Spanish verbs
The verb carries most of what a sentence does: who, when, whether it is done or still going on. Here you will find the grammar around it, the verbs that do not follow the rules, and practice.
Where to go from here
How a verb changes its form is covered by the grammar topics below. When to use which form is the question of the tenses, and that has a page of its own. The verbs you simply have to know one by one have one too.
The 18 grammar topics around the verb
Each with an explanation, a form table, example sentences and exercises of its own.
A1ir a plus infinitiveThe future people actually speak.A2Futuro simpleEndings on the whole infinitive — and twelve verbs shorten it.B1CondicionalThe stems of the futuro, the endings of the imperfecto.B1The future as a guessSerán las tres is not «it will be three» but «it is probably three».B2Futuro perfecto: what will be done by thenhabré plus participle — for everything that will be finished before a point in the future.B1ir a, future or present — which form when?In everyday speech nearly always ir a; the future sounds written.A1poder and quererTwo stem-changing verbs, with the infinitive behind.A2Must: tener que, hay que, deberMy obligation, everybody's obligation, the moral one.B1soler, acabar de, volver a and the restTurns of phrase where English needs an adverb.B1May, can, should — what Spanish tells apartpoder covers can and may, deber gives the advice.B2Modal verbs in the pastWhether it came off is told by the tense.A2Asking politelyThe conditional turns a demand into a request.B1The se-passiveThe everyday form — and the verb agrees with the thing.B2ser plus participleThe newspaper form — and the participle agrees.B2estar plus participle: the resultEnglish says «was closed» for both; Spanish makes you choose.B1The third person plural instead of a passiveMe han robado el coche — with no «they» in front of it.B1The impersonal se: «one»English has three words for it and dislikes all three.B1The participle and its irregular formsInvariable after haber, agreeing after ser and estar.
Practise 606 verbs
The verbs from the core vocabulary, across all the topic lists.