For the last few weeks, these students have been learning the meanings of verbs such as to eat, to run, to play, to talk, among other infinitive verbs in Spanish. After learning the meaning, we put together short sentences using the pronouns, or, as I would say, conjugate the verbs. In Spanish, infinitive verbs are those that end in- ar, -er, and- ir, such as hablar, comer, and vivir. To conjugate verbs in Spanish, we remove the- ar, -er, and -ir endings of the verb and add a new letter or letters depending on the pronoun. For example, to conjugate the verb comer (to eat), we take off the -er, keep the verb’s root, and add the new letter or letters at the end. Depending on the pronoun, the ending differs for each verb. For example, if I want to change the infinitive form of the verb into the present tense, I would write it as “yo como” (I eat); “tú comes” (you eat); “él/ella come (he/she eats); “Usted come” (You eat {formal}); “nosotros comimos, or nosotras comimos” (we eat); ellos/ellas/ustedes comen (they/you {plural} eat).
I know conjugating verbs is hard, but the earlier students learn the verbs, the easier it will be for them to understand and feel comfortable speaking in Spanish.
