LinguaWhat you can now say
Three lessons, one machine. Every regular verb is a stem plus an ending, and the ending alone names the person, so the pronoun usually stays silent: Trabajo. Comemos. Viven. Reflexive verbs add a pronoun in front (me levanto), frequency words say how often (siempre, a veces, nunca), and primero, luego, después put the day in order. With that you can describe a whole routine, yours or anybody else's.
| Pronoun | -ar verbs (hablar) | -er verbs (comer) | -ir verbs (vivir) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablo | como | vivo |
| tú | hablas | comes | vives |
| él / ella / usted | habla | come | vive |
| nosotros / nosotras | hablamos | comemos | vivimos |
| vosotros / vosotras | habláis | coméis | vivís |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablan | comen | viven |
Reflexives and the words of the routine
A reflexive verb is a normal verb with a pronoun in front that copies the subject. Acostarse also changes its o to ue, except with nosotros and vosotros. Below, the pronouns and forms, then the words that place an action in time.
| Pronoun | Reflexive pronoun | Forms of levantarse | Forms of acostarse |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | me | me levanto | me acuesto |
| tú | te | te levantas | te acuestas |
| él / ella / usted | se | se levanta | se acuesta |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos | nos levantamos | nos acostamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | os | os levantáis | os acostáis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se | se levantan | se acuestan |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| siempre | always |
| normalmente | usually |
| a veces | sometimes |
| nunca | never |
| primero | first |
| luego | then |
| después | afterwards |
| temprano | early |
| tarde | late |
The traps
Five slips to watch. One: -o is yo and -a / -e is él, so hablo is I and habla is he. Two: nosotros of an -ir verb is -imos (vivimos), never -emos. Three: the yo forms hago, salgo, conozco have their extra letter; the other forms are regular. Four: the reflexive pronoun comes BEFORE the verb and agrees with the subject: nos levantamos, not "levantamos nos". Five: no goes before the pronoun (no me levanto), and acostarse keeps its o in nos acostamos.
Trabajo en una escuela y aprendo mucho de los niños.I work in a school and I learn a lot from the children.
Ana y yo comemos juntas los viernes y luego bailamos.Ana and I have lunch together on Fridays and then we dance.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | to speak, to talk | Hablas muy bien español. You speak Spanish very well. |
| trabajar | to work | Trabajamos de lunes a viernes. We work from Monday to Friday. |
| comer | to eat | Los españoles comen tarde. Spaniards eat late. |
| vivir | to live | Ana vive en Buenos Aires. Ana lives in Buenos Aires. |
| hacer | to do, to make | ¿Qué haces los domingos? What do you do on Sundays? |
| salir | to go out, to leave | Ana sale mucho por la noche. Ana goes out a lot at night. |
| levantarse | to get up | Me levanto a las siete y media. I get up at half past seven. |
| acostarse | to go to bed | Mi amigo se acuesta muy tarde. My friend goes to bed very late. |
| siempre | always | Siempre desayunamos juntos. We always have breakfast together. |
| nunca | never | Nunca como en la oficina. I never eat at the office. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which form of aprender goes with nosotros?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.