Remember Me
Lesson Introduction

Today's episode is a continuation of last episode's present tense review. We'll take a look at the dreaded irregular verbs, as well as take a look at a map, as a way to organize the different forms in your head.

Comments (63) RSS

Avatar
chaimberbell says

Hm, ok. Thanks, kikuyu.

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says
October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
chaimberbell says

Oooo! Good thinking, cobre! I should have thought to check the page source for the link! Gracias!

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
lilianamata says

mztish

Well done! This is they way you say it: You should have been an actor is "deberías de haber sido actor". Which is conditional or "deber" and the "past infinitive of ser". Wow! That is a lot of grammar for me. But remember when you say that you could have done something or beign something you use:

Deberías de haber sido....

Deberías de haber hecho...

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
jpvillanueva says

Hi everyone, I'm glad you found this helpful!  Davidico and I worked overtime on this one.

You're right, martinillo, dar and ver often pattern together since they're both one-syllable verbs.  They'll be together in the preterit tense map!

As for the orthgraphic changes, I don't include them on the map.  Since Spanish is written phonemically, all you have to do is say the conjugation out loud first, and then write it as you say it.  For example if you say "busqué" out loud, you'll write it with a "qu" and not a "c."  However, if you're just changing letters (like some of my former students used to do) you'll come up with "buscé" [bus-SE] which is not even close.  Don't be a letter-changer!  Spell stuff by saying them out loud first! 

I'll talk about letter-changing on the next Pa' que sepas.

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
kikuyu says

Cobre,

How did you do that with the link to the audio file?

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says

Chaimberbell, good work!

Kikuyu,

Browsers have a view source option in the view menu at the top of the window.

click on that.

You will see the source code of the page.

The expansion section starts about 2/5 of the way down the page.

The fast way to get there is to paste the text of the first entry into the find on this page fuction our your file viewer.  That will take you directly to the area you want to be in.

Each line there begins with a statement that says (div class="float_right")  and ends with the english translation of the phrase. 
The link to the sound file is in the button section it is actually listed twice, I don't know why.
The operative one for the button is in the flash statement where it says url=http://s...... the other one is a data statement class="css_data" and the same address.

The button you push floats at the end of the rendered line depending on how wide your display window is  that is what the float is about, the line of text follows the link on the page.

So find the text you want and look just above it for the mp3 link.

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
kikuyu says

Cobre,

I had no idea this even existed.  I need some time to figure this out and follow your instructions.  Gracias Cobre esto es muy interesante!

October 19, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

JP: Thanks! I have a question for that Pa' que sepas: How do I know whether a verb ending on -iar or -uar forms a hiatus with the vowel of the ending (i.e., it gets an accent) or a diphthong (i.e., it looks like a regular conjugation)? Or do I just have to remember that for each -iar and -uar verb?

For example, "cambiar" forms a diphthong: "yo cambio", "tú cambias", ... but "confiar" forms a hiatus: "yo confío", "tú confías", ...

Well, according to the rule "don't be a letter-changer", I guess I should learn how the conjugated word is pronounced. But maybe there is another trick. Thanks!

October 20, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
jpvillanueva says

martinillo, that is a pretty complex question, and it might be most helpful to think of the infinitive as derived from the conjugated forms, rather than the other way around.  We teach people to derive conjugated forms from the infinitive, because it is easier to remember words that way, but that's not how it arose originally in the language. 

But to answer your question, no, outside of learning the pronunciation first (or deducing the stress pattern  etymology from proto-Romance), there is no systematic way of knowing where the stress will go, EXCEPT for the infinitive... the stress is always at the end!  :)

I just noticed your comment about verbs ending in "-querir," and you're right!  it was careless of me to leave them off the map!  I'll have to produce a 2.0 version.... Thanks!

October 20, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

JP: Thanks again!

October 20, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
spanishlearners says

SP team, thanks for another usefull lesson.

How do I get my hands on this Super usefull map, it will save me a lot of time wondering around those tables, without reaching anywhere.

October 20, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
alanchan says

Hi SpanishPod team!

Excellent lesson! I always learn so much from each La Clave video! The "boot" got me laughing pretty hard! :)

Thanks, and keep up the great work!

-Alan

 

October 22, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
jpvillanueva says

spanishlearners, I am trying to figure out how to best post the map.  In the meantime, you might try googling "Map of the Present Tense."  :)

October 22, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says

one possibility.

as an image map with mouseover areas that bring up larger versions of that area. The mouseover images can be speced on the page as dots someplace else (image size width=1 height 1) so they are already downloaded and the mouseover should be just about instantanious,

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

JP, reading the page you mentioned I didn't understand what's irregular about the third person singular, present tense of "ver" (to see): "ve" appears pretty regular to me.  What appears to be irregular is "veo" (I see; instead of "vo")  and "veis" (you all see; instead of "véis"). I guess this is a question for the next "pa' que sepas" show. :)

Oh, and talking about irregular verbs: is there anything particularly irregular about the present tense subjunctive of "caber"? (that's a question for a "pa' que sepas" show in one or two months, I guess :).

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
stevestr says

martinillo

Is caber irregular in the present subjunctive?  I guess it depends on how you look at it.  It is regular in the sense that if follow the regular construction of the present subjunctive based on the first person singular present conjugation of the verb.  It is irregular in the sense that the first person singular of the verb is irregular and this irregularity is carried over to the subjective.  I think it is your choice.

please note that I spelled subjunctive correctly.

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

stevestrv: Well done! :-D (I had to read your comment three times until I spotted the one "subjective" in the last but one line.)

Yes, I completely agree with you. But my grammar book ("Große Lerngrammatik Spanisch" by Claudia Moriena and Karen Genschow, if anyone cares :) as well as a teacher in a Spanish course I took a year ago, claimed that "caber" is one of the 7 words that are (truly) irregular in the subjunctive. Thus, I'm somewhat confused about this question.

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
donperigo says

kudos stevestrv :-)

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
kwyman says

hola JP,

usted dijo que hace solo 5 verbos irregulares, perro, pienso que DECIR is muy irregular. pues, hace 6? hace mas? no mienta a nos!

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

¡Hola kwyman!Hello kwyman!

¿Dónde está "decir" en la mapa? Pues, es "stem changing™" (e->i) y a la vez "yo crazy" (yo-g). Entonces no es tan irregular. (Otros ejemplos son "tener" y "venir".) Where is "decir" on the map? Well, it's  "stem changing™" (e->i) and at the same time "yo crazy" (yo-g). Therefore, it is not that irregular. (Other examples are "tener" and "venir".)

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
stevestr says

martinill kwyman

When I first saw kwyman’s comment, I thought the same thing that martinillo said.  I thought that  decer was a verb like tener and venir which live in the stem changing north  (e->i ) but winters in the yo crazy south.  There is one difference, venir and tener to not have stem changes in the yo form, tengo, vengo, but deicr does,  digo.

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

stevestrv&kwyman: Other examples with the stem change in the first person (such as decir): erguir (yo irgo/yergo), cocer (yo cuezo), seguir (yo sigo), elegir (yo elijo). 

I don't know other verbs without a stem change in the first person (apart from tener and venir). Well, oír (yo oígo, tú oyes, ...) could be considered another example, I guess.

(Oops, some of these are actually not really yo-crazy because they are just spelling changes... o well. :)

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
catherineruns says

¡Fenomenal lección!  

Gracias

October 23, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
vikia says

Ok, as a graphic designer, I gave myself home-work and recreated the Verb Map. It is a pdf [961k], feel free to download and use at your pleasure.

Working on it helped to set conjugation in my head. And it wasn't nearly as hard afterward.

BTW, this is the first time light bulb were going off, as I was so lost trying to figure out the verbs...it makes it almost crystal clear. I still have a long way to go to get out of the newbie section. This definitely helps.

MUCHOS GRACIAS!!!!

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
donperigo says

thanks for doing that vikia. your link didnt work for me initially till i openened it  in another window. could just have been a blip. cheers

 

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
stevestr says

vikia

Thank you.  You did a great job.

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says

Yes she did,  very nicely done and I'll bet she still has the electronic source file so she can squeeze in this in the top half:

martinillo says

  • There is one more category of stem-changing™ -ir verbs with the stem change i -> ie, e.g. adquirir, inquirir, readquirir

and

jpvillanueva says

  • I just noticed your comment about verbs ending in "-querir," and you're right!  it was careless of me to leave them off the map!  I'll have to produce a 2.0 version.... Thanks!

 

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says

Oye, me puedo recordar todas de las cháchares, pero ya simplemente probaré poner una palabra para la lengua quando necesito ...
Oye, I can remember all this banter, but just try and put a word to tongue when I need it....

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
vikia says

I have updated the verb map to include an example of the "-querir" words.

I also added the definitions and a pronoun chart for us newbies.

Try re-downloading.

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says

Thankee mamm!

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
kikuyu says

Vikia, that is  awesome! Muchas Gracias!

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
vikia says

De nada mis amigos. Me alegra.

Oops, I just noticed a mistake under Hacer. I have fixed it and it is ready for re-download now.

October 25, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

vikia: ¡Muy bien hecho! Very well done!

¿Cómo te parece incluir "nosotros/-as" y "vosotros/-as" en lugar de "nosotros" y "vosotros"? What do you think about including "nosotros/-as" and "vosotros/-as" instead of "nosotros" and "vosotros"?

Además me parece que un lugar mejor para "usted" sería con "él, ella" (en vez de con "tú") porque las formas de verbos de "él", "ella" y "usted" son iguales (y lo mismo al respeto de "ustedes"). Also, I think that a better place for "usted" would be with "él, ella" (instead of with "tú") because the forms of verbs for "él", "ella" and "usted" are the same (and the same with respect to "ustedes").

Pues, en todo caso, la mapa me gusta mucho! Well, in any case, I like the map very much!

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
vikia says

Martinillo, muchas gracias!!!! download the correction

Tú estás tan amable. You are so helpful.

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

vikia: De nada. Y lo siento pero acabo de encontrar otra cosa muy pequeña: falta el acento en "tu" (debe ser "tú"). Don't mention it. And I'm sorry but I found another very small thing: the accent mark is missing on "tu" (it should be "tú").

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
vikia says

heh heh, fixed!

Me corregen. I am corrected.

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
martinillo says

vikia: ¡Gracias! :)

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
cobre says

"Usted" es un pato extraño.  Él pertenece en "La Ropa Nueva Del Emperador" y "Un Gato Puede Observar El Rey".

Ese tipo de allá, la dama derecha de ello, y que la persona a la que estoy hablando todos los comen pastel.

Usted is such a strange duck. I belongs in  "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "A Cat May Look At a King".

That guy over there, the lady to his right, and that person to whom I am speaking all eat cake.

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
jpvillanueva says

vikia, the verb map is AWESOME! 

I have to say, I started using verb maps as a review tool just a few years ago with my students.  I think it really helped them see the big picture of what they had been studying for years. Without the big picture, I think they felt pretty hopeless about all the different varieties.

The funny thing about the verb maps is that my students memorized the verb map as if their lives depended on it, even though I told them several times that they would NOT be tested on it. 

The best part was, though, when a student would ask me how a certain verb was conjugated, I always asked, "where do you think it lives on the map?"  Usually, they guessed right!

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
vikia says

Well I for one am a visual thinker (umm art background) so this made the most sense for me. Straight memorization never works for me, I need to make visual relationships. This was perfect. I will probably make another for the preterit group as well. Just working on them, is good for my learning.

I showed it to my friend from Argentina and she was amazed and thought it was a great tool.

October 26, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
ritzy says

¡Hola todos!

Este "mapa verbo" es fantástico. Me ha ayudado mucho. Muchas gracias, JP y vikia

Hello everybody!

This "verb map" is fantastic. It has helped me a lot . Thank you very much , JP and vikia

November 7, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
toucan says

By chance I've revisited this lesson and came across your verb map Vikia. Great job and muchas gracias para compartirlo con nosotros.

November 16, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
spanishlearners says

Vikia you have done me a favor I will never forget for a life time, it was a nightmare memorizing unrelated lists, but now after work from JP (thank you a lot JP) and dedication to share from you vikia all I can say is a big THANK THANK THANK YOU, beside if I reach a high level in the language you can come back and say: well you remember the map!!!.

(know I can flex some muscles and show that I know the verbs instead of being the one looked down in class wahahahahaha oops thinkin out loud again).

November 17, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar
flood says

Me encanta "el mapa" de los verbos.  JP, cuando vas a producir otra para el pasado, el futuro etc.?  Mas! Mas! Mas!  Por Favor & gracias por tu trabajo. 

January 29, 2009 from the Web.
Avatar
ewong says

great video! the presentation was so not intimidating unlike the text book versions.

exactly what happened to me when I started studying the irregular verbs - PANIC! especially the y-go and y-zc!

@vikia, el mapa es guay! gracias!

August 31, 2009 from the Web.
Avatar
mterrall says

Hola todos!  Me encanta esta video.  Es gracioso y me ayuda.  Tengo una pregunta: 

On the map, are the examples given under stem change [pensar, poder, herir, morir, pedir, inquirir] just a few examples of many stem change verbs in the Spanish language, or are they the only ones in the entire Spanish language?  I have the same question for the verbs under "irregular verbs" and "yo crazy" verbs.

January 26, 2011 from the Web.
Avatar
guest says


Hello, I am Juliet.
How are you ? hope you are fine and in perfect condition of health.Please I
went through your profile at (spanishpod.com)and i read it and took
interest in it,please if you don't mind i will like you to write me on this
ID(Julietcumbu11@yahoo.com) hope to hear from you soon,and I will be
waiting for your mail because i have something VERY important to tell you.
Lots of love
Juliet.

July 9, 2011 from the Web.
Avatar
guest says


Hello, I am Juliet.
How are you ? hope you are fine and in perfect condition of health.Please I
went through your profile at (spanishpod.com)and i read it and took
interest in it,please if you don't mind i will like you to write me on this
ID(Julietcumbu11@yahoo.com) hope to hear from you soon,and I will be
waiting for your mail because i have something VERY important to tell you.
Lots of love
Juliet.

July 9, 2011 from the Web.
Avatar
ingenue says

Me encanta esta clase, gracias JP.
También Vikia, gracias por el mapa!

January 13, 2012 from the Web.

Not sure if your comment is appropriate Check our Commenting Policy first.

New lesson idea? Please let us know on our contact page.

This is a Paid Feature

This feature is only available to paid subscribers. SpanishPod offers 3 paid subscription types.

Basic Starting from $5 per month
Premium Starting from $17 per month
Praxis Starting from $23 per month

To find out more about these subscription types, please click here.
To upgrade your account, please click here.

This is a Premium Feature

This feature is only available to Premium and Praxis subscribers.

Premium Starting from $29 per month
Praxis Starting from $39 per month

To find out more about these subscription types, please click here.
To upgrade your account, please click here.