Lesson 4: Introducing the Present Tense

4.1

The Present Tense

Since regular present tense verbs are some of the most frequently used Spanish verbs, let’s start here.

As we established before, the verb’s ending can tell us who is doing the action and when that action is taking place. These are the endings for regular verbs in the present tense :

4.2

How do we use these present tense endings? Well, if we wanted to say I talk, we would need to conjugate hablar with yo in the present tense:

1. We start with the infinitive hablar, then simply drop the ending off the infinitive:

2. We then add the appropriate ending for “yo” in the present tense:

The same concept applies to all forms of all regular verbs in the present tense:

4.3

Using the Present Tense

Below are some examples of how to use the present tense in the real world:

Yo hablo con mi cactus todo los días.‍

I talk to my cactus every day.

Yo hablo con mi cactus todo los días.‍

I talk to my cactus every day.

Tú comes burritos más rápido que nadie.‍

You eat burritos faster than anyone.

Tú comes burritos más rápido que nadie.‍

You eat burritos faster than anyone.

Ella vive bajo el agua, pero prefiere mantener ese secreto.

‍She lives underwater, but prefers to keep that secret.

Ella vive bajo el agua, pero prefiere mantener ese secreto.‍

‍She lives underwater, but prefers to keep that secret.

4.4

Mastery-based Learning

Phew! Does that seem like a lot to remember? Well…it is. Fortunately, VerbMaster is here to make the memorization process as smooth as possible for you. When you practice in the app, the mastery-based learning system will keep track of your strong and weak points and adjust your study sessions accordingly.

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Here’s a fun fact: once you’ve learned the verbs listed in this practice session, you’ll be able to conjugate 90% of verbs in the present tense. The other 10% are known as irregular verbs. We will learn about those in Lesson 7!