We've said it before and we'll say it again: in Spanish, verbs matter a lot. And not all verbs are created equal. They're hard, and complicated. But, you should know that some are used much more frequently in speech than others. Know that on our site, we use a slightly different way of teaching verbs (not quite the table method you're likely used to). For the time being, we will teach you the "basic three" tenses for each of these verbs for "I" and "You".
Comprar
Comprar means "to buy". There's not much else to it, really.| comprar | |
|---|---|
| 1) to buy | |
| "I buy" | "You buy" |
| Yo compro | Usted compra |
| "I bought" | "You bought" |
| "Yo compré" | "Usted compró" |
| "I will throw" | "You will throw" |
| "Yo compraré" | "Usted comprará" |
| Related vocabulary | |
| "the gift" | "the ticket" |
| el regalo | el billete |
Decir
Decir is a verb you simply must know that means "to say". It is kind of a weirdo verb as it doesn't follow the usual patterns. Still though, it remains an absolute foundation verb because you will hear it and read in every single day. t can also mean other things like "to tell" in context as well. Be aware that this in indeed different from "hablar", which means "to speak". You are more likely to use "decir" on a day-to-day basis.| decir | |
|---|---|
| 1) to tell 2)to say | |
| "I say" | "You say" |
| Yo digo | "Usted diga" |
| "I said" | "You said" |
| "Yo dije" | "Usted dijo" |
| "I will say" | "You will say" |
| "Yo diré" | "Usted dirá" |
| Related vocabulary | |
| "I told him" | "What did you say?" |
| le dije | ¿Qué dijo? |
Entender
Entender has a slightly weird quirk: it sometimes is seen starting with "entiend" instead of "entend". It means "to understand" and has some shades of similarity to the English word "intend". While you will see phrases like "lo entiendo" (I understand it), you will also see it used with "de" a lot to mean "I know about", like in the phrase "Yo entiendo del asunto" to mean "I know about the matter".| entender | |
|---|---|
| 1) to understand 2)to appreciate (e.g. I can appreciate what he had to say) | |
| "I understood" | You understand |
| Yo entiendo | "Usted entiende" |
| "I understood" | "You understood" |
| "Yo entendí" | "Usted entendió" |
| "I will throw" | "You will throw" |
| "Yo entenderé" | "Usted entenderá" |
| Other expressions with entender | |
| "I know about (the matter)" | "I understood that" |
| "Yo entiendo de... | "Lo(la) entendí" |
Escribir
Escribir, as we have hinted at our page on "Spanish You Already Know", is in the same territory as the English word "scribe". It's pretty much one-to-one with the English verb "to write".| escribir | |
|---|---|
| 1) to write | |
| "I write" | "You write" |
| Yo escribo | "Usted escribe" |
| "I wrote" | "You wrote" |
| "Yo escribí" | "Usted escribió" |
| "I will write" | "You will write" |
| "Yo escribiré" | "Usted escribirá" |
| Related vocabulary | |
| "the notebook" | "the sheet of paper" |
| el cuaderno | la hoja de papel |
| "the poetry" | "the novel" |
| la poesía | la novela |
Trabajar
Trabajar means "to work". It is seen in many kinds of words that have to do with one's aptitude and way of working as well. This is one of those words that is just plain different from in English. But it is honestly, easy enough to figure out.| trabajar | |
|---|---|
| 1) to work 2)to strive for | |
| "I work" | "You work" |
| Yo trabajo | "Usted trabaja" |
| "I worked" | "You worked" |
| "Yo trabajé" | "Usted trabajó" |
| "I will work" | "You will work" |
| "Yo trabajaré" | "Usted trabajará" |
| Related vocabulary | |
| "the shift" | "every day" |
| el turno | diariamente |
| very hard (adj- to work very hard) | "for myself" |
| muy duro | por mi cuenta |
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