Present Tense Verbs YO & TÚ I & YOU

Present Tense Verbs

YO & TÚ

I & YOU

Academic Vocab

Infinitive: The base form of a verb. When translated, it always includes “TO” + the

action.

Hablar – To talkCorrer – To run

Verbs in Spanish end in “AR”, “ER”, or “IR.”

For example, think back to when we talked about activities we enjoyed. We always added an infinitive after “Me gusta.”

Me gusta hablar por teléfono.

I like to talk on the phone

Academic Vocab

Conjugate: To break down a verb infinitive into each subject

form.

In English, you would conjugate TO TALK as:

I talk, you talk, he/she talks, we talk, they talk.

Verbs in Spanish end in “AR”, “ER”, or “IR.”

When you conjugate a verb in Spanish, you add a new verb ending to the verb stem.

HABLARStem: the part of the verb that does not change when you add the verb ending.

For “regular” verbs without any spelling changes, you express the subject “I” by dropping the last two letters (AR) and replacing them with an “o,” the verb ending for “YO.”

O

Start with the infinitive:

HABLAR

Now, drop the “AR”To

talkAnd replace it with an

“O”Yo hablo = I talk

YO

Yo habloStem: the part of the verb that does not change.

Subject pronoun: Tells us who does the action.

Verb ending: the suffix you add to match the subject.

O

Try again with another AR verb:

BAILAR

Drop the “AR” To danc

eAnd replace it with an

“O”Yo bailo= I dance

YO

O

Try again with another AR verb:

CANTAR

Drop the “AR”To

singAnd replace it with an

“O”Yo canto= I sing

YO

O

Try again with another AR verb:

ESCUCHAR

Drop the “AR” To liste

nAnd replace it with an

“O”Yo escucho= I listenYo escucho música= I listen

to music

YO

By following this pattern, you can take any regular AR verb and turn it into a

Spanish phrase with a subject and verb.

What is the “yo” form of the following verbs? Write

it on your whiteboard.

CANTARDIBUJAR

NADAR TRABAJAR

Try this: Using the infinitive ANDAR – TO WALK, how would you say, I WALK?

Yo ando. I walk

Now expand on the phrase using the word you know for “SCHOOL.”

I walk to school.

Yo ando a escuela.

The verb “NECESITAR” means “to need.”

Try this: I need a pencil.

Yo necesito un lápiz.

The verb “TOCAR” means “to play (an instrument).”

Try this: I play the guitar.

Yo toco la guitarra.

The verb “VISITAR” means

“to visit.”

Try this: I visit my grandmother.

Yo visito mi abuela.

Infinitive Meaning yo tú él/ella usted nosotros ellos/ellas ustedes

I do the action or I am speaking about myself

You do the action or I am speaking directly TO you (familiar)

Carlos or Maria complete an action

You are speaking directly to Mr. Poznek (formal).

We do the action or we are speaking about ourselves.

Carlos y Juan or Elisa y Maria or all of them do the action or I am speaking ABOUT all of them.

I am speaking directly TO Carlos, Juan, Elisa y Maria.

Hablar                

Estudiar                

Bailar                

Necesitar                

Cantar                

Nadar                

Trabajar                

Enseñar                

Visitar                

Yo habloYo estudioYo bailo

Yo necesitoYo canto

Yo nadoYo trabajo

Yo enseño

Yo visito

To talk

To study

To dance

To need

To sing

To swimTo work

To teach

To visit

• Step 1: For each hour on the clock, write an activity that you might do at that time, using the Spanish “yo” form. >Use your list of AR verbs. >Write on the inside of the clock.

Yo bailo

Yo trabajo

Yo estudio

Yo necesito una pluma

Yo visito mi tía

O

Regular verbs that end in ER work the same way.

COMERDrop the “ER”

To eat

And replace it with an “O”

Yo como= I eat

O

Try again with another example.

BEBERDrop the “ER” To

drink

And replace it with an “O”

Yo bebo= I drink

O

AND regular verbs that end in IR are conjugated

the same too!

VIVIRDrop the “IR”

To live

And replace it with an “O”

Yo vivo= I live

O

Here’s another example! Is it getting easier?

ESCRIB

IRDrop the “IR” To

write

And replace it with an “O”

Yo escribo= I write

OESCRI

BIR

Drop the “IR” To writ

eAnd replace it with an

“O”Yo escribo= I write

The “tú” form is a little trickier because the

conjugation depends on the ending of the verb.

For regular verbs that end in AR, the ending of the

“tú” form is “AS,”but we follow the same

process.

AS

Start with the infinitive:

HABLAR

Now, drop the “AR”To

talkAnd replace it with an

“AS”Tú hablas = You talk

AS

Start with the infinitive:

ESTUDIAR

Drop the “AR” To stud

yAnd replace it with an

“AS”Tú estudias = You

study

For regular verbs that end in either ER or IR, the

ending of the “tú” form is “ES.”

Again, same process.

ES

Start with the infinitive:

COMER

Now, drop the “ER”

To eat

And replace it with an “ES”

Tú comes = You eat

ES

Start with the infinitive:

VIVIR

Now, drop the “IR”

To live

And replace it with an “ES”

Tú vives = You live

What is the “yo” form of the following verbs? Write

it on your whiteboard.

CORRER

DIBUJAR

NADAR ESCRIBIR

What is the “tú” form of the following verbs? Write

it on your whiteboard.

COCINARBESAR

ESCUCHAR HABLAR

What is the “tú” form of the following verbs? Write

it on your whiteboard.

VIVIRLEER

COMPRENDER

ABRIR

Think about how you would answer the

following question:

¿Hablas inglés?Sí, yo hablo inglés.

Think about how you would answer the

following question:

¿Comes chocolate?Sí, yo como chocolate.

What do you notice about punctuation?

And now… a list of question words!

Who - Quién

What - Qué

Where - Dónde

When - CuándoWhich - Cuál