Conjugaciones¶

Conjugations are a beautiful part of Spanish. The word "conjugation" shares the same Latin origin as "conjugal," which in turn was a loan word from ancient Greek, meaning "to join" or "to yoke" together.

You can learn conjugations via conjugation tables, and in fact conjugation tables are an excellent resource for looking up specific verb forms (especially for irregular verbs). That said, tables alone miss an excellent opportunity to learn the patterns. Studying conjugation tables is like studying the blueprints of a cathedral versus walking through it. You're going to want to do both, but at the end of the day, it's the experience that matters.

Prayer-Oriented Verbs¶

Spanish has three distinct verbs for "to pray," each with a nuance English collapses into one. As you learn them you gain precision in the language and begin to sense how the prayers themselves shift in feeling, opening up deeper meanings that you may have missed in English -- a quieter inward turning in contemplation, and a more direct appeal when asking the saints for help.

Rezar is the everyday verb for reciting prayers like the Rosary. Orar is more formal and often contemplative. Rogar carries the sense of imploring or interceding.

The Ladder of Prayer¶

Think of the subject (I, you, he/she, they, we) as a prayerful ascent. Think of the verb as the structure you're building -- a ladder bringing you closer to the meaning of what you're saying. All verbs end in either -AR (hablar), -ER (comer), or -IR (vivir). This is the infinitive form of a verb, the "to" form, where there is no subject. The infinitive is the unrolled ladder, waiting to be climbed.

The -ER/-IR verbs follow a specific pattern that is different than the -AR verbs. It's helpful to imagine two different types of verbs (-AR versus -ER/-IR). Where they differ, I will keep a space between the examples.

yo = I¶

Think of this as the Origin -- the "O" like the shape of a ring of prayer. You begin with yourself, alone before God. The form is simple and direct: strip the -r from the infinitive and add your ending.

The subject "yo" is unnecessary. You can still use it (yo hablo), but specifying it emphasizes the subject ("I" speak) and is usually redundant.

usted/el/ella = you/he/she¶

Think of this as the Quiet Chapel -- a single candle, one voice speaking softly. Standard, reverent, expected. It's the most standard form of conjugation: nothing fancy, just clear meaning.

To avoid ambiguity, it is common to include the subject (usted habla). The formal "you" (usted) is the same as speaking to someone in the third person.

tú = you¶

The informal "you" gets a little more familiar. Everything ends in an -s -- the sound of a cloister door closing for a private conversation between friends.

ustedes/ellos/ellas = you (plural)/they (masculine/feminine)¶

Two or more people are gathered, and "yo" is part of the crowd. It's more communal -- like entering the nave of the church. Everything ends in -n, which evokes "many" or "nation."

nosotros = we¶

You + me + a verb -- we come together as one picture. "-mos" sounds like the beginning of mosaic, many pieces forming a single image. Everything ends in -mos.

vosotros/vosotras = you (informal plural)¶

This is so distinctive it's only used in Spain. The accent shifts to the final syllable, like carved ivory -- ornate and unusual. It marks itself apart from the rest.

Present Tense¶

The ascent is happening now. You've just climbed the first few rungs of the ladder. Here is an overview:

In Latin American Spanish, there are only five subjects. In Spain there is a sixth subject (vosotros). For every tense, these five conjugations apply (six if you include vosotros).

Imperative Tense (command)¶

Break out the liturgical vestments. Spanish has an entire tense just for giving commands (sit! stand! speak!). This gets so distinct that the -AR verbs act like -ER verbs, and the -ER/-IR verbs act like -AR verbs. It's a liturgical reversal -- the normal order flipped.

There is no "yo" form in the imperative tense. You can't tell yourself what to do.

Future Tense¶

Imagine the verbs reaching toward the horizon -- looking toward the kingdom yet to come, like gazing at distant mountains at sunrise. The ending is attached to the full infinitive.

Conditional Tense¶

Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't. Imagine the verbs standing in a misty valley, where things are uncertain and not yet real.

Preterite (past) Tense¶

What happens in the preterite past, is carved in stone. The preterite is definite, completed, and finished. This is as distinct as conjugations get. Pay attention to the ellos form (-aron and -ieron) -- those chisel marks will influence other tenses.

Imperfect (past) Tense¶

Spanish has two past tenses. One for the definite, finished events carved in stone -- the preterite. And another for the ongoing, flowing past: what used to be, what used to happen. This is the imperfect past. Think of it as a river -- continuous, descriptive, always moving.

Subjunctive Tenses¶

Spanish verbs are moody. When the mood is uncertain, hypothetical, or in any way unreal, then the subjunctive tense will be used. It will likely be used when there is emotion being expressed. Think of it as the vaulted ceiling -- looking up into spaces of possibility, not certainty.

Here are some common introductions to a subjunctive mood:

que... ("that...")
si... ("if...")
aunque... ("although...")
Ojalá que... ("hopefully..." from Arabic "إن شاء الله" in šā' allāh "God willing")

Present Subjunctive¶

In the subjunctive present, the -AR verbs behave like -ER verbs, and vice-versa. It's the liturgical reversal again.

Past Subjunctive (conditional past)¶

This is the "if past." Imagine what might have happened. Use the super distinct preterite past "ellos" conjugation and replace "-on" with "-a." For example: fueron, hablaron, comieron → fuera, hablara, comiera

More formally, you can use this form:

Future Subjunctive (hypothetical future)¶

In practice, this is rarely used. One normally uses the present subjunctive for the future. But there is something beautiful about a subjunctive mood in a hypothetical future, something that can't really be expressed well in English. It uses the same basic form as the subjunctive past, but with a -re ending rather than a -ra.

Present participle (-ing tense)¶

I am thinking, she was thinking, we will be thinking. Spanish, like English, often uses the verb "to be" along with the present participle. Ending a verb in -ing is pretty simple: for Spanish, -AR verbs will end in -ando, and -ER/-IR verbs will end in -iendo.

Most commonly, conjugate the verb estar (to be) according to the respective subject, for example:

The last example is the rarely used future subjunctive. It is difficult to express in English, it refers to the feeling of uncertainty about a future where we may (or may not) be alive. The point is, any conjugation of estar (to be) can be used with a present participle.

Past Participle (haber, the foundation stone)¶

I have spoken, she had spoken, we will have spoken. Spanish, like English, uses the verb "to have" along with the past participle of a verb. The verb "to have" is ambiguous in English, sometimes referring to possession (I had a car), and other times as an auxiliary verb (I had bought a car), which can lead to funny situations (I had had a car).

Spanish avoids this ambiguity. The verb haber is only used in the auxiliary sense. The verb tener is used for possession (tener un carro = to have a car). Haber is a verb dedicated to the task of helping express nuanced thoughts such as, "I had had a car" (había tenido un carro).

Haber is so common it's usually included in most conjugation tables, even though it's always used with the past participle of a verb. The past participle of a verb ends in either -ado (for -AR verbs) or -ido (for -ER/-IR verbs). For example:

Haber is irregular, but once you learn the conjugations for haber, you can use it with any verb (even haber itself, whose past participle is habido). But to keep it simple, let's use vivido (lived) for the remaining examples:

The last few cases are extremely uncommon, but the patterns are clear and easy to understand (should you encounter them in literature).

Pronoun Placement¶

There are three (and only three) cases where object pronouns can be attached directly to a verb.

1. Infinitive
   decírmelo = decir + me + lo = to tell + me + it

2. Present participle
   comiéndolo = comiendo + lo = eating + it

3. Positive command
   dímelo! = dí + me + lo = tell + me + it
   * The negative commands must follow the normal pronoun pattern. For example, no me lo digas

For all other cases the pronouns cannot be appended to the verb. Typically, the subject is implied in the conjugation and the object precedes the conjugated verb (me lo dicen = they told it to me).

Each conjugation is another rung on the ladder of prayer. As the forms move from the mind into the voice, the Rosary itself becomes the ascent -- the mysteries rising with you in the language the faithful have prayed for centuries.