Now that you understand the use of "IR A", this part is rather simple. The verb "ir" means "to go" and is used very much like we use it in English. Voy a la tienda = I am going to the store. Vas al cine? = Are you going to the movies? Ella va a la escuela hoy = She is going to school today. Nosotros vamos a la clase juntos = We are going to class together. Vosotros vais a la casa de la abuela = Y'all are going to grandma's house. Ellos van al concierto de Bruce Springsteen = They are going to the Bruce Springsteen concert.HOW DO I TALK ABOUT WHERE THINGS AND PEOPLE ARE?Let's do this by adding in the comparison between the uses of SER and ESTAR: You already know that there are TWO ways of saying "TO BE" in Spanish, SER and ESTAR. ESTAR answers the question DONDE SER answers the question QUE That's one way to understand the difference between the two. You can also look at it this way: SER In the previous lesson you learned the fundamental difference between ser and estar - essence or condition. The examples used the verbs in conjunction with adjectives to clearly illustrate this point. In practice, ser and estar are not always used with adjectives, nor is it always easy for the non-native speaker to choose between the two verbs. Therefore, it is extremely useful to learn some concrete rules for deciding when to use ser or estar. This lesson examines some common uses for the verb ser. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express the hour, day, and date. ¿Qué hora es? What time is it? Son las dos. It's two o'clock. ¿Qué día es hoy? What day is today? Hoy es lunes. Today's Monday. ¿Qué fecha es hoy? What's the date today? Es el cinco de mayo. It's May fifth. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express place of origin. ¿De dónde eres tú? Where are you from? Soy de Colombia. I'm from Colombia. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express occupation. ¿Cuál es tu trabajo? What do you do? Soy carpintero I'm a carpenter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express nationality. ¿Es ella puertorriqueña? Is she Puerto Rican? No, es guatemalteca. No, she's Guatemalan. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express religious or political affiliation. ¿Son los García bautistas? Are the Garcias Baptists? No, son católicos. No, they're Catholics. ¿Es el gobierno socialista? Is the government socialist? No, es comunista. No, it's communist. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express the material something is made of. ¿De qué material es la mesa? What's the table made of? Es de madera. It's made of wood. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express possession. ¿De quién es la pluma? Whose pen is it? Es de Emilio. It's Emilio's. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to express the relationship of one person to another. ¿Quién es Rogelio? Who is Roger? Es el esposo de Marta. He's Martha's husband. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used with certain impersonal expressions. Es importante practicar cada día. It's important to practice every day. Es necesario hablar mucho. It's necessary to speak a lot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used to tell where an event is taking place. La película es en el cine. The movie is at the theatre. La fiesta es en el club Fantástico. The party is in the Fantastic Club. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ser is used with adjectives to express inherent, or essential qualities. Miguel es un hombre sincero. Mike is a sincere man. También es guapo. He's also handsome. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's review. Ser is used to express: the hour, day, and date place of origin occupation nationality religious or political affiliation the material something is made of possession relationship of one person to another certain impersonal expressions where an event is taking place essential qualities ESTAR Estar is used to express geographic or physical locations. ¿Dónde estás? Where are you? Estoy en el laboratorio. I'm in the laboratory. ¿Dónde está Chile? Where's Chile? Chile está en América del Sur. Chile is in South America. Note: The one exception to this rule is that ser is used to tell where an event is taking place. (La fiesta es en mi casa.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estar is used with adjectives to express a state or condition. ¿Cómo está la sopa? How's the soup? La sopa está fría. The soup is cold. ¿Cómo estás tú? How are you? Estoy muy bien, gracias. I am very well, thanks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estar is used with many idiomatic expressions. These are just a few. estar de acuerdo to be in agreement estar de pie to be standing estar en camino to be on the way estar en las nubes to daydream --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estar is used with the progressive tenses. You will learn more about this usage later. We present it now simply because it is an important use of the verb estar. ¿Qué estás comiendo? What are you eating? Estoy comiendo arroz y frijoles. I am eating rice and beans. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's review. Estar is used to express: geographic or physical location state or condition many idiomatic expressions progressive tenses SER and ESTAR contrasted: This lesson presents the two verbs side by side, with the emphasis on contrasting their uses. In the process, much -- but not all -- of the previous three lessons will be reviewed. The practice exercises and the test cover material from all four lessons (Ser and Estar Parts I-IV). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the verb "to be" is followed by a noun, the verb ser is always used. In this instance, it might be helpful to think of the verb as equivalent to an "equal" sign, such as a = b. This type of sentence is always referring to essential characteristics, since the verb is "linking" what comes before the verb to what comes after the verb. John is a doctor. John = doctor. Juan es médico. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the verb "to be" is followed by an adjective, the verb used depends upon the meaning. When referring to an essential characteristic, use ser. When referring to a state or condition, use estar. La sopa está fría. The soup is cold. Los elefantes son grandes. The elephants are big. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the verb "to be" is followed by an adjective, the verb can actually change the meaning of the adjective. El profesor está aburrido. The professor is bored. El profesor es aburrido. The professor is boring. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Distinguishing between origin, location, and "to take place." To describe origin, or where something is from, use ser. To describe location, or where something is located right now, use estar. To tell where an event is taking place, use ser. Mónica es de España. Mónica está en Venezuela. La fiesta es en la casa de Mónica. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's review. When a noun follows the verb, use ser When an adjective follows the verb, decide between "essence" and "condition" To tell where something is from, use ser To tell where something is located right now, use estar To tell where an event is taking place, use ser (courtesy: www.studyspanish.com)HOW DO I FIGURE OUT CONJUGATION OF VERBS?If you're new to learning Spanish, chances are that the conjugation for the present indicative tense is the first conjugation set you'll be learning. Although it isn't the easiest conjugation set, it's the one you'll be using most often. (If you don't know what the terms in this paragraph mean, be sure to read the top two lessons linked to in the box under "Related Resources.") As is the case with some of the other conjugation forms, the present indicative forms are made by removing the infinitive ending of the verb (-ar, -er or -ir) and replacing it with an ending that indicates who is performing the action of the verb. To take one example, the infinitive form of the verb that means "to speak" is hablar. Its infinitive ending is -ar, leaving the stem of habl-. To say "I speak," add -o to the stem, forming hablo. To say "you speak" (singular informal), add -as to the stem, forming hablas. Other forms exist for other persons. The endings are slightly different for verbs that end in -er and -ir, but the principle is the same. Remove the infinitive ending, then add the appropriate ending to the remaining stem. The following chart shows the conjugations for each of the three infinitive types. The added endings for each verb are indicated in boldface.
| hablar (to speak) | aprender (to learn) | vivir (to live) | |
| yo (I) | hablo (I speak) | aprendo (I learn) | vivo (I live) |
| tú (you, singular informal) | hablas (you speak) | aprendes (you learn) | vives (you live) |
| él (he), ella (she), usted (you, singular formal) | habla (he speaks, she speaks, you speak) | aprende (he learns, she learns, you learn) | vive (he lives, she lives, you live) |
| nosotros, nosotros (we) | hablamos (we speak) | aprendemos (we learn) | vivimos (we live) |
| vosotros, vosotras (you, plural informal) | habláis (you speak) | aprendéis (you learn) | vivís (you live) |
| ellos (they), ellas (they), ustedes (you, plural, formal) | hablan (they speak) | aprenden (they learn, you learn) | viven (they live, you live) |
Note that the conjugations above are for verbs that follow the regular conjugation. Although most verbs conjugate regularly, the most common verbs usually do not (just as in English, where verbs such as "to be" and "to go" are highly irregular).
(courtesy: spanish.about.com)
However, Spanish does have a way of specifically saying verbs such as "eating" and "speaking," although they are used less often than in English. The verb forms that are the equivalent of the "-ing" form in English are known as present participles or gerunds. The important thing to keep in mind, however, is that while the Spanish present participle is roughly the equivalent of the "-ing" form in English, there are significant differences in the way they are used.
The Spanish present participle of regular verbs is formed removing the -ar ending and replacing it with -ando, or by removing the -er or -ir ending and replacing it with -iendo. Here are examples of each of the verb types:
| hablar (to speak) | hablando (speaking) |
| beber (to drink) | bebiendo (drinking) |
| vivir (to live) | viviendo (living) |
The verbs that have irregular present participles still use the same -ando and -iendo endings, but they have changes in the stems. For example, the present participle of venir (to come) in viniendo (coming), and the present participle of decir (to say) is diciendo (saying). To prevent awkward spellings, a few verbs use a -yendo ending in the participle instead of -iendo. For example, the present participle of leer (to read) is leyendo (reading).
As a beginning Spanish student, the way you are most likely to use the present participle is with the verb estar (to be) to form what is known as the present progressive tense. Here are some examples of that usage: Estoy estudiando. (I am studying.) Está lavando la ropa. (He is washing the clothing.) Estamos comiendo el desayuno. (We are eating breakfast.) The present participle can also be used with other tenses of estar to indicate past and future action.
Here is the present-tense conjugation of estar combined with a sample present participle to form the present progressive tense:
| yo | estoy escribiendo | I am writing |
| tú | estás escribiendo | you are writing |
| él, ella, usted | está escribiendo | he is writing, she is writing, you are writing |
| nosotros, nosotras | estamos escribiendo | we are writing |
| vosotros, vosotras | estáis escribiendo | you are writing |
| ellos, ellas, Uds. | están escribiendo | they are writing, you are writing |
The progressive tenses are used less in Spanish than they are in English. As a general rule, they place an emphasis on the continuing nature of the action.
One of the major differences between the present participles in English and Spanish is that while the English present participle can frequently be used as an adjective or a noun, in Spanish the present participle is nearly always used in conjunction with other verbs. Here are some examples of the present participle in use: Estoy pensando en ti. (I am thinking about you.) Anda buscando el tenedor. (He is walking around looking for the fork.) Sigue estudiando los libros. (She keeps on studying the books.) Haces bien estudiando mucho. (You're doing well by studying much.) At this stage, you do not need to analyze these sentences or understand the details of how the present participle is used. Note, however, that in all these examples the gerund is used to indicate some form of continuing action, and that it can be translated using an "-ing" verb (although it doesn't have to be).
Cases where you wouldn't use the Spanish participle to translate an "-ing" verb include instances where the English present participle is used as a noun or adjective. Note these examples: Ver es creer. (Seeing is believing.) Tiene un tigre que come hombres. (She has a man-eating tiger.) Hablar español es divertido. (Speaking Spanish is fun.) Me gusta comer. (I like eating.) Compré los zapatos de correr. (I bought the running shoes.)
Also note that while in English we can use the present progressive tense to refer to a future event (as in "We are leaving tomorrow"), that can't be done in Spanish. You must use either the simple present tense (salimos mañana) or the future tense (saldremos mañana). (courtesy: spanish.about.com)