Best Way to Learn Spanish Verb Tenses

In this post I would like to talk some about Spanish verb formations. Understanding how to form Spanish verbs can be extremely frustrating for native speakers of English. The reason for this is that they're formed very differently. In Spanish it is often not necessary to use subject personal pronouns (I, you, he, she etc) together with verbs like it is in English. Look at this simple example:-

I live in England. = Vivo en Inglaterra.

Take note of how in Spanish no word for ‘I’ is used, simply because much of the time the way a Spanish verb is formed will automatically indicate what subject personal pronoun is being referred to (I, you, he, she etc). At first this may seem very confusing - and then down the road it may still seem quite confusing! The problem is that there are so many different ways in which one individual verb can be formed. Not only does the verb change according to which subject personal pronoun it is used with, it also changes depending on what verb tense is being used (present, past, future etc).

Obviously, you will have to learn how Spanish verbs are formed even to have a very basic conversation. There isn't any getting out of it!

Spanish verbs are split into regular and irregular verbs. The benefit of understanding how to form Spanish regular verbs is that once you know how to form one verb in one particular tense you can apply the same formation rules to all similar regular verbs. You only need to know the right way to form the verb once!

So, what are the best ways to go about learning the right way to form Spanish verbs? You'll find without doubt a lot more regular verbs in Spanish than there are irregular ones so learning the formation rules that apply to regular verbs is most likely the best start. Some of the most very common verbs in Spanish are irregular however, so sooner or later you'll have to study those too!

The Spanish textbook I was using began to introduce verb formations right from the very beginning but didn’t include any kind of in depth explanations about them until perhaps midway through the book. I was putting sentences together making use of different verb formations without really knowing why. Of course any sentence without a verb is not very much of a sentence so being subjected to them right away was unavoidable.

To begin with, it is most likely a good idea to start creating sentences with verbs by concentrating on remembering what the verb is in it’s infinitive, or root, form, rather than attempting to learn the way it is formed in various tenses.

Infinitive verb examples – (to live = vivir / to eat = comer / to talk = hablar)

You are still learning, simply by remembering what lots of different verbs means. Down the road, you can start to look at various verb tenses and formations. Personally, the Spanish textbook I was using didn’t explain in enough detail how verbs were being formed. I was keen to learn this fairly early on in my studies. My textbook approached the subject on a piecemeal basis, which unfortunately seemed a bit too disjointed for me. I'd have preferred to learn about verbs as a separate topic rather than having them introduced piece by piece!

No matter which way you choose to learn about verbs, one thing you'll almost definitely need in your possession is a verb conjugation (formation) book. This is a book designed to tell you how each and every imaginable verb in the Spanish language should be formed in all tenses.