Spanish

Introduction

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language originally from the northern area of Spain. It is the official language of Spain, most Latin American countries, and Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara, in Africa. In total, more than twenty-five nations and territories use Spanish as their primary language, which is spoken in every continent around the world. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations.

Latin is the ancestor of Spanish. It didn't develop from Classical Latin but -- like other Romance languages -- from non-literary variety of Latin, the Vulgar Latin. Vulgar Latin evolved to Old Spanish, which in turn developed into modern Spanish. In the latter development, the verb conjugations underwent only minor changes.

Spanish Verb Types

Spanish verbs are divided in regular and irregular verbs. The vast majority of the verbs are regular. All the verbs are also divided in conjugation groups according to the ending in the infinitive (See the groups under regular verbs).

Note! By checking the sample verbs you also see the list of other verbs belonging to the same type of conjugation.

Regular verbs

Verbix shows regular forms in black. Check the verb conjugations for each verb below.

• 1st conjugation (I), verbs ending in -ar : cantar (to sing).
• 2nd conjugation (II), verbs ending in -er : comer (to eat).
• 3rd conjugation (III), verbs ending in -ir : vivir (to live).

Sample verb (1st conjugation): cantar

Click verbs to conjugate them in the table above!
amar, cantar, intentar.

Irregular verbs

Verbix shows irregular forms in red. Check the verb conjugations for each verb below.

Irregularities in Present tense

Verbs with diptongue.

• E > IE: calentar (I), perder (II), discernir (III)
• I > IE: adquirir (III)
• O > UE: contar (I), volver (II)
• U > UE: jugar (I)
• E > IE/I: sentir (III)
• O > UE/U: dormir (III)

Change in the stem vocale.

• E > I: pedir (III)
• O > U: podrir (III)

Consonants are added in the stem.

• C > CZ: conocer (II)
• N > NG: tener (II)
• L > LG: valer (II), salir (III)
• S > SG: asir (III)
• U > UY: huir (III)
• G added: caer (II), oír (III)

Other irregularities.

• B > Y in subjunctive: haber (II)
• C > G: hacer (II)
• AB > EP: caber (II)
• EC > IG: decir (III)

Irregularities in Preterite tense

Change in stem vocale

• E > I: gemir (III)
• O > U: dormir (III)

Strong preterites

• 1st conjugation: andar, dar, estar
• 2nd conjugation: caber, haber, hacer, placer, poder, poner, querer, responder, saber, ser, tener, traer, ver
• 3rd conjugation: conducir, decir, ir, venir

Irregularities in future and conditional.

Loss of the protonic vocal

• saber (II)

Loss of vocal and consonant

• 2nd conjugation: hacer
• 3rd conjugation: decir

Loss of vocal and addition of consonant

• 2nd conjugation: poner
• 3rd conjugation: salir

Ortographic modifications

Verbix shows ortographic modifications in blue. Check the verb conjugations for each verb below.

Modifications for preserving the pronounciation

1st conjugation

• C > QU: buscar
• G > GU: jugar
• GU > GÜ: averiguar
• Z > C: cruzar

2nd and 3rd conjugations

• C > Z: vencer (II), esparcir (III)
• G > J: coger (II), dirigir (III)
• GU > G: seguir (III)
• QU > C: delinquir (III)

Changes due to ortographic rules

Loss of atonic i

• bullir (III), bruir (III)

Atonic i changes to y.

• caer (II)
• oír (III)
• huir (III)

Change of the ortographic accent in verbs ending in -iar and -uar

• confiar
• continuar

Other changes of the ortographic accent

• U > Ú: aullar
• I > Í: airar

See also

• Spanish verbs with both regular and irregular past participle
• Verbs with irregular past participle
• Spanish verb conjugation on-line
• Spanish verb conjugation on-line

References

• Spanish verb tables and grammar. Harper Collins Publishers. Glasgow. 1995.
• "Los quince mil verbos españoles; su gramática, clasificación y conjugación". Editorial Ramon Sopena, S.A.. Barcelona. 1980.
• Alarcos Llorach, Emilio. Gramática de la lengua española. Editorial Espasa Calpe, S.A.. 6 edition. Madrid. 1995.
• Alsina, Ramón. Todos los verbos castellanos conjugados. Editorial Teide. 10 edition. Barcelona. 1980.
• Bamber, Veronica. Pocket Dictionary of Business Spanish. Hodder & Stoughton Educational Division (1995). 10 edition. Reading. 1999.
• Bello, Andrés. Gramática de la lengua castellana. EDAF, Ediciones-Distribuciones. Madrid. 1984.
• Gomis, Pedro et Segura, Laura. Vademécum del verbo español. Sociedad general española de librería, S.A.. 1 edition. Madrid. 1998.
• Kendris, Christopher. 501 Spanish verbs. Barron's Educational Series, Inc. 3 edition. USA.
• Mateo, Francis – Rojo Sastre, Antonio J.. El arte de conjugar en español. Edelsa - Didascalia, Hatier. Paris. 1984.
• Merchan, Vicente Simón. La conjugación española e hispano-americana. Ediciones Tebas. Madrid. 1967.
• Moreno, Concha et al. Las preposiciones: valor y función. Sociedad general española de librería, S.A.. 1 edition. Madrid. 1998.
• Noble, Judith – Lacasa, Jaime. Complete Handbook of Spanish Verbs. Passport Books, a division of NTC Publishing Group. Lincolnwood, Illinois USA. 1990.
• Penny, Ralph. Gramática histórica del español. Editorial Ariel, S.A.. Barcelona. 1993.
• Real Academia Española. Esbozo de una Nueva Gramática de la lengua española. Espasa-Calpe, S.A.. Madrid. 1973.
• Real Academia Española. Diccionario de la lengua española. 21 edition. Madrid. 1992.
• Rosario Hollis, María. Spanish Verbs. Hodder & Stoughton. 1994.
• Schede, Hildegard. Die Morphologie des Verbes im Altspanischen. Europäische Hochschulschriften. Verlag Peter Lang GmbH. Frankfurt am Main. 1987.
• Steel, Brian. Diccionario de americanismos. Sociedad General Española de Librería, SA. Madrid. 1990.
• Vierikko, Erkki. Espanjan kielioppi. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. Keuruu. 1976.
• de Kempin, Carmen C.. Verbos españoles conjugados sin abreviación. Librairie Payot. 13 edition. Lausanne. 1991.