When faced with learning how to conjugate Spanish irregular verbs many students come to the wrong conclusion that they will never be able to get all the different verb forms and variations to stick in their memory.
This is understandable, given the task in hand, but learning how to conjugate Spanish irregular verbs is not as difficult as many believe, especially if the problem is approached in the right frame of mind and with the right tools for the job.
Although there are many irregular verbs in Spanish, over two thousand in fact, there are three in particular, that are essential for everyday use, and it is these that should be concentrated on initially, and they are; ser and estar, both meaning to be, and tener, meaning to have.
Of the many different tenses that will need to be learnt for each and every verb, all with their own variations, there are three that should be concentrated on initially and they are the present, future and preterite tenses.
Here are the verbs ser, estar and tener, conjugated for the three tenses mentioned above.
Ser: Present/Future/
* Yo soy/ seré/ fui - I am/ will be/ was
* Tú eres/ serás/ fuiste - you are/ will be/ were
* Él, ella and usted es/ sera/ fue - he, she is and you are (polite)/ will be/was (were)
* Nosotros/as somos/ seremos/ fuimos - we are/ will be/ were
* vosotros/as sois/ seréis/ fuisteis - you(all) are/ will be/ were
* ellos, ellas and ustedes son/ serán/ fueron - they and you are/ will be/ were
Estar:
* Yo estoy/ estaré/ estuve - I am/ will be/ was
* Tú estás/ estarás/ estuviste - you are/ will be/ were
* Él, ella and usted está/ estará/ estuvo - he, she is and you are (polite)/ will be/was (were)
* Nosotros/as estamos/ estaremos/ estuvimos - we are/ will be/ were
* vosotros/as estáis/ estaréis/ estuvisteis - you(all) are/ will be/ were
* ellos, ellas and ustedes están/ estarán/ estuvieron - they and you are/ will be/ were
Although both ser and estar are irregular in the present and preterite tenses both follow the regular pattern of formation for the future tense.
Knowing how and when to use either ser or estar can be confusing, and you will have to look up the differences between the two before putting them to use.
Tener:
* Yo tengo / tendré/ tuve - I have / will have/ had
* Tú tienes / tendrás/ tuviste - you have / will have/ had
* Él, ella and usted tiene/ tendrá/ tuvo - he, she has and you have(polite)/
* Nosotros/as tenemos / tendremos/ tuvimos - we have / will have/ had
* Vosotros/as tenéis/ tendréis/ tuvisteis - you(all) have/ will have/ had
* Ellos, ellas and ustedes tienen/ tendrán/ tuvieron - they and you have/ will have/ had
Using only these three verbs in these three tenses will provide the key element for building many sentences and will therefore provide a good foundation on which to build further on.
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