfly, raincoat, sunflower, and haircut. This combination of two words to make one word also happens in Spanish, but it is not as common. Luckily for us, we have several examples in our charts above. Can you find them?

They are:

el quitaesmalte
el pintaúñas
el pintalabios

The first one, quitaesmalte, breaks into quita and esmalte. Quita means “remove,” and esmalte is “nail polish,” so when we put them together, it means “nail polish remover.” Pretty simple, right? Normally, with compound words in Spanish, you can deduce the meaning of them by breaking them into separate words. It’s not always that easy in English (take butterfly and sunflower, for example), but in Spanish, you can easily figure out the meaning of compound words if you understand their components.

Break It Down

Let’s see if we can break down pintaúñas. Do you know what words we can separate this into? Great! Pinta (or paint) and uñas (or nails). This literally means “paint for nails,” which we would call nail polish. The last example starts with the same word, pinta (paint), and is followed by labios (lips). Again, this would literally be “paint for lips,” but we call that lipstick. Can you see how easy it is to find the meaning of compound words?

Check the Spelling

Warning, be careful with the spelling! Although pintalabios ends in s, it can be both singular and plural: el pintalabios or los pintalabios. The s comes from the word labios and does not automatically make the compound word plural. Look out for changes in gender in compound words, as well. Although both pinta and uñas end in a, and uña is a feminine noun by itself, these words come together to form a masculine noun. While the components of the individual words are still there (like the gender and singular/plural), when they come together, they give up their individuality to create a new word. It can be confusing, but just memorize the compound words with their corresponding articles.

¡Relájate!

You are now ready to pamper yourself in Spanish! Head on over to your local salon or spa or have a relaxing day in with your friends and use your new vocabulary words. If you have any questions or would like to practice with a certified teacher, sign up for a FREE trial class with us. Our teachers will help you to speak fluently in no time!

by Lindsay BrownJanuary 4, 2020 Homeschooling, Spanish for Kids, Spanish Grammar0 comments

Ten Spanish Commands to Use with Kids

While telling our kids what to do is generally just another parental chore, teaching them to follow our instructions in Spanish can actually be fun! Giving commands in Spanish is possible through the use of imperatives. This type of verb conjugation tends to be a bit complicated with four separate distinctions, but here we simplify it to how you will speak to your child using one form, the tú form. Learning ways to use commands with your child will increase daily Spanish use, improve their listening skills, and enrich their lesson experiences with Spanish instruction.

Imperatives

In English, it is much more common to use the “soft imperative” that goes something like this: “Could you come here?” instead of blurting out, “Come here!” However, in Spanish, while the soft imperative can be used (¿Podrías venir acá?), it is much more common to hear the unsoftened version: ¡Ven acá! and it is not rude. Keep in mind for this article, we are using the tú form instead of the usted form.

Do or Don’t

Imperative verbs can be affirmative or negative. In order to make affirmative imperative, you use the 3rd person indicative form. This rule applies to all regular verbs. For example:

affirmative imperative in spanish

In order to make a negative imperative, you use the subjunctive tú form. For example:

negative imperative in spanish

Now that you know how the imperative is formed in both affirmative and negative forms using any regular verb, you can practice using your favorite verbs with your child!

Irregular Verbs

The irregular verbs, however, do not follow a predictable pattern. They are many very useful verbs that are irregular in this sense and so they must be memorized. That is why our Top 10 Commands are all irregular!

Top 10 Commands to Use with Kids

Here is a list of the top 10 most useful imperatives to use with your child:

top spanish imperatives how to conjugate

As you can see, the affirmative imperative form is irregular and you will simply have to memorize it and use it often with your little one to help them learn it, too. The negative imperative form is, as we learned above, made from the subjunctive tú form. Here are some ways to use your new command words in example instruction scenarios:

commands for kids in spanish

Some more useful phrases:

Recoge tus juguetes – pick up your toys

Bajate de allí – get down from there

Limpia tu cuarto – clean your room

Lava los trastes – wash the dishes

Vístete – get dressed

Improve with Imperatives

By teaching your child to follow your instructions in Spanish, they will be much more likely to use these words on their own. It will bolster their listening skills, improve their memory of commonly-used verbs, and it may just make your child love following instructions! Give your child a chance to use their new knowledge of imperatives with a native Spanish speaker by signing up for a free online class. Your child is guaranteed to speak Spanish after the first class!

by Majo GrajedaDecember 22, 2019 High School Spanish, Homeschooling, Spanish Grammar, Spanish Resources0 comments

Spanish Subjunctive – Part 3 – Imperfect

On Part 1 of the Spanish subjuntivo series, we learned what the subjuntivo is. As you already know, the subjunctive is a mood that allows us to express ideas, thoughts, desires, possibilities, and doubts. Because it is a mood and not a tense, we can use it in both the present tense to refer to a current action – see Part 2 of the subjuntivo series – or in the imperfect tense to refer to actions or events that don’t occur in a specific point in time.

Today, we’ll explore the conjugation of the subjunctive in the imperfect!

Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation

Regular Verbs

The conjugation of regular verbs in the subjunctive mood is just as simple in the imperfect as it is in the present tense! Have a look at the table below, and take a note of your observations!

imperfect subjunctive spanish conjugation

These are some rules that will help you learn the conjugation of verbs in the imperfect subjunctive even faster:

We always use a tilde – accent – on the first person plural, nosotros. In the case of the -ar ending, the tilde goes on the a before the r. In the case of the -er and -ir endings, the tilde goes on the e after the i:
In the case of -ar endings, you add the conjugation after the infinitive -ar ending. This is similar to the ending of the simple future tense but without the tilde of the future tense – yo is an exception and you replace the ‘é’ with an ‘a’.
The conjugations of –er and -ir verbs use the same endings, which are added to the stem after removing the ending -er and -ir:

-iera, -ieras, -iera, -iéramos, -ieran, -ieranExamples: tuviera, comieras, hubiera, saliéramos, bebieran

Irregular verbs

As with the present tense, the imperfect subjunctive has irregular verbs. Below you’ll find a list of some of the commonly used irregular verbs. Keep in mind that while the endings remain the same, the stem changes!

stem change conjugation subjunctive imperfect spanish

Uses of the Imperfect Subjunctive

We use the imperfect subjunctive in two different ways:

In dependent clauses and adjective clauses introduced by the relative pronoun que when the previous clause uses a past tense verb. We always need to make sure our tenses match!
Example: Me gustó que trajeras postre. – I like that you brought dessert.
In conditional clauses – si (if) clauses.
Example: Si fuera lunes, iría al mercado. – If it were Monday, I would go to the market.

To read a detailed explanation on how to use the subjunctive in both present and imperfect tenses, follow this link!

Quick Practice

Test yourself by conjugating the verbs in parenthesis! Remember that Spanish doesn’t require you to use personal pronouns like you do in English, so use the English translations to make sure you conjugate the verb in the correct form!

Ella me dijo que _____ (venir) mañana.
She told me to come tomorrow.
No pensamos que _____ (ser) una buena idea.
We didn’t think it was a good idea.
Su mamá le dijo que se _____ (poner) un suéter.
Her mom told her to put on a sweater.
Nosotros le dijimos que ______ (ver) una película.
We told her to watch a movie.
Ellos necesitaban que _____ (traer) un pastel.
They needed us to bring a cake.

Takeaway

The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll feel using the subjunctive in everyday conversation, so book a free class with us and let’s practice together everything we’ve learned on the subjuntivo series!

Practice Answers:

viniera (me – I – yo viniera)
fuera (it – la idea – ella fuera)
pusiera (her – she – ella pusiera)
viera (her -she – ella viera)
trajéramos (us – we – nosotros trajéramos)

Want More on the Subjunctivo Series? Check these out!

Part 1: Spanish Subjunctive – What is it?

Part 2: Spanish Subjunctive – How to Conjugate the Present Tense

Part 3: Spanish Subjunctive – How to Conjugate the Imperfect Tense (you are here)

by Ashley ReidDecember 21, 2019 High School Spanish, Homeschooling, Spanish for Working Adults, Spanish Resources0 comments

Moving Day in Spanish

It’s moving day guys! How many times have you moved? In the first 3 months of our marriage, my husband and I moved 4 times, and we are constantly traveling to visit family. Suffice it to say, I have a lot of experience packing and moving – and I don’t particularly like it! It can be such a stressful experience, especially if you’re doing it in a foreign country. With all this experience of moving around a Spanish-speaking country, though, I have picked up some key vocabulary in Spanish that will hopefully help make your next move go smoothly.

If you ever need to move to a Spanish-speaking country, or if you have Spanish-speaking workers help you move in the States, the following vocabulary and phrases will definitely help you make the moving process go smoothly. Let’s check them out!

moving day vocabulary in spanish

moving day phrases in spanish

One English Word, Two Spanish Words

Did you catch that first word in the chart? To move? It is not mover, as you might have thought, but mudarse! Be very careful with this one, as it is a common mistake for Spanish learners to use mover when talking about moving to a new home. Mover is for every type of movement, except moving to a new house! That is exclusively mudarse. I’m not quite sure why moving to a new home has a separate word in Spanish, but if you think about all the work that goes into packing, relocating, and unpacking, it is a quite different idea from other movements that we do throughout the day. It is a pronominal verb as well, so keep that in mind when talking about where and when you’re moving. Check out these phrases to help you in your conversations:

Nos vamos a mudar a Argentina.
We’re going to move to Argentina.

Me mudé a Guatemala en 2013.
I moved to Guatemala in 2013.

¿Estás pensando en mudarte?
Are you thinking about moving?

Él se muda a España el viernes.
He is moving to Spain on Friday.

Remember that with pronominal verbs, we include a reflexive pronoun. The placement of that pronoun can vary depending on the sentence, as shown in the sentences above. For more information on where to place the reflexive pronoun, click here.

Another English word that has two potential Spanish translations is ‘to live.’ Yes, as you probably guessed, the most common translation in vivir. However, there is another word that translates to live, which is morar. The first time I saw this word, it was in the past participle form he morado (I have lived), and I was thoroughly confused. I have purple? Purple is a verb? While it may look like the word for purple in Spanish (morado), it is not! It is another way to say ‘to live,’ or more formally, ‘to dwell.’ In English, ‘to dwell’ sounds very formal, and so you may tend to reserve the use of morar for equally formal occasions like I have (I’m not sure that I have ever used morar in conversation). However, it does not exclusively mean such a formal idea! It is also a synonym for vivir, and I have heard it used several times in informal conversation. This is just something to keep in mind as you talk to people in Spanish about where you have lived and are living.

Imperative Voice

What is your role on moving day? Are you the one listening to commands, obediently carrying and packing boxes? Or are you the one giving the commands, making sure everything is in order? Either way, you need to know how to use and understand commands in Spanish! For a more in-depth look at the imperative voice (commands), check out Spanish Commands Part 1 and Part 2.

In English, the verbs don’t change when we give a command:

I put it over there. / You put it over there.
Put it over there!

Can you see how the verb ‘put’ stays the say in general statements and a commanding sentence? Unfortunately, the Spanish command form isn’t quite that simple. There are different conjugations for each person you could give a command to (tú, usted, ustedes). We don’t have a conjugation for all the pronouns in the imperative form because you can’t give a command to yourself or to him or her. While we can’t give commands to ‘us,’ we do have a unique way of encouraging teamwork in both English and Spanish! In English, we would say something like, ‘let’s do this!’ or ‘let’s work together.’ In Spanish, the verb would actually take the subjunctive form to represent that idea of ‘let’s.’ It is often considered part of the command conjugations but is technically the subjunctive form!

In our chart above, there are several commanding sentences. Can you find some? They are all referring to either tú or nosotros. If you want to use those sentences with usted or ustedes, the verb would have to change. Let’s look at how some of them would change so you are completely prepared if you want to give a command to a group of people or someone you respect.

conjugate imperatives in spanish

Are you able to see some patterns in how to conjugate the verbs in the imperative? Click here for more help! Poner is probably the most useful verb for moving day, and it is, unfortunately, an irregular verb. However, the imperative tú form is quite simple – pon. If you want to have just one simple phrase to remember for moving day, I would recommend the following: Pon eso allí. Put that there. It will get you through a lot of conversations when moving. Even if you don’t quite understand everything being said, the most important thing is where to put the boxes! With that little sentence, you can survive moving in Spanish!

¿Estás Listo?

Are you ready to move? Hopefully, with this blog, you are able to take away some of the stress of moving by having a straightforward list of key phrases for packing and moving in Spanish. If you think of any more words that you need to use for moving day, or if you want to translate a specific command or sentence, talk with one of our teachers! They are all native Spanish speakers, and they would love to help you. You can sign up for a FREE trial class here, or you check out how our classes work here. You don’t want to miss a chance to perfect your Spanish-speaking abilities. Sign up today and happy moving day! ¡Feliz día de mudanza!

by Ashley ReidNovember 3, 2019 Spanish Grammar0 comments

The Future Tenses in Spanish: el Presente Simple

I don’t know about you, but I love dreaming and making plans. Daydreaming is quite possibly my favorite pastime, and I talk about my hopes for the future all the time. A lot of our culture is about planning for the future – saving money, getting an education for a good job, outlining 5 and 10-year plans. We are always looking towards the future!

Since future plans make up such a big part of our life and conversation, we need to be able to talk about them in whatever language we are learning. In Spanish, we can use a couple of different tenses to talk about the future. If you have not already, check out our first two blogs on the future tenses: futuro simple + futuro próximo.

With this blog, we are going to go over a tense that is technically not a future tense but is commonly used as such.

The Simple Present

Yes, you read that correctly. We often use the simple present to talk about future plans! Before we get into when and how we use it, I want to go over the basics of conjugating verbs in the present simple just to refresh your memory. Please note that there is a lot more to talk about regarding the present simple (like stem-changing verbs and irregulars), but that’s for another blog.

Conjugation

I hope that all looks familiar! Now comes the big question – how do we use this to talk about the future?

How do we use it?

There is one big idea that encompasses the uses of the simple present in the future: set plans.

If you remember from our other blogs about the future tenses, none of them were used for set plans. The futuro próximo is used for plans in the making and intentions, but not for things set in stone. The futuro simple is also used for intentions, but still not for set plans.

Whenever we have a plan completely established, we can use the present simple. Think of it this way. If you got accepted to college for the coming fall and you finally have everything packed, all the paperwork is done, and financial aid is set up, you would say it was certain you were going. Of course, things happen that can’t be foreseen. However, based on what we know and what we can plan, everything is set for you to go to college. How would you express your plans for the fall?

I will go to college in a couple of months.

I’m going to college in a couple of months.

More than likely, you would use the second sentence as it expresses much more certainty. Wait, though. That’s the present continuous, not the present simple!

If you remember from our last future blog, the uses of the present simple and present continuous in English and Spanish are not as similar as you may think. We often use the present simple in Spanish when we would use the present continuous in English.

The present continuous in Spanish is used for things happening in this exact moment, while the English present continuous extends to plans we have in the future.

We’re going to Colombia in January.
Vamos a Colombia en enero.

I’m going to college in the fall.
Voy a la universidad en el otoño.

Can you see how these are set plans in the future? We often express this idea in English with the present continuous, but in Spanish it would be the present simple.

Some set plans are not always represented with the present continuous in English, however.

I’ll see you tomorrow.
Te miro mañana.

This is a very common statement, and this was actually my first introduction to this idea of using the presente simple for future plans. I often use the futuro simple to express set future plans, but I was translating directly from English and it was incorrect. I would say things like:

Te miraré mañana.

While this is definitely understandable, it does not accurately convey what I meant. This sentence is saying that it is my intention to see you tomorrow, not a set plan. To express a set plan, we need to use the presente simple – Te miro mañana.

There is yet another way to translate the presente simple into English.

Ella se casa el 17 de diciembre.
She gets married on December 17^th.

Woah! We’re using the simple present in both English and Spanish! Sometimes it makes sense to use the simple present in English for things in the future. Here, we are looking at an event completely set in stone – the venue is booked, the caterer hired, the dress bought. Everything is set up and she is definitely getting married.

Big Idea

Using the presente simple to express things in the future is pretty straightforward in Spanish: use it to talk about set plans. However, the tricky part comes in when you are trying to talk about a set plan that would be talked about using a different tense in English. Something that will help you overcome this translation hurdle is to stop translating! Yes, you read that right. Stop thinking of the sentence in English first and translating it to Spanish. You are more likely to make mistakes trying to literally translate.

Yes, yes, I know. This is a lot easier said than done. I’ve been there, and I can tell you from experience that when you embrace the idea of not trying to translate everything and understand word-by-word what things mean, your understanding of the Spanish language will deepen and your conversational skills will flourish.

This requires a large learning curve, though, and a lot of patience. The first step can be practicing using the presente simple for future things! Remember that in Spanish, we use it to talk about set plans in the future. Don’t think about how sometimes it’s translated to English with the present continuous, sometimes with the present simple, and sometimes with the future simple. Embrace it for what it is in Spanish alone!

To help you in this process, try a FREE trial class with one of our native Spanish-speaking teachers. Practice your future tenses with them and have trial conversations! ¡Aprende más!

by Ashley ReidNovember 1, 2019 Spanish Grammar0 comments

Pronominal Verbs in Spanish

Alright, guys. This one is for all you grammar nerds and advanced Spanish learners. If you are just starting to learn Spanish, I would not recommend this blog. You can learn more about simple reflexive verbs here. Even if you are an intermediate learner, there still may be some advanced topics discussed in this blog. However, the general topics are good to keep in mind!

Get out your Spanish notebook, your favorite pens, and a cup of tea or coffee and settle in! We’ve got a lot of grammar to cover.

What in the World are Pronominal Verbs?

I’m sure you’ve heard of reflexive verbs in Spanish, right? Cepillarse, bañarse, vestirse. Well, reflexive verbs are actually also pronominal verbs. Let’s see why.

If you look at the word ‘pronominal,’ can you take a guess at what it means? ‘Pronominal’ has the same root as the word ‘pronoun,’ or pronombre in Spanish. Now, how can verbs also be pronouns? Well, this word isn’t saying that the verbs are actually pronouns, but that they use pronouns.

The definition of pronominal verbs according to the Real Academia Española is:

[un] verbo que se construye en todas sus formas con pronombres reflexivos átonos que no desempeñan ninguna función sintáctica y que concuerdan con el sujeto”

Translated, this says:

“A verb that is constructed in all of its forms with non-accented reflexive pronouns that don’t hold any syntactic function and that agree with the subject.”

Let’s break this down.

‘Constructed in all its forms’ refers to the conjugations for each personal pronoun. In other words, when pronominal verbs are conjugated, they use a pronoun in the conjugations for each person (subject pronoun), not just certain ones.
‘Non-accented reflexive pronouns’ are just the specific pronouns for pronominal verbs (see the chart below). Some pronouns do have accents in Spanish, like mí and él, but pronominal verbs use only pronouns that are not stressed or accented.

‘That don’t hold any syntactic function’ basically means that these reflexive pronouns do not change the structure of a sentence.
‘And that agree with the subject’ means that each reflexive pronoun must be in concordance with the subject. Just like you need to conjugate the verb to agree with the subject, you must use the correct pronoun that matches the subject of your sentence.

Let’s summarize this. Pronominal verbs always come with a reflexive pronoun, and both agree with the subject when conjugated.

One easy way to spot pronominal verbs is in their infinitive forms. Remember, infinitive verbs are ones that end in -AR, -ER, or -IR. If a verb is pronominal, it will have an -se after those infinitive forms. For example, if you remember the pronominal verbs we looked at previously, they all end in -se. Cepillarse, bañarse, vestirse. The ‘-se’ is actually a reflexive pronoun that we stick to the end! When the verbs are conjugated, this ‘se’ can stay as ‘se’ or will change to one of the other reflexive pronouns listed in the chart above. The pronoun also does not always stay joined with the verb; the placement in the sentence can vary greatly, and you can find out more about that here.

Types of Pronominal Verbs

Now, most Spanish students (including me) don’t ever hear about these pronominal verbs. Reflexive verbs are taught pretty early on, and I actually thought all verbs with a ‘se’ at the end were reflexive verbs.

In terms of form and pronoun use, you can think of reflexive and pronominal verbs as one and the same. Differentiating between will not affect how they are conjugated or how the reflexive pronoun is used.

Knowing the types of pronominal verbs will help you more deeply understand the meanings of some verbs and the ideas that are being expressed.

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Various websites will tell you different things about how many different types of pronominal verbs there are. For this blog, we will break them into six groups:

Reflexive pronominal verbs
Reciprocal pronominal verbs
Idiomatic pronominal verbs
Psuedo-reflexive pronominal verbs
Occasional pronominal verbs
Pure pronominal verbs

1. Reflexive Pronominal Verbs

If you look up the definition of reflexive verbs in the Real Academia Española, you will find a link redirecting you to the pronominal verbs. This probably explains why most Spanish learners think that pronominal verbs and reflexive verbs are the same. They are not, though.

All reflexive verbs are also pronominal verbs.

All pronominal verbs are not also reflexive verbs.

Basically, reflexive verbs are a subcategory of pronominal verbs. You can probably tell from its name that reflexive verbs express an action done by the subject to the subject. The subject is reflecting the action back on themselves. The most common reflexive verbs are the ones that we use when we get ready in the mornings:

Yo me levanto.
I get up

Tú te cepillas los dientes.
You brush your teeth.

Ella se baña.
She takes a bath.

While these verbs are reflexive in Spanish, they are not translated reflexively in English. Remember that we express reflexive actions in English with the following pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves. Even though they are not technically reflexive actions in English, in Spanish they are considered as such because the action is being done to the subject by the subject.

2. Reciprocal Pronominal Verb

Reciprocal verbs are those that show a reciprocated action, or one that people do to each other. Since an action can be reciprocated with just one person, that means that reciprocal verbs cannot be used with any of the singular subject pronouns yo, tú, usted, ella, and él. That just leaves nosotros, nosotras, ellos, and ellas. Let’s look at an example to make this clearer.

¡Nos vemos mañana!
See you tomorrow! (literal: we will see each other tomorrow)

Ellos se hablan mucho.
They talk to each other a lot.

Ellas se abrazaron antes de despedirse.
They hugged each other before saying goodbye.

You can see that in English we can represent this reciprocal idea with the phrase ‘each other,’ while Spanish uses pronominal verbs!

3. Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs

These reflexive verbs have caused me a lot of grief over the past couple of years. I would hear them used and understand the sentence but have no idea why they were using reflexive verbs. Turns out, of course, that they weren’t using reflexive verbs, but pronominal verbs. While these phrases aren’t necessarily classified as idioms, they do lay outside the other groups of pronominal verbs. Let’s see why.

Cómete todas las verduras.
Eat all the vegetables.

You are probably thinking, just as I did for years, why in the world does comer have a reflexive pronoun! Well, it is added for emphasis. You can say either Come todas las verduras or cómete todas las verduras, and the idea would be the same – Eat all your veggies! However, the added reflexive pronoun puts emphasis on you actually eating them.

Another example of idiomatic pronominal verbs would be the following:

Cuídamelo.

I hear this one all the time in reference to my son. Everyone comments on how cute he is and tells me to take care of him. This would translate to, “Take care of him for me.” The ‘for me’ is communicated with the reflexive pronoun ‘me’ added onto the verb. Watch out for this tricky ‘me!’ If you ever hear it in conversation (and you definitely will because it’s quite common), don’t get confused. Just remember that the person is making their statement more personal, asking you to do something for them.

4. Psuedo-Reflexive Pronominal Verbs

This group of verbs looks and acts like reflexive verbs but aren’t actually – they’re just pronominal verbs! Remember, reflexive verbs only refer to those pronominal verbs that express the subject doing and action to themselves.

These pseudo-reflexive verbs do not actually represent actions, but feelings! This makes them pseudo-reflexive verbs, since they look and act like reflexive verbs, but do not include an action done on the subject, taking away their ‘reflexive’ status.

Me siento muy contenta por tenerte aquí.
I feel so happy to have you here.

Ella se emocionó al ver el perro.
She got excited when she saw the dog.

Can you see how they might be deceiving? You can even call theses emotional pronominal verbs to remind you that they are not reflexive verbs!

Let’s look at one last example.

Me aburrí tanto en la clase de física.
I got so bored in physics class.

This is talking about a feeling – boredom – so it can be classified as a pseudo-reflexive pronominal verb. However, there is more to it than that…

5. Occasional Pronominal Verbs

These pronominal verbs are not just verbs that can or cannot take reflexive pronouns; they are verbs that actually change meaning when they have a reflexive pronoun. You can find more of these here, but let’s look at just a few.

We just said that aburrirse was a pseudo-reflexive verb, but it is also an occasional pronominal verb! Yes, these verbs can be classified as different types of verbs depending on the situation. (Don’t panic – we will touch on this later.) So, aburrir (without the reflexive pronoun) means ‘to bore someone,’ while aburrirse (with the reflexive pronoun) means to get bored. While the general idea is the same, there is a clear distinction between the two verbs. Here are a couple more examples:

Fijar – to set
Fijarse – to notice

Probar – to taste
Probarse – to try on

Now, those changes in meaning are quite drastic! Be very careful with these occasional pronominal verbs because you could be saying something you don’t mean to say!

6. Pure Pronominal Verbs

After looking at all these examples, you may be wondering if some verbs are always pronominal verbs or just sometimes. Let’s take ver, for example. We had the sentence ¡Nos vemos pronto! classified as a reciprocal pronominal verb, but it doesn’t always need a reflexive pronoun!

Estamos viendo una película. (not pronominal)
¡Nos vemos pronto! (pronominal – reciprocal)

Ellos comieron cinco pizzas. (not pronominal)
Cómete todas las verduras. (pronominal – idiomatic)

Él levantó la mesa. (not pronominal)
Yo me levanto. (pronominal – reflexive)

See how all the verbs we’ve looked at so far don’t HAVE to have a reflexive pronoun? That means that they are not pure pronominal verbs. Their status as pronominal verbs depends on the situation and the ideas being expressed in each sentence. There are actually very few pure pronominal verbs, or verbs that MUST always be accompanied by a reflexive pronoun. You can find a full chart here, but we’ll explore a few now.

Antojarse: to get a desire for something
Se me antoja un cafecito caliente.

Suicidarse: to commit suicide
Lastimosamente, él se suicidó anohce.

Arrepentirse: to regret
Ya nos arrepentimos de nuestra decisión.

These verbs that are pure pronominal verbs cannot be used without a reflexive pronoun – ever. Thankfully, there aren’t very many of them, so you don’t have to memorize too many verbs. Plus, several of them are not very common in everyday conversations.

Important Notes

Now, before you go classifying every verb a pronominal verb, there are some things to remember.

Most verbs can be either pronominal or not, depending on the situation.
Verbs can be classified as different types of pronominal verbs depending on the sentence.
All reflexive verbs are pronominal verbs.
Not all pronominal verbs are reflexive verbs.
Pronominal verbs are those that are accompanied by a reflexive pronoun.

Read that last sentence very closely. Only reflexive pronouns make a verb pronominal. Direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns do NOT make a verb pronominal. This can be a bit confusing because a lot of the pronouns are the same!

Can you see how many of the pronouns are the same? How do you kno w when a pronoun is reflexive and therefore makes the verb pronominal? Well, ‘se’ is usually a giveaway since it is never an indirect object or direct object pronoun. Another way to know is if the pronoun matches the subject. Check these out:

Te llamo después de mi clase. (not pronominal)
Me llamo Rogelio. (pronominal – idiomatic)

Ella nos habló sobre matemáticas. (not pronominal)
Nos hablamos cada noche. (pronominal – reciprocal)

Me preocupó mucho su ausencia. (not pronominal)
¡No te preocupes! (pronominal – psuedo-reflexive)

Are you starting to see the difference? Don’t worry; it takes practice, but you’ll get it soon. Another sign to look out for is the passive voice, which uses the pronoun ‘se’ a lot. The passive voice may look like a pronominal verb, but it is not!

¿Dónde se venden carros?
Where are cars sold?

¿Cómo se dice…?
How do you say…

No se puede.
It can’t be done.

Phew! That’s a lot of information. I hope you are not too confused, but if you have follow-up questions, you can talk with one of our live, native Spanish-speaking teachers! Sign up for a FREE class today to keep practicing with the different types of verbs! ¡Tú puedes!

by Ashley ReidOctober 30, 2019 Spanish Grammar0 comments

The Future in Spanish: Futuro Próximo/Idiomático

Before you get started on this blog, this is part 2. Check out the futuro simple blog here if you haven’t already!

What are you going to do today? What are you going to do this summer/weekend? What are you going to do about it?

How many times have you heard these questions or asked them? Our plans and intentions for the future make up a larger part of our daily conversations. Make sure you can talk about these big ideas and plans in your budding second language, Spanish!

‘Going to’ Future

What is it?

Now that we’ve mastered the futuro simple, it’s time to move onto the futuro próximo, or the futuro idiomático. I would argue that this is much more commonly used in Spanish (at least where I live), and quite possibly in English.

If you remember the structure of the futuro simple, it involved a lot of new endings and accents. Luckily for you, the futuro próximo doesn’t have any new endings! This is a great thing because once you get the formula down, you won’t have to memorize any new verbs endings!

Formation

Firstly, let’s look at an example in English.

I am going to call you later.

If we make a formula out of this, it would look like the following:

Pronoun + conjugation of ‘to be’ in present simple + going + to + verb

If you are familiar with some different tenses, you may notice that we use the present continuous to create this future form in English. We can write the formula this way:

Pronoun + present continuous + infinitive verb

If you may recall, the present continuous forms in English and Spanish are very comparable:

I am eating.

Yo estoy comiendo.

However, the uses of the present simple and present continuous are NOT the same in English and Spanish. Before we go any further, we need to talk about these differences.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

In English, we use the present simple for habitual things and permanent situations (among other more complex situations that we can explore later). For example:

I go to school every day.

We eat cereal every Sunday for breakfast.

She goes to Spain every summer.

He likes chocolate.

We use the present continuous for things we are doing in the moment (or in the close future).

I am studying right now.

We are going to the store.

Now, in Spanish, the present simple (presente simple) is not as limited. We still use if for habitual things and permanent situations, just like in English, but it is more extensive than that. For example:

Voy a la tienda. – I am going to the store (soon).

Here, we don’t say Estoy yendo a la tienda in Spanish, unless you are actually on your way, and even then, it is more common in many areas to say ‘voy’ instead of ‘yendo.’

Even when you want to ask someone what they are doing right now, you can ask them ¿Qué haces? (presente simple) or ¿Qué estás haciendo? (presente continuo). You would generally respond using the present continuous, but the fact that you can use the present simple to talk about an action happening right now is very important to note.

Formula

Let’s take this all back to our future tense, el futuro idiomático.

I am going to call you later.

Would you say Estoy yendo a llamarte más tarde? No. Estoy yendo implies current movement, and if you remember, it is not as common as just saying ‘voy.’ So, when we’re talking about something we are going to do soon, we need to use ‘voy.’

Te voy a llamar más tarde.

What you need to remember is that while the present continuous is used to express things happening soon in English, we used the presente simple to express the same idea in Spanish.

Salimos en 5 minutos. – We’re leaving in 5 minutes.

Therefore, if you carry that logic through that we use the presente simple for future events, we must use the presente simple to form the futuro idiomático. Let’s look at our previous example.

I’m going to call you later.

Te voy a llamar más tarde.

Can you make a formula for the futuro idiomático?

Present simple conjugation of ir + a + infinitive verb

Remember:

Always use the present simple conjugations of the verb ir.
Always include the word a between ir and the infinitive verb.
An infinitive verb in Spanish is one that ends in -AR, -ER, and -IR.

If you already have the present simple conjugations of the verb ir memorized, then this form will be very easy for you! If not, you can use this following chart to refresh your memory:

You have everything you need to form the futuro próximo. But…when should you use it?

When do we use it?

Immediate future

Lo voy a hacer ahorita. – I am going to do it right now (soon).

¿Vas a venir con nosotros? – Are you going to come with us?

If you are talking about what you are going to do shortly (ahorita), you need to use the futuro próximo. This could include things that you’re going to do in 5 minutes or 5 days – it all depends on your definition of ‘soon.’ Either way, the futuro próximo is the appropriate tense to use.

Plans

Vamos a ir de vacaciones a México en diciembre. – We’re going on vacation to Mexico in December.

Ella va a tener una fiesta el sábado. – She’s going to have a party on Saturday.

When we say plans here, we are talking about plans that are made but that might not be set in stone. This would be for plans that we are currently making. Maybe you haven’t yet bought your flight to Mexico yet, but you are looking for a cheap one. Maybe your friend hasn’t invited everyone to the party yet, but she marked it down in her calendar.

Intentions

Lo voy a hacer mañana. – I’m going to do it tomorrow.

Voy a limpiar mi cuarto después. I’m going to clean my room later.

Intentions are like New Year’s goals – sometimes they happen, sometimes they don’t. Other times they happen, just not how we expected. Either way, we need to use the futuro próximo in Spanish to express things that we intend to do.

Did you notice how in every example, the English and Spanish tenses were equivalent? The ‘going to’ future in English is comparable in structure AND use to the futuro próximo in Spanish. This means that when you would use the ‘going to’ tense in English, more than likely, you need to use the futuro próximo in Spanish. This is good to keep in mind since you probably won’t remember the three uses of the futuro próximo I listed above in your next Spanish conversation.

Another thing to help you remember when to use the futuro próxmio is when you want to do something, but don’t have anything set in stone – in other words, tentative plans.

But wait! If you remember from our futuro simple blog, we said that you could use the futuro simple for your intentions. So…which do we use? The futuro simple or futuro próximo?

The answer is both. When it comes to our intentions, we can use either tense. They each have a slightly different connotation, or feel, to them which you will learn over time (or maybe you can already feel them in English). However, both are appropriate and completely acceptable when talking about your intentions. Don’t stress too much about deciding which future tense to use if you’re discussing your intentions!

Voy a practicar mi español más. – I’m going to practice my Spanish more.

Practicaré mi español más. – I will pracitce my Spanish more.

Vamos a hablar de eso después. – We’re going to talk about that later.

Hablaremos de eso después. – We will talk about that later.

Can you see how we can use both tenses when talking about our intentions – and they are very comparable to the English forms! That makes life a bit easier for you, right?

¡Practiquemos!

Of course, la práctica hace al maestro. To make sure you can use the futuro próximo with ease in your next Spanish conversation, check out our extra practice materials! You can find our video on all the future tenses in Spanish below. It is in Spanish, so it will give you extra practice! We also have a special PDF for you to test what you’ve learned in this blog. Don’t forget to check your answers with the answer key!

Futuro Próximo PDF – Exercises and Answer Key Download

Even if you have everything memorized, it still may be hard to produce the futuro próximo fluently in conversation. If you would like help from a native Spanish speaker, try a FREE class with us! Our teachers would be more than happy to go over some of these rules or just have a practice conversation with you. Sign up today!

by Ashley ReidOctober 29, 2019 Spanish Grammar0 comments

The Future in Spanish: el Futuro Simple

What are you going to do this weekend? Will you get your homework done on time? Are you planning to study more?

What do all of those sentences have in common? Yup, you guessed it! They all talk about things happening in the future – whether they are certain or not. Every day, we talk about our future plans, intentions, and assumptions. However, I bet you don’t pay much attention to what grammatical tense you use to talk about said plans, right?

Well, when learning another language, you may find that you do begin to think about which tense you use for every little situation. This is completely normal! There will come a time when you don’t need to think about tenses as much, but there’s no need to rush yourself.

Now, to talk about future plans in Spanish, there are a couple of different tenses that we need to go over. For this blog, we will only be talking about one tense. Click through the links to find more about other future forms in Spanish! You may feel overwhelmed at first, but with practice, you’ll master the Spanish future tenses in no time!