El presente de indicativo:

•I work.

•I am working.

•I do work.

To form the present indicative tense you….

… drop the –ar, -er, -ir ending of the infinitive and add the following endings:

AR

Yo o

Tú as

Él

Ella a

Ud.

Nosotros(as) amos

Vosotros(as) áis

Ellos

Ellas an

Uds.

ER

Yo o

Tú es

Él

Ella e

Ud.

Nosotros(as) emos

Vosotros(as) éis

Ellos

Ellas en

Uds.

IR

Yo o

Tú es

Él

Ella e

Ud.

Nosotros(as) imos

Vosotros(as) ís

Ellos

Ellas en

Uds.

Certain verbs are irregular in the present tense but they do follow patterns….

Certain verbs have irregular “YO” forms but then are normal:

poner

pones

pone

ponemos

ponéis

ponen

hacer

haces

hace

hacemos

hacéis

hacen

traer

traes

trae

traemos

traéis

traen

salir

sales

sale

salimo

salís

salen

pongo hago traigo salgo

caer

caes

cae

caemos

caéis

caen

caigo

Certain verbs are irregular in the present tense but they do follow patterns….

Certain verbs have irregular “YO” forms but then are normal:

caber

cabes

cabe

cabemos

cabéis

caben

dar

das

da

damos

dais

dan

estar

estás

está

estamos

estáis

están

quepo doy estoy

saber

sabes

sabe

sabemos

sabéis

saben

sé

Certain verbs are irregular in the present tense but they do follow patterns….

Certain verbs have irregular “YO” forms and are stem changers:

Tener

tienes

tiene

tenemos

tenéis

tienen

tengo

venir

vienes

viene

venimos

venís

vienen

vengo

decir

dices

dice

decimos

decís

dicen

digo

The verb “oír” has an irregular “yo” form and also adds a “y” in all forms except for “nosotros” and “vosotros”. In addition, an accent mark is added to the “í” in the verb endings:

Oír

oyes

oye

oímos

oís

oyen

oigo

The verb “haber” has irregular forms except for “vosotros” in the present tense.

Haber

he

has

ha

hemos

han

habéis

The verbs “ser” and “ir” have irregular forms in the present tense…

Ser

soy

eres

es

somos

sois

son

Ir

voy

vas

va

vamos

vais

van

Certain verbs stem change in the present tense in all persons except for “nosotros” and “vosotros”. These verbs are also known as shoe verbs….

o>ue (volver)e>ie (preferir)

e>i (pedir)

pido

pides

pide

pedimos

pedís

piden

prefieres

prefiero

prefiere

preferimos

preferís

prefieren

vuelvo

vuelves

vuelve

volvemos

volvéis

vuelven

Certain verbs have spelling changes in the “YO” form in the present tense but they do follow patterns….

Certain verbs have spelling changes in the “YO” forms but then are normal:

recoger

recoges

recoge

recogemos

recogéis

recogen

traducir

traduces

traduce

traducimos

traducís

traducen

recojo traduzco

Verbs that end in -ger and -gir, change

g > j

Verbs that end in a vowel and

-cer or -cir, change

c > zc

Certain verbs have spelling changes in the “YO” form in the present tense but they do follow patterns….

Certain verbs have spelling changes in the “YO” forms but then are normal:

distinguir

distingues

distingue

distinguimos

distinguís

distinguen

distingo

Verbs that end in -guir drop the u in the yo form

convencer

convences

convence

convencemos

convencéis

convencen

convenzoVerbs that end in a consonant plus -cer, change

c > z

Verbs that end in -uir add a y before the ending except in nosotros and vosotros….

construir

construyo

construyes

construye

construyen

construís

Verbs that end in -uir, change

i > y in ALL persons except nosotros and vosotros

construimos

Verbs that end in -iar and -uar add an accent to the í and to the ú except in nosotros and vosotros

esquiar

esquío

esquías

esquía

esquiamos

esquiáis

esquían

actuar

actúo

actúas

actúa

actuamos

actuáis

actúan

Special verbs and verbal expressions in the present tense: soler + an infinitive

“Soler” means to be “in the habit of” or “to be accustomed to” (like: acostumbrarse).

Therefore, NEVER use “soler” in the preterit tense.

soler

suelo

sueles

Suele

solemos

soléis

suelen

+ an infinitive

Special verbs and verbal expressions in the present tense: hace + time + que + present.

Hace + time + the present is used to tell “how long something has been going on”.

Hace seis años que vosotros

estudiáis español. (You have

been studying Spanish for 6

years.)

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que nosotros estudiamos español? (How long have we been studying Spanish?)

Special verbs and verbal expressions in the present tense: haber.

1. Haber can be used to show exsitence (There is / There are ):

Hay 24 estudiantes en la clase. (There are 24 students in the class.)

Special verbs and verbal expressions in the present tense: haber.

2. Haber can be used to show necessity impersonally:

Hay que estudiar para el examen. (It’s necessary [One must] study for the test.)

Special verbs and verbal expressions in the present tense: haber.

3. Haber de can be used to show necessity as a synonym of “tener + que + the infinitive”:

He de ayudar a mi madre esta tarde. (I need to help my mom this after noon.)