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Language Focus
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| Verbs |
Verbs are the action words in a sentence, saying what happens or describing a state of being. Spanish infinitives, the dictionary form of verbs, end in -ar, -er or -ir. These endings change to indicate the person (who's doing something) and the tense (when it's being done):
Pagar to pay - Tú pagarás la cuenta - You'll pay the bill.
Preferir to prefer - Prefiero no hablar de eso - (I) prefer not to talk about it.
The endings of most Spanish verbs follow a similar pattern. Unfortunately, some of the most common verbs, such as ser to be or ir to go, are "irregular", and you have to learn the different forms by heart.
To look up a verb in a specific person or tense, visit the external website Spaleon.
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Practise with a story from below  |
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Present continuous
Guerra contra los cocales
"Anti-drug" chemicals kill all crops
With vocabulary and related audio
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Past or present?
El problema: la explotación petrolera
Amazon's oil pollution fears
With quiz
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Infinitive or subjunctive?
Latinos EEUU: "Queremos acciones"
The needs of the Hispanic community in the US
With quiz and matching audio
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Past perfect - past participle
Fox: Los excluidos son mi prioridad
Exclusive interview: Mexican president
With vocabulary and related audio
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Subjunctive - present
Que uno, que otro, que ninguno
Chavez inspires passions in divided Venezuela
With quiz
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Select the tense
Paco de Lucía: "No hago más giras"
Paco de Lucía vows to quit touring
With quiz and matching audio
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Ser or estar?
Pasión por televisión
Latin America's famous soap operas
With quiz and matching audio
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Infinitive, gerund or participle?
Harry Potter a la mexicana
Mexican director directs Harry Potter
With quiz
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Passive
Momias incas
Ancient Inca mummies discovered in Lima
With vocabulary and related audio
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Preterite, i.e. simple past
Un mundo más allá de Plutón
Astronomers discover new planet
With quiz
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Infinitive, gerund or participle?
Inauguran mezquita en Granada
First new mosque in Granada after 500 years
With quiz
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Past tenses
Latinoamericanos en España
Latin American immigrants struggle in Spain
With quiz
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Future
Pekín, sede olímpica de 2008
China starts Olympics countdown
With vocabulary
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Preterite or imperfect?
Al Everest, con el corazón
Four Chilean girls make it to the highest peak
With quiz
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Pluperfect tense
EEUU en busca de respuestas
US on September 12th, 2001
With vocabulary and related audio
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Ser or estar?
Marcos: la hora de la verdad
Marcos and the Zapatistas conquer Mexico City
With vocabulary and related audio
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Preterite or imperfect?
Moncada: testimonios desde Cuba
Cubans mark 50th anniversary of the revolution
With quiz
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Subjunctives
Cargamento de alimentos a Cuba
First US food delivery arrives in Cuba
With quiz
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Imperfect
El secreto para cumplir un sueño
Candelaria y Herman travelled from Argentina to Alaska in a 1928 Graham-Paige
With quiz
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Preterite or imperfect?
Me honra correr la suerte de la Revolución
Cuban songwriter Silvio Rodríguez talks about music and the spirit of the revolution
With quiz
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Subjunctive - present
Padres y estudiantes
What do Hispanic parents hope for their children?
With quiz
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Ser or Estar?
Denuncian impunidad en Guatemala
Interview: Award-winning journalist Marielos Monzón talks to the BBC about Guatemala
With quiz
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Simple present: regular and irregular verbs
¿Le pega a su hijo?
A survey about Spanish attitudes towards smacking children
With quiz |
Passive ‘Se’
Fortalecer la familia latinoamericana
Interview: Ollanta Humala, the Peruvian nationalist candidate, talks to the BBC
With quiz |
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