15. The Verb. There are
three regular conjugations in Spanish, the first, which in the infinitive
ends in -ar, the second, in -er,
and the third, in -ir.
The Stem of any regular verb is found by dropping the infinitive
ending. To the stem are added the endings, which indicate mood,
tense, person and number.
The second and third conjugations have the same ending in all forms
except four (see 444).
16. The Present Indicative. The endings
of the present tense of the indicative mood for the three regular
conjugations are:
| Singular |
I |
II |
III |
| First Person |
-o |
-o |
-o |
| Second Person |
-as |
-es |
-es |
| Third Person |
-a |
-e |
-e |
| |
|
|
|
| Plural |
|
|
|
| First Person |
-amos |
-emos |
-imos |
| Second Person |
-áis |
-éis |
-ís |
| Third Person |
-an |
-en |
-en |
Adding these to the stems of the three regular verbs hablar
(habl-), comer (com-), vivir (viv-), we obtain the present
indicative of the three conjugations:
I. hablar, to speak
| Singular |
| 1. habl-o |
I speak, I am speaking, I do speak |
| 2. habl-as |
you speak, you are speaking |
| 3. habl-a |
he or she speaks, is speaking, does speak. |
| |
|
| Plural |
| 1. habl-amos |
we speak, we are speaking, we do speak. |
| 2. habl-áis |
you speak, are speaking, do speak. |
| 3. habl-an |
they speak, are speaking, do speak. |
II. comer, to eat
| Singular |
| 1. com-o |
I eat, I am eating, I do eat. |
| 2. com-es |
you eat, are eating |
| 3. com-e |
he or she eats, is eating, does eat |
| |
|
| Plural |
| 1. com-emos |
we eat, we are eating. |
| 2. com-éis |
you eat, are eating. |
| 3. com-en |
they eat, are eating. |
III. vivir, to live
| Singular |
| 1. viv-o |
I live, I am living, I do live. |
| 2. viv-es |
you live, you are living. |
| 3. viv-e |
he or she lives, is living. |
| |
|
| Plural |
|
| 1. viv-imos |
we live, we are living. |
| 2. viv-ís |
you live, are living. |
| 3. viv-en |
they live, are living. |
The student will observe that the Spanish present
indicative translates the English absolute, progressive and emphatic
present tenses.
Since the endings indicate person and number, the
subject pronouns are ordinarily omitted. See however, 42.
|
