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Tenses

Conjugation of verbs

Present Tense  (there are 13 other tenses)
Action in present time, habitual, routine, present situation, continuity

Verbs change to indicate WHO is performing the action.  (yo, tú, él/ella, Ud., nosotros, Uds., ellos/ellas    ---   I, you, he/she/it , we, plural you, they, them)

Present Tense

*Note: ER- and IR- verbs are the same except in the nosotros (we) form.

Examples:

Pretérito (Past Tense)
Action completed at some time in the past

Note:  Er and Ir verbs are the same

Examples

Note: In the pretérito, ser and ir are the same.

In Spanish some words have a different meaning when used in the pretérito.
Eg., poder (to be able to)  pude means succeeded in doing.  There are lots of others.

Important words in the pretérito

Note -i changes to y in oir, leer and contribuir, in the third person singular and third person plural.

Future (Futuro) tense
Used to express an action or a state of being that will take place at some time in the future.

Add these endings to the whole infinitive: é, ás, á, emos, án
Note that these Future endings  happen to be the endings of haber in the present indicative: he, has, ha, hemos, han.   Also note the accent marks on the future endings except for the we form, emos.

hablar --hablaré, hablarás, hablará, hablaremos, hablarán
beber --beberé, beberás, beberá, beberemos, beberán
Lo haré.  I shall do it.  I will do it.
Iremos al campo la semana que viene.  We will go to the country next     week. 

In Spanish, the future is also used to indicate.

Remember that the future is never used in Spanish after si when it means if.

Imperfect Tense

Imperfect suggests incomplete.  An action or a state of being that was continuous in the past and its completion is not indicated.  (I think – used to,  as well as was..)

This tense is used to express: 

1. An action that was going on in the past at the same time as another action: 
   Mi hermano leía y mi padre hablaba.  My brother was reading and my father was talking.
2. An action that was going on in the past when another action occurred.
   Mi hermana cantaba cuando yo entré.   My sister was singing when I came in.
3. An action that a person did habitually in the past.
   1. Cuando estábamos en Nueva York,  ibamos al cine todos los sábados. When we were in  New York, we went to the movies every Saturday.
   2. Cuando vivíamaos en California, ibamaos a la playa todos los días.  When we lived in         
      California, we went to the beach every day.  (habitual action in the past.)
4. Also mental, physical, emotional condition in the past. Quiería ir al cine (mental.  I would like to go to the movie)   Estaba contento de verlo. (emotional - happy to see it.)   Mi madre era hermosa  cuando era pequeña. (physical – when she was small).
5. Time of day in the past.  ¿Qué  hora era?
6. An action or state that occurred in the past and lasted for a certain length of time…Hacía tres  horas que miraba la television cuando mi hermano entró.  (I had been watching TV for 3 hours when my brother came in.)

Look for words like:
Siempre
Cada .....
Cuando
Todas
A veces
Antes de
Muchas veces
Con frequencia
Frequentemente
A menudo (often)
De vez en cuando (sometime, from time to time)

Present Progressive (adding-ing to a verb)

Present Participle

The present participle of -ar verbs consists of the root verb plus -ando.
The present participle of the -er and -ir verbs consist of the root verb  plus -iendo

Many stem-changing -ir verbs also have a stem change in the present participle:

Verbs such as construir, leer, and creer which have a y in the preterito also have the y in the present participle:

Present Progressive Tense
The action of the verb is taking place right now

In order to form the progressive tense of the auxiliary verb, estar is used along with the present participle  (Tells who is doing the action)

Reflexive Pronouns

Denotes action self-to-self (me, te, se, nos,  se)

*Single and plural “you” are the same.

Use reflexive pronouns only when you, he, or she does something to him-her-yourself.

Pronoun can be placed before the conjugated verb or attached to the end of the infinitive.

NOTE:  When adding endings (pronouns) to reflexive verbs, you must count back three vowels from the end and insert an accent on the third vowel…

If Juan puts on shoes that he borrowed from you, you would then say ---          

Conditional
Potential Simple

The following endings are added to the whole infinitive. (-ar, -er and -ir verbs)
  ía,   ías,    ía,    íamos,   ían

The usual translation in English is: I would talk, you would talk, etc.; would drink, you would drink, etc.; I would receive, you would receive, etc.

The conditional is used in Spanish and in English to express:

1. An action that you would do if something else were possible
   Irá a España si tuviera dinero.       I would go to Spain if I had the money.
2. A conditional desire. This is a conditional courtesy.
   Me gustaría tomar  una limonada.  I would like (should like) to have a limonade (if you are willing for me to have it.)
3. A direct quotation
   María dijo que vendría mañana. Mary said she would come tomorrow.
   María decía que vendría mañana.  Mary was saying she would come tomorrow.
   María había dicho que vendría manana.  Mary had said that she would come tomorrow.
4. Conjecture regarding the past.
   ¿Quién sería?  I wonder who that was.
5. Probability regarding the past.
   Serían las cinco cuando salieron..  It was probably five o´clock when they went out.

Imperativo
Imperative or Command
(This is only a brief explanation)

An indirect command or deep desire expressed in the third person singular or plural is in the subjunctive mood.  We use  let or may in the English translation: Qué introduces this kind of command in Spanish.
¡Qué lo haga Jorge!  Let George do it!
¡Qué Dios  se lo pague!  May God reward you!
¡Qué vengan pronto! Let them come quickly!
¡Qué entre Robereto!  Let Robert come in.
¡Qué salgan! Let them leave!

In the affirmative command, lst person, plural, vamos  a (Let´s  or Let us) +  an infinitive may be used.
Vamos a comer.  Let's eat.
Vamos a cantar.  Let's sing.
Vamos al cine.  Let's go to the movies.

However if the negative (Let's not go) is used, the present subjunctive of ir must be used:
No vayamos el cine.  Let's not go to the movies.

Note: Vámanos means let´s go or let´s leave.

Object Pronouns (direct, indirect, or reflexive) with an imperative (command) verb form in the affirmative are attached to the verb form.
¡Hágalo (Ud.)!  Do it¡
¡Díganaoslo (Ud.)!  Tell it to us!
¡Levántate (Ud.)!  Get up!
¡Siéntese (Ud.)!  Sit down!
¡Démelo (Ud.) Give it to me!

Object Pronouns (direct, indirect, or reflexive) with an imperative (command) verb form in the negative  are placed in front of  the verb form.

Hester Chamberlain
Learning Assistance Center
Eastfield College