Appendix
A. Spanish verb groups
LinguaMorpha sorts Spanish verbs into groups by how they conjugate or how they are used. The groups decide what you drill (Self Study → Verbs → Select verb groups) and appear as coloured badges on each verb. A verb can belong to more than one group: tener is in Irregular yo: -go, e→ie, Strong preterite and Irregular future stem.
Select verb groups has two views. By Section shows the groups below, in five sections. By regularity sorts verbs by how many things they ask you to remember beyond the regular endings. Each row shows how many verbs it holds, and the ⓘ button opens an explanation with the verbs in that group.
Basic
Regular
The verb takes the standard endings for its infinitive type (-ar, -er, -ir), with no stem change, no spelling shift and no irregular form anywhere, including the participle and the gerund. Hablar, comer and vivir are the models. A reflexive verb that conjugates regularly, such as lavarse, counts as regular too.
Stem Changes
The stem vowel changes when it carries the stress. In the present that means yo, tú, él and ellos, but not nosotros or vosotros, where the stress falls on the ending. The present subjunctive changes in the same four persons (piense, pensemos). Stem-changing -ir verbs also change nosotros and vosotros there (pidamos, durmamos), as well as the él and ellos forms of the preterite (pidió, durmieron) and the gerund (pidiendo). In the picker these groups are listed by the change alone.
e→ie
pensar → pienso, piensas, piensa, pensamos, pensáis, piensan. The most common stem change. It occurs in all three verb types: pensar, querer, preferir.
o→ue
poder → puedo; dormir → duermo. It also occurs in -ar, -er and -ir verbs.
e→i
pedir → pido. Only in -ir verbs.
u→ue
jugar → juego. Jugar is the member.
i→ie
adquirir → adquiero.
Accent shift í/ú
Some -iar and -uar verbs stress the stem vowel and mark it with a written accent instead of changing it: enviar → envío, envías, envía, enviamos, enviáis, envían; actuar → actúo. Again, nosotros and vosotros stay unaccented.
Yo & Spelling
Irregular yo: -go
A g appears before the -o of the present yo form: tener → tengo, poner → pongo, salir → salgo, hacer → hago, decir → digo, traer → traigo, caer → caigo, oír → oigo. The present subjunctive is built on that form, so the g runs through all its persons: tenga, tengamos.
Irregular yo: -zco
Verbs ending in a vowel + -cer or -cir have -zco in the present yo form: conocer → conozco, parecer → parezco, producir → produzco. The other persons of the present are regular. The present subjunctive keeps the zc: conozca.
Consonant + -cer/-cir: c → z
When a consonant comes before -cer or -cir, the yo form is a plain spelling change instead: vencer → venzo, ejercer → ejerzo. The z runs through the present subjunctive: venza.
Spelling shift -ger/-gir
To keep the soft sound, g is written j before a and o: escoger → escojo, proteger → protejo, dirigir → dirijo. The same shift appears in every person of the present subjunctive (escoja). The preterite is not affected: escogí, escogió.
Verbs ending in -guir
The silent u is dropped before o and a: seguir → sigo, distinguir → distingo. The present subjunctive drops it too: siga.
Y-insertion
When the stem ends in a vowel, an unstressed i between vowels is written y. This happens in the él and ellos forms of the preterite and in the gerund: leer → leyó, leyeron, leyendo. Other examples are creer, oír and caer. The imperfect subjunctive inherits the y: leyera.
Verbs ending in -uir
A y is inserted before the ending in the present, except in nosotros and vosotros: construir → construyo, construyes, construye, construimos, construís, construyen. These verbs also take the preterite and gerund y: construyó, construyendo.
Spelling shift -car/-gar/-zar
To keep the consonant's sound before e, the yo form of the preterite changes its spelling: buscar → busqué, llegar → llegué, empezar → empecé. The present subjunctive has the same shift in every person: busque, llegue, empiece.
Preterite & Advanced
Strong preterite
These verbs use a different stem in the preterite, with endings that carry no written accent: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Examples: estar → estuve, poder → pude, venir → vine, hacer → hice (él hizo), querer → quise, tener → tuve, andar → anduve. When the stem ends in j, the ellos ending is -eron: decir → dijeron, traer → trajeron, conducir → condujeron. Compounds follow their base verb: obtener → obtuve, componer → compuse. The imperfect subjunctive is built on the same stem: tuviera, dijera.
Irregular participle
The verb is regular in every simple tense, but its past participle has to be learned: abrir → abierto, escribir → escrito, romper → roto. Every compound tense uses that participle: he abierto, había escrito.
Irregular future stem
The future and the conditional are built on the whole infinitive. These verbs replace it with a shortened stem, and the endings stay regular. One stem covers both tenses: tener → tendré, tendría. Other examples: poner → pondr-, salir → saldr-, venir → vendr-, haber → habr-, saber → sabr-, poder → podr-, querer → querr-, decir → dir-, hacer → har-.
Irregular
A verb lands here when it is irregular in a way none of the other groups names. The group includes the verbs whose forms follow no rule across whole tenses: ser (soy, era, fui), ir (voy, iba, fui), estar (estoy, estás), dar (doy, di), haber (he, has, ha) and ver (veo, veía). A verb with only one irregular corner, such as a yo form, a participle or a future stem, is filed in that group instead. So tener, hacer and poder are not in Irregular.
How the verb is used
These four groups don't change the endings. They describe how the verb is used in a sentence, so a verb in one of them can also be Regular.
Reflexive
The verb is used with a reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject: me, te, se, nos, os, se. It conjugates exactly like the same verb without the pronoun: lavarse is a regular -ar verb, acostarse an o→ue verb, vestirse an e→i verb. The pronoun goes before a conjugated verb (me lavo) and is attached to an infinitive, a gerund or an affirmative command (lavarse, lavándose, ¡lávate!). Some verbs change meaning with the pronoun: dormir (to sleep) and dormirse (to fall asleep).
Impersonal
Weather verbs and hay have no one doing the action. They are used only in the third-person singular, in every tense: llover → llueve, nevar → nieva, granizar, lloviznar, and hay (había, habrá).
Me gusta pattern
The thing that pleases is the subject, and the person is an indirect object pronoun. Me gusta el libro literally means "the book pleases me", and the verb agrees with the thing: me gustan los libros. Other members include encantar, interesar, molestar, doler, faltar and parecer.
Stative
The verb describes a state rather than an action, so it is not normally used in the progressive: sé, not estoy sabiendo. Members include saber, conocer, tener, querer, poder and deber. The me gusta verbs are in this group too.
B. Spanish verb tenses
LinguaMorpha conjugates sixteen Spanish tenses and forms. You choose them in Self Study → Verbs → Select tenses, and they are listed below in the order that screen shows them (By Section). By Level sorts the same tenses by CEFR level:
| Tense | Level |
|---|---|
| Presente | A1 |
| Pretérito Perfecto, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Imperfecto, Gerundio, Imperativo Afirmativo | A2 |
| Futuro, Condicional, Pluscuamperfecto, Presente de Subjuntivo, Imperativo Negativo | B1 |
| Futuro Perfecto, Condicional Perfecto, Imperfecto de Subjuntivo, Pretérito Perfecto Subjuntivo | B2 |
| Pluscuamperfecto Subjuntivo | C1 |
Six of the tenses are compound: a form of haber plus the past participle. That is why the participle drill under Verbs feeds all six.
Indicativo – Tiempos Simples
Presente
The foundation of the language: habitual actions, general truths, scheduled future events. Endings for -ar: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. For -er: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. For -ir: -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en.
Pretérito Indefinido
The standard narrative past: completed actions, specific past events, sequences of events. Endings for -ar: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. For -er and -ir: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. This is the most irregular tense in Spanish; see Strong preterite in Appendix A.
Pretérito Imperfecto
Ongoing situations, habits, background description, and an action that is interrupted by another. Endings for -ar: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For -er and -ir: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Only three verbs are irregular: ser → era, ir → iba, ver → veía.
Futuro
Actions that will happen, predictions and promises. The endings are added to the whole infinitive, the same for all verb types: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Some verbs use a shortened stem: tener → tendré, hacer → haré (see Irregular future stem in Appendix A). The future also expresses probability in the present: ¿Dónde estará María? — Where could María be?
Condicional
What would happen under certain conditions, polite requests and suggestions. Like the future, it is built on the infinitive, with the same irregular stems (tendría, haría). Endings: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
Indicativo – Tiempos Compuestos
Pretérito Perfecto
Past actions connected to the present. Formed with haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle. He perdido las llaves — I have lost my keys (and still don't have them). It is used especially in Spain; much of Latin America uses the Indefinido in the same situations.
Pluscuamperfecto
Actions completed before another past event: the background layer of a story, and reported speech in the past. Formed with haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle. Ya habíamos comido cuando llegó — We had already eaten when he arrived.
Futuro Perfecto
Actions that will be finished before a moment in the future. Formed with haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle. Habré terminado para las ocho — I will have finished by eight. It also expresses probability about the past, just as the simple future does about the present: Habrá salido — He must have left.
Condicional Perfecto
What would have happened under different circumstances: hypothetical pasts, regrets, missed chances. Formed with haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle. Habría hablado, pero no tuve tiempo — I would have spoken, but I didn't have time. It is the result clause of an unreal past condition, whose si clause takes the Pluscuamperfecto Subjuntivo.
Subjuntivo – Tiempos Simples
Presente de Subjuntivo
Built on the yo form of the present indicative, with the opposite ending vowel: hablar → hable, comer → coma, vivir → viva, tener → tenga. Used after expressions of doubt, emotion, wish and denial: Quiero que estudies — I want you to study.
Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
Built on the ellos form of the Indefinido: hablaron → hablara, tuvieron → tuviera. Used when the main verb is in the past, and in unreal si clauses: Si tuviera dinero, viajaría — If I had money, I would travel. Spanish also has an equivalent set of forms in -se (hablase); the app shows the -ra forms.
Subjuntivo – Tiempos Compuestos
Pretérito Perfecto Subjuntivo
Haber in the present subjunctive (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle. A completed action in a context that requires the subjunctive: Espero que hayas comido — I hope you have eaten; No creo que lo hayas entendido — I don't think you have understood it.
Pluscuamperfecto Subjuntivo
Haber in the imperfect subjunctive (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle. The -se set (hubiese…) exists too; the app uses hubiera. Used for hypothetical pasts and unreal conditions: Si hubiera estudiado, habría aprobado — If I had studied, I would have passed; Ojalá hubiera venido — If only he had come. Its result clause takes the Condicional Perfecto.
Imperativo
Commands. There is no yo form, so the app shows five persons.
Imperativo Afirmativo
Tú uses the él form of the present (¡Habla!), and vosotros replaces the -r of the infinitive with -d (¡Hablad!). The other persons use the present subjunctive (hable, hablemos, hablen). Several common verbs have a short irregular tú form: tener → ten, poner → pon, salir → sal, hacer → haz, decir → di, venir → ven.
Imperativo Negativo
No plus the present subjunctive, in every person: ¡No hables! — Don't speak! ¡No habléis!
Formas no Personales
Gerundio
Actions in progress, and the progressive forms built on them. -ar verbs take -ando (hablando); -er and -ir verbs take -iendo (comiendo, viviendo). The app conjugates it as the progressive (estoy hablando … están hablando), so the table shows all six persons even though the gerund itself is a single form. It is irregular where the stem changes (decir → diciendo, pedir → pidiendo, dormir → durmiendo) and where a vowel comes before the ending (leer → leyendo, oír → oyendo, construir → construyendo). Verbs in the Stative group are not normally used in the progressive.