improve your spanish conversation with less conjugation
One of the earliest manifestations of the Language Loft of Roatan, in 2016. A class of superstar favorites! Yes, they have probably heard me say the word “infinitive” 63 times already!
One of the major mistakes students make when they learn to conjugate verbs is trying to conjugate everything. Actually, I believe it to be a problem of Spanish instruction techniques as well. . . Do beginners really need to be weighed down with 16 tenses x 6 persons? I mean, come on!
Don’t get me wrong, verb conjugation is totally necessary and knowing some rules is definitely an important part of your mastery of language. However, knowing when you DON’T need to conjugate is also really lovely, and as one of my students told me with a sigh–liberating!
So. . .
Verb conjugation is one of the first major stumbling blocks for adult learners, especially if they come from an English-speaking background. This blog won’t solve that problem, but hopefully it can provide a few alternatives to build confidence for getting out there and speaking before mastery of all the concepts. En breve, you don’t have to know everything to start speaking effectively.
First, you have to understand what the infinitive is and how it works. The infinitive is the nominative form of a verb, which just means it can function as a noun. So, anywhere an action functions as a noun, subject, or object of a preposition, the infinitive form must be used. When translated into English the infinitive verb may have the word to in front of it, or end in -ing.
In Spanish infinitives always end in one of 3 ways, –ar, –er, or –ir.
Examples of Verbs as Subjects or Nouns:
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I like to eat; I like eating./Me gusta comer.
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Skiing is fun./Esquiar es divertido
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We want to dive./Queremos bucear.
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It’s a good idea to take a break./Es buena idea tomar un descanso.
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This card is for making international calls./Esta tarjeta es para hacer llamadas internacionales.
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In order to cook well, love is necessary./Para cocinar bien, el amor es necesario.
When there are two verbs in a row, conjugate the first and leave the second verb in the infinitive form. So, you might know how to say quiero—I want. If you want to do something, like rent a car, you’ll say Quiero rentar un carro. This is just the I (yo) form, and there are five + conjugations for first, second, and third persons. That is an issue for the verb conjugation lesson, however, this will help you form sentences that have a bit more depth. In order to ask someone if they want to do something, the first verb form would have to be in the tú or usted form (for you), but any verb directly after must remain in its infinitive form. ¿Quieres (tú) tomar algo?/Do you want to have something to drink? ¿Quiere ir conmigo usted?/Do you want to go with me?
Auxiliary verb structures are a great place to start when you are trying to take all that hard earned vocabulary and put it into real sentences. Here are some familiar ones that may help you easily start forming sentences and get out of the fear bubble of speaking Spanish in real life. For the sake of practicality, I’ve just provided the yo and formal usted forms of the first (auxiliary) verb.
Tengo que + infinitive/I have to __________
¿Tiene (usted) que + infinitive?/Do you have to _____________?
Puedo + infinitive/I can ____________.
¿Puede + infinitive usted?/Can you __________?
Quiero + infinitive/I want to ___________
¿Quiere + infinitive/Do you want to __________?
Voy a ___________./I am going to ___________.
¿Va a __________ usted?/Are you going to __________?
I could go on with tons more of these structures, but for the sake of just getting around, these structures will really help you get through a lot of basic situations
Es + adjective descriptor + infinitive + additional information
Es importante llegar a tiempo./It’s important to arrive on time.
Es bonito pasar tiempo con familia./It’s lovely to spend time with family.
Es ignorante decir cosas tan malas./It´s ignorant to say such bad things.
No es necesario hablar perfectamente./It’s not necessary to speak perfectly.
No es obligatorio asistir a la reunión, pero es recomendable./It’s not necessary to attend the meeting but it’s recommended.
Fue necesario salir muy temprano./It was necessary to leave very early (past tense).
You will notice that there is no subject pronoun for ‘it’ in Spanish. Don’t worry about it. . . just remember that when a sentence begins with Es, it’s usually referring to a generic idea, situation, or concept that’s already being talked about.
More favorite students in our current West End Language Loft location.
(In English prepositions are orientation words like: to, for, from, about. In Spanish respectively: a, para, por, de, acerca de.)
The infinitive is used when verbs come directly after prepositions. You might ask me about translating a verb (gerund) that ends in –ing to the infinitive. This is often the case after verbs like estar and seguir, but definitively NOT the case after Spanish prepositions. Doing so is often the mistake of translators and intermediate learners.
Examples:
Antes de cenar/before having dinner
Después de trabajar/after work
Al llegar/upon arriving
Voy a la tienda para comprar saldo telefónico. /I´m going to the store to buy phone credit.
Gracias por venir. /Thanks for coming.
La comida es para llevar./The food is for carry-out.
Sooooooo. . . you’re traveling and you buy the packet of soup or some box pasta for your cooktop. No problem. Now you’ve got to figure out the instructions on the back of the package. Most of the time general instructions are given using the infinitive, even though there are many ways to give instructions in Spanish. Let’s take a look and learn from reality.
Abrir el paquete con tijeras.
Meterlo en un litro de agua caliente.
- Añadir la sal y los otros ingredientes a gusto.
Other Examples:
No fumar/No smoking
- Al favor, reducir su velocidad./Please reduce your speed.
You should know that there is an actual imperative form for giving commands and instructions, but the infinitive certainly replaces it at times, especially when the person or audience to whom the command is ambiguous.
https://quizlet.com/486883758/learn/embed?i=nvebs&x=1jj1Just add an infinitive! In a world where we are truly mobile, words can be looked up in a matter of seconds. Although many translators can differentiate between the varied forms, knowing where to put the correct form of the verb in a sentence is still necessary.
Me gustaría/I would like
Quisiera/I would like, Would you (usted form) like. . . ?
- Intento/I’m trying to
Do you want to learn these structures and vocabulary with the Quizlet App? This is safe and free!