1. Verbs, verbs, and nothing but verbs

2. What is a verb?
A verb (from the latin verbum, meaning “word”) is a word that tells what someone or something is or what someone or something is doing.
Ex. Amber does her homework.
Geoffrey is a senior.

3. What is a verb tense?
A verb tense is not what you feel before an exam, it is what tells us when the action of the verb happened, its time.
Ex. I am not listening right now. (present tense)
I came to class late. (past tense)

4. There are seven simple tenses in Spanish.
English names
Spanish names
Present Indicative
Imperfect indicative
Preterite
Future
Conditional
Present subjunctive
Imperfect subjunctive
Presente indicativo
Imperfecto
Pretérito
Futuro
Condicional
Presente de subjuntivo
Imperfecto de subjuntivo

5. English examples of these tenses using the verb eat
Presente indicativo: I eat
Imperfecto: I was eating, I used to eat
Pretérito: I ate
Future: I will eat
Condicional: I would eat
Presente de subjuntivo: I am happy that he eats vegetables.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo: I am angry that she ate my Twinkies.

6. Perfect tenses- These are called perfect because the action is complete.
English names
Spanish names
Present perfect
Pluperfect indicative
Anterior preterite
Future perfect
Conditional perfect
Present perfect subjunctive
Pluperfect subjunctive
Presente perfecto
Plusuamperfecto de indicativo
Pretérito anterior
Futuro perfecto
Condicional perfecto
Presente perfecto subjuntivo
Pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo

7. Examples of perfect tenses with the verb to talk
Presente perfecto: He has talked for a year.
Plusuamperfecto de indicativo: He had talked until midnight.
Futuro perfecto: She will have talked for a month on the phone.
Condicional perfecto: He would have talked for a year but he got laryngitis.
Presente perfecto subjuntivo: The teacher is mad that she has talked all class.
Pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo: The teacher is glad that she had stopped talking.

8. To infinitive and beyond
The infinitive is the form of the Spanish verb found in most dictionaries. It is called infinitive because it has no tense, therefore no time. It is translated to + verb
Ex. Comer = to eat
lloriquear = to whine
vivir = to live

9. No conjugation, no action
To be useful, an infinitive must be conjugated.
A conjugated verb gives us the following information:
- when the action occurs (tiempo)
- who is doing the action (persona)
- how many people are doing the action (número)
- if the action is complete (aspecto)

10. Example with the verb lloriquear (to whine)
Yo lloriqueo
Tiempo: This is present tense, the action is happening now. (maybe as we speak)
Persona: I am doing the action. (first person)
Número: One person is doing the action. (singular)
Aspecto: The action is seen as complete.

11. Tipos de persona
Primera persona: I am talking about myself (yo) or us (nosotros/as)
Segunda persona: I am talking to you (tú, usted) or you all (vosotros, ustedes)
Tercera persona: I am talking about her (ella),
him (él), or them (ellos, ellas)

12. Conjugating a regular verb, no matter what the tense
A regular verb is a verb that follows all the conjugation rules without doing anything strange.
Rules
1. drop the last two letters (er, ir, or ar) from the infinitive to get the stem or root.
2. List the subject pronouns (yo, tú, etc.)
3. Write the stem after the pronouns.
4. Add the endings for the tense.

13. Present tense with verb comer
The stem is com
Yo como
Tú comes
Él come
Ella come
Usted come
Nosotros/as comemos
Vosotros/as coméis
Ellos comen
Ellas comen
Ustedes comen