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Common and Useful Verbs

Author: Sophia

what's covered
In this lesson, you will learn about some of the verbs you will use most frequently in Spanish. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
  1. La Lista de Verbos (Verb List)
  2. Other Important Verbs

1. La Lista de Verbos (Verb List)

Now that you know how to use pronouns and verbs, it is time for you to start building your verb repertoire. The verbs in this section will be most helpful in your profession. You will learn what they mean in English and you will see the Spanish infinitive (ending in "ar," "er," or "ir"), the first person singular (conjugated for "yo" and ending in "o"), and the third person singular (conjugated for "él," "ella," "usted," and ending in "a" or "e").

Irregular forms are noted with an asterisk. You will simply have to memorize these forms since they do not follow the patterns you've learned. Also, some of the verbs appear in bold; this is because we will discuss them in the next lesson.

English Verb Spanish Infinitive First Person Third Person
to ask preguntar pregunto pregunta
to ask for pedir pido* pide*
to be estar estoy* está*
to be ser soy* es*
to be able to poder puedo* puede*
to breathe respirar respiro respira
to bring traer traigo* trae
to buy comprar compro compra
to call llamar llamo llama
to close cerrar cierro* cierra*
to come venir vengo* viene*
to do hacer hago* hace*
to drink beber bebo bebe
to eat comer como come
to explain explicar explico explica
to fill surtir surto surte
to fill out llenar lleno llena
to follow seguir sigo* sigue*
to give dar doy* da
to go ir voy* va*
to have tener tengo* tiene*
to hear oír oigo* oye*
to know conocer conozco* conoce
to know saber sé* sabe
to leave salir salgo* sale
to listen to escuchar escucho escucha
to live vivir vivo vive
to look at/watch mirar miro mira
to mix mezclar mezclo mezcla
to need necesitar necesito necesita
to open abrir abro abre
to ought to deber debo debe
to pay pagar pago paga
to pick up recoger recojo* recoge
to prefer preferir prefiero* prefiere*
to prepare preparar preparo prepara
to prescribe recetar receto receta
to put/place poner pongo* pone
to read leer leo lee
to refill surtir surto surte
to repeat repetir repito* repite*
to require requerir requiero* requiere*
to rest descansar descanso descansa
to return devolver devuelvo* devuelve*
to return regresar regreso regresa
to return volver vuelvo* vuelve*
to say/tell decir digo* dice*
to see ver veo* ve*
to sell vender vendo vende
to sign firmar firmo firma
to sleep dormir duermo* duerme*
to take tomar tomo toma
to talk/speak hablar hablo habla
to understand comprender comprendo comprende
to use usar uso usa
to wait esperar espero espera
to walk caminar camino camina
to want to querer quiero* quiere*
to work trabajar trabajo trabaja
to write escribir escribo escribe


2. Other Important Verbs

Video Transcript

There are a couple of other important verbs for you to learn that do not follow the patterns in the verb list.

The verb hay means there is/there are. "Hay" only has one form.

EXAMPLE

"Hay un lápiz" means "There is one pencil." "Hay dos lápices" means "There are two pencils."

Also, you should know that me gusta... means I like... (literally, it means "...is pleasing to me").

EXAMPLE

"Me gusta el libro" means "The book is pleasing to me."

The other form, le gusta..., means he/she/you like(s)... (again, literally, it means "...is pleasing to him/her/you").

EXAMPLE

"A Juan le gusta el libro" means "Juan likes the book."

summary
In this lesson, you were introduced to a verb list containing the Spanish verbs that you will likely use most often in your profession. Some of these verbs are irregular, meaning that they do not adhere to the normal conjugation rules. The best way to approach irregular verbs is to memorize their different forms through extra practice. You also learned two other important verbs that do not follow the verb patterns.

¡Buena suerte!

Support

If you are struggling with a concept or terminology in the course, you may contact SpanishforNursesSupport@capella.edu for assistance.

If you are having technical issues, please contact learningcoach@sophia.org.

Source: This content has been adapted from "Spanish for Nurses" by Stephanie Langston.