Mastering Spanish Verbs: Structure, Tenses, and Irregularities

The Verb: Definition and Structure

The verb is a word class that can be defined in three ways:

• Semantically: Indicates action (e.g., "jump"), process (e.g., "growing"), or state (e.g., "being").
• Morphologically: Consists of the lexeme (root) plus inflectional morphemes for persona, number, time, mode, aspect, and voice.
• Syntactically: Functions as the core of the predicate.

Verb Morphology

The structure of a conjugated verb typically includes:

1. The Root/Lexeme (e.g., trabaj-)
2. Thematic Vowel (e.g., -a-)
3. Morphemes for Time, Mode, and Aspect (e.g., -ba-)
4. Morphemes for Number and Persona (e.g., -mos)

Verbal Categories (Accidents)

• Time (Tense): Indicates whether the verbal action is prior to, during, or after the moment of speech: Past (Pretérito), Present, or Future.
• Mode (Mood): Marks the speaker's personal involvement with the verbal action:
  • Indicative: Expresses reality or certainty.
  • Subjunctive: Expresses subjectivity, probability, or possibility.
  • Imperative: Expresses orders or requests.
• Aspect: Determines the internal process of the verbal action:
  • Perfective: Action finished (e.g., canté - I sang).
  • Imperfective: Does not signal the end of the action (e.g., cantaba - I was singing).
• Persona and Number: 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, singular or plural.
• Voice: Morpheme that expresses whether the subject performs the action (Active) or suffers it (Passive).
  • Active Voice: Normal conjugation. [Subject (Agent) + Verb]
  • Passive Voice: [Subject (Patient) + Verb "to be" + Participle]

  Example: The firefighters rescued the cat. (Active) / The cat was rescued by the men. (Passive)

Conjugation Tenses

Indicative Mood Tenses

• Present (e.g., vuelvo)
• Pretérito Imperfecto (e.g., era)
• Pretérito Perfecto Simple (e.g., rompí)
• Future Simple (e.g., empezaré)
• Conditional Simple (e.g., respondería)
• Compound Tenses: Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto, Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto, Pretérito Anterior, Future Perfecto, Conditional Compuesto.

Subjunctive Mood Tenses

• Present, Pretérito Imperfecto, Future Simple.
• Compound Tenses: Pretérito Perfecto, Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto, Future Compuesto.

Non-Finite (Impersonal) Forms

These forms lack inflection for person and number:

• Infinitive: cantar (to sing), haber cantado (to have sung)
• Gerund: saltando (jumping), habiendo saltado (having jumped)
• Participle: saltado (jumped)

Irregular Verbs in Spanish

Irregular verbs deviate from standard conjugation patterns.

Irregularity in the Lexeme (Root)

These changes often involve:

• Vowel Diptongation: Tonic vowels convert into ie (e.g., Pensar → yo pienso).
• Vowel Closing: Vowels change (e.g., o → u, as in dormir → durmamos).
• Consonant Change: A consonant changes (e.g., hacer → hago; saber → supe).
• Addition of Elements: Addition of a consonant or vowel (e.g., traer → traigo).
• Removal of Elements (Syncope): (e.g., hacer → haré).
• Suppletion (Multiple Lexemes): Using different roots (e.g., ser → soy, fui, era; ir → voy, fui).

Irregularity in Desinences (Endings)

These irregularities typically occur in the Pretérito Perfecto Simple (1st and 3rd person singular):

• Example: venir → yo vine, él vino.
• Some verbs add a -y in the 1st person singular of the Present Indicative: dar (→ doy), ir (→ voy), ser (→ soy).

Verbal Periphrasis (Perífrasis Verbal)

Verbal periphrasis is the syntactic association of two or more verbs that function together as a single verbal unit. They add meaning and nuances (such as possibility, obligation, initiation, completion, or certainty) that cannot be expressed by simple inflectional endings.

Example: You must make an effort. (Periphrasis of obligation).

Classification of Verbal Periphrasis

Periphrasis of Modality (Manner)

• Obligation: Haber de + Infinitive, Tener que + Infinitive, Haber que + Infinitive, Deber + Infinitive.
• Probability or Doubt: Deber de + Infinitive, Poder + Infinitive, Venir a + Infinitive.

Aspectual Periphrasis

These indicate the phase of the action (beginning, duration, or end).

• Inchoative (Beginning): Echar(se) a + Infinitive, Ponerse a + Infinitive, Romper a + Infinitive.
• Progressive (Duration): Estar + Gerund, Andar + Gerund, Ir + Gerund, Seguir + Gerund.
• Terminative/Resultative (Completion/End): Estar + Participle, Llevar + Participle, Dejar + Participle, Tener + Participle.
• Ingressive (Imminent Action): Ir a + Infinitive, Estar a punto de + Infinitive (indicating the purpose or imminent start of the action).