Infinitives+and+conjugated+verbs

__ Infinitive Verbs __

To work with Spanish verbs, one must first understand the concepts of infinitives and conjugated verb forms. English uses both of these verb types as well. In English, the infinitive form of the verb has the word "to" in front of it. This is the form of the verb that __has no subject__. Some examples are: to run, to write, to work, etc. Spanish infinitives are one-word verbs that end in one of three endings: -ar, -er , or -ir. Trabaj ar (to work), corr er (to run), and escrib ir (to write), are examples o f each of these infinitives.

__ Conjugated Verbs __

If you want to use a subject with the verb, the verb needs to be //conjugated//. In English there are fewer conjugated forms of verbs than in Spanish. Look at the English example of the verb "to be" and compare it to the same verb conjugated in Spanish below.

__ To see __ I see You see He sees She sees We see They see Now look at the Spanish verb "Ver" (to see)

You veo (I see) Tú ves (You see, informal & singular) Él ve (He sees) Ella ve (She sees) Usted ve (You see, formal & singular) Nosotros vemos (We see)

Vosotros veis (You see, informal & plural [Spain & Argentina only])

Ellos ven (They see [Males or mixed gender group])

Ellas ven (They see [females]) Ustedes ven (You see, plural [formal in Spain & Argentina only])

Notice that, due to the uses of familiarity and gender-specific pronouns in Spanish, there are more conjugated forms of verbs in Spanish than English.

Often, the subject pronoun is deleted since the verb form itself tells who the subject is. Veo a Juan. = I see Juan Since veo can only be used with Yo or I, there is no reason to state the subject Yo. However, sometimes the subject is restated and this practice is not incorrect.