Today's lesson will examine Yabla's "Top 12" picks for the most useful verbs for having a conversation in Spanish. This time, we'll focus on the meanings of those verbs as well as giving you a lot of simple, conversational examples from Yabla's Spanish video library. Additionally, we'll provide you with conjugation tables for the "Top 3" most useful Spanish tenses: the simple present, the imperfect (which describes ongoing or continuous past actions), and the preterite (which describes completed past actions).

In addition to the aforementioned links, you can consult this lesson entitled Spanish Verb Tenses Explained if you need to brush up on those tenses and more! Although memorizing all of these conjugations might seem a bit intimidating, it could really help your ability to converse in Spanish.

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

1. Ser (to be) 

The fact that there are two verbs that mean "to be" in Spanish, ser and estar, can feel quite confusing for non-native speakers. Generally speaking, the verb ser is employed to describe more permanent characteristics. The acronym DOCTOR (description, occupation, condition, time, origin, relationship) is very useful for helping us to remember some of the many situations in which this verb is used. Let's take a look at how this verb is conjugated as well as some examples: 

Soy profesor de fotografía.

I'm a photography teacher.

Caption 13, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 5

 Play Caption

Sus cuadros eran muy extraños.

His paintings were very strange.

Caption 25, El Aula Azul - Adivina personajes históricos

 Play Caption

También fuimos parte de todas estas, eh... mega empresas, pero...

We were also part of all these, um... mega companies, but...

Caption 22, Doctor Krápula - Entrevista

 Play Caption

Notably, although ser usually denotes permanence, while the preterite tense denotes that something had a definite ending point, the verb ser is used in the preterite to describe something that "was" in the past, but did come to a conclusive end. 

2. Estar (to be)

The verb estar also means "to be" for traits that are variable/less permanent. The acronym PLACE (position, location, action, condition, emotion) might help you to remember some contexts in which the verb estar should be chosen. Let's take a look: 

Sí... Vale, entonces, estamos aquí.

Yes... OK, then, we're here.

Caption 6, Curso de español - Disculpe, ¿hay un cine por aquí?

 Play Caption

Un poquito y ajá, y estaba triste porque

A little bit, and uh-huh, and I was sad because

dejaba mi familia y eso y ya.

I was leaving my family and all that and that's it.

Caption 70, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila

 Play Caption

Los árabes estuvieron en España más de seiscientos años.

The Arabs were in Spain for more than six hundred years.

Caption 23, Rosa - Antequera, Málaga

 Play Caption

Be sure to check out this lesson if you want to learn more about the difference between ser and estar. 

3. Tener (to have)

The verb tener means "to have" in Spanish. Let's take a closer look: 

¿Tienes plumones y tijeras?

You have markers and scissors?

Sí, tengo plumones y tijeras,

Yes, I have markers and scissors,

pero no tengo mi teléfono.

but I don't have my phone.

Captions 20-22, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 1: No tengo mi teléfono.

 Play Caption

Tenían mi mochila en la Oficina de Objetos Perdidos.

They had my backpack in the Lost and Found.

Caption 44, Raquel - Oficina de objetos perdidos

 Play Caption

La noche anterior a la rumba, tuve otro sueño.

The night before going out on the town, I had another dream.

Caption 1, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 7

 Play Caption

Additionally, we invite you to explore some of the many idiomatic expressions with the verb tener. 

And, we'll just take a second to mention that if you throw in the word que after the verb tener plus a verb's infinitive ("to" form), you'll have the very useful Spanish construction tener que that means, "to have to" (do something):

Hoy tengo que trabajar.

Today I have to work.

Caption 74, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 14

 Play Caption

Tuvimos que trasladarnos a esta nueva ciudad.

We had to move to this new city.

Caption 39, Ciudad de Panamá - Denisse introduce la ciudad

 Play Caption

4. Hacer (to make/to do)

The Spanish verb hacer can mean either "to make" or "to do." But, not to fear— typically, the context will let you know quite clearly which meaning is intended.

Y ¿tú qué haces?

And what are you doing?

Caption 24, Guillermina y Candelario - Un pez mágico

 Play Caption

Y yo no hacía esto. Yo hago otro acto, que es con las motos.

And I didn't do this. I do another act, which is with motorcycles.

Caption 35, Rueda de la muerte - Parte 1

 Play Caption

También hizo alguna película.

He also made a movie.

Caption 28, El Aula Azul - Adivina personajes históricos

 Play Caption

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

5. Ir (to go)

The Spanish verb ir means "to go." Let's check out some of its conjugations and uses:

Voy a la piscina los lunes y los miércoles.

I go to the pool on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Caption 7, Ariana - Mi Semana

 Play Caption

Iba mucho con mi padre al campo.

I used to go with my father to the countryside a lot.

Caption 56, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 10

 Play Caption

¿Por qué fuiste al cine?

Why did you go to the movies?

Caption 48, Carlos explica - Las preposiciones 'por' y 'para'

 Play Caption

You might have noticed that the preterite form of the verb ir is conjugated in the exact same way as the verb ser. However, in most cases, context should help you to easily identify which verb is in use. 

Another great "trick" to be aware of is that adding an a plus a verb's infinitive to the verb ir is a very simple way of expressing what we are "going to" do and is, thus, an alternative to the future tense. Let's take a look: 

Vamos a hablar de mi familia, ¿sí?

We are going to talk about my family, OK?

Caption 2, Curso de español - Vamos a hablar de la familia

 Play Caption

Porque las chicas iban a salir, para no dejarte sola.

Because the girls were going to go out, so you wouldn't be alone.

Caption 11, Muñeca Brava - 18 - La Apuesta

 Play Caption

6. Venir (to come)

If we're going to talk about ir (to go), we'd better mention venir (to come)! Let's look:

Yo vengo del sur de España

I come from the South of Spain

Caption 10, Carolina - Acentos

 Play Caption

¿Qué venía después?

What came next?

Caption 23, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 8

 Play Caption

Los otros cisnes vinieron hacia él.

The other swans came toward him.

Caption 50, Cleer - El patito feo

 Play Caption

7. Decir (to say)

The Spanish verb decir means "to say" or "to tell."

Yo digo que Playa Balandra es el paraíso oficial.

I say that Balandra Beach is the official paradise.

Caption 67, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!

 Play Caption

Pero siempre me decía: ¡Mira! Mira eso allá.

But he always used to tell me: Look! Look at that over there.

Caption 42, Federico Kauffman Doig - Arqueólogo

 Play Caption

Y la señorita me dijo algo completamente diferente.

And the lady told me something totally different.

Caption 45, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 5

 Play Caption

Since we often say or tell things "to" others, you will notice that the verb decir is quite typically accompanied by indirect object pronouns like me (to me), te (to you), etc. to indicate the person to whom something is said or told. You can learn more about this and other aspects of this verb in our lesson entitled The Spanish Verb Decir.

banner PLACEHOLDER

8. Poder (to be able)

The verb poder means "to be able." It can be used alone to say simply "I can," "you could," etc. but is often used in conjunction with an infinitive verb to express what it is one "is able" to do. Let see it in action:

¿Puedo ver el menú por favor?

Can I see the menu please?

Caption 12, Cata y Cleer - En el restaurante

 Play Caption

¿Por qué las cosas no podían ser sencillas?

Why couldn't things be easy?

Caption 31, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 10

 Play Caption

Gracias a su cola, pudieron volar.

Thanks to its tail, you were able to fly.

Caption 49, Guillermina y Candelario - Una aventura extrema

 Play Caption

To learn more about the verb poder and how it is used, we recommend the following lesson: The Verb Poder - Common Expressions.

9. Saber (to know)

This word means "to know," but, in its preterite form, can mean "to find out." 

Pero no sé dónde!

But I don't know where!

Caption 28, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso

 Play Caption

No sabía qué decirle.

I didn't know what to say to her.

Caption 12, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1

 Play Caption

Nunca supe la verdad

I never found out the truth

Caption 2, Aleks Syntek - Intocable

 Play Caption

10.  Querer (to want)

If we're going to converse in Spanish, we had better be able to say what we "want"! The verb querer can stand alone to express our desire for a particular thing or be used with an infinitive verb to say what we "want to do." Let's take a look:

Porque realmente quiero mi propio baño.

Because I really want my own bathroom.

Caption 37, Cleer y Lida - Reservando una habitación

 Play Caption

Y algunos querían volver a su casa.

And some wanted to go back to their home.

Caption 13, Guillermina y Candelario - El mundo de los juguetes perdidos

 Play Caption

No me quiso decir su nombre.

She wouldn't tell me her name.

Caption 8, Yago - 14 La peruana

 Play Caption

Keep in mind that when the verb querer is used with no in the preterite, it can convey the idea that someone "wouldn't" do something or "refused to." 

One more important aspect of the Spanish verb querer is that, when speaking about actions that we "want" others to do or that we "want" to happen, the subjunctive form of the verb that follows is required (vuelvas instead of vuelves in the following example):

Quiero que... que vuelvas a New York.

I want for... for you to come back to New York.

Caption 23, Yago - 11 Prisión

 Play Caption

11. Dar (to give)

The Spanish verb dar means "to give." Let's look at some of its forms and examples:

Yo doy agua a mi gato.

I give water to my cat.

Caption 14, Lecciones con Carolina - Verbo - dar

 Play Caption

Adriana Espinel siempre daba unas respuestas tan profundas.

Adriana Espinel always gave such deep answers.

Caption 72, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4

 Play Caption

Eh... Mi asistente me dio sus datos.

Um... My assistant gave me your information.

Caption 39, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1

 Play Caption

Like the verb decir, the verb dar is often accompanied by indirect object pronouns to highlight the person to whom something is given. 

12. Ver (to see)

And, to conclude our list of the Top 12 Spanish verbs for carrying on a conversation, we thought it would be a good idea to give you a verb to describe the things you observe! 

Eh... ¿Cómo veo la vida?

Um... How do I see life?

Caption 79, Adícora, Venezuela - El tatuaje de Rosana

 Play Caption

¡Pero veíamos serpientes por todos lados!

But we saw snakes everywhere!

Caption 41, Guillermina y Candelario - La Isla de las Serpientes

 Play Caption

Vimos una película.

We saw a movie.

Caption 14, Zulbani - Trip to Merida

 Play Caption

Although it was certainly tough to narrow down the top 12 useful verbs in Spanish for carrying on a conversation, we hope you've enjoyed this lesson and that it helps you to hold a lot of stimulating conversations! Let us know with your suggestions and comments if there are any other verbs or topics you'd like to learn more about. 

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

Do you know the names of the months in Spanish? Believe it or not, the names of the months in Spanish are quite similar to their English equivalents. Let's look at how to write and pronounce the months of the year in Spanish language.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

How do you say "month" in Spanish?

The answer is mes. If you want to use the plural form, you need to use the term meses. Also, when talking about months in Spanish keep in mind the following:

One month: Un mes

Two months: Dos meses

Last month: El mes pasado

Next month: El próximo mes

List of months in Spanish and English

Before we hear how to pronounce the names of the 12 months in Spanish, let's take a look at the following list featuring the months in Spanish and English:

January: enero

February: febrero

March: marzo

April: abril

May: mayo

June: junio

July: julio

August: agosto

September: septiembre

October: octubre

November: noviembre

December: diciembre

12 sentences with the months in Spanish

Let's hear the following sentences so you can practice the pronunciation of the 12 months in Spanish.

January: Enero

Estos son los meses del año. Enero.

These are the months of the year. January.

Captions 1-2, El Aula Azul - Estaciones y Meses

 Play Caption

February: Febrero

Diecinueve de febrero.

February nineteenth.

-¡Oh! ¿Diecinueve de febrero?

-Oh! February nineteenth?

Captions 13-14, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 1 - La llegada de Sam

 Play Caption

March: Marzo

Las Fallas son unas fiestas que se celebran en Valencia durante el mes de marzo.

The Fallas is a festival celebrated in Valencia during the month of March.

Caption 25, Raquel - Fiestas de España

 Play Caption

April: Abril

Me gustaría reservar una cabaña para la primera semana de abril.

I would like to reserve a cabin for the first week of April.

Caption 4, Cleer y Lida - Reservando una habitación

 Play Caption

May: Mayo

En mayo, salen las flores.

In May, the flowers come out.

Caption 18, El Aula Azul - Estaciones y Meses

 Play Caption

June: Junio

En junio, empieza el verano.

In June, the summer starts.

Caption 19, El Aula Azul - Estaciones y Meses

 Play Caption

July: Julio

En julio. Vendría el mes de julio entero.

In July. He'd come for the whole month of July.

Caption 27, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español

 Play Caption

August: Agosto

En agosto, miles de voluntarios vienen a este sitio.

In August, thousands of volunteers come to this site.

Caption 53, Rosa - Laguna Fuente de Piedra

 Play Caption

September: Septiembre

Por ejemplo, durante el Festival de Cine

For example, during the Film Festival

que se celebra en San Sebastián en el mes de septiembre.

that is held in San Sebastian in the month of September.

Captions 13-14, San Sebastián - Palacio de Miramar

 Play Caption

October: Octubre

Desde octubre se comienza la venta de los monigotes.

From October the selling of the dolls begins.

Caption 55, Otavalo - Artesano de monigotes de Año Viejo

 Play Caption

November: Noviembre

Fue inaugurado el treinta de noviembre de mil novecientos noventa y cuatro.

It was opened on November thirtieth nineteen ninety-four.

Caption 5, Paseando con Karen Monterrey - Museo de Historia Mexicana

 Play Caption

December: Diciembre

Normalmente, suele nevar en diciembre.

Normally, it typically snows in December.

Caption 69, Clara y Cristina - Hablan de actividades

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Finally, did you notice anything in particular in the previous sentences regarding the spelling of the names of the months in Spanish? Unlike English, in Spanish the names of the months don't have to be capitalized.

That's it for today. Try to write a couple of sentences with the months in Spanish and read them aloud so you can practice their pronunciation. And don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.

Are you familiar with prepositions in Spanish? In this lesson, we will talk about the preposition en, which is one of the most commonly used prepositions in the Spanish language. In fact, this preposition works like the English prepositions “in,” “on” and “at.” Let's take a look. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

How to use the preposition en in Spanish

We use the preposition en when we want to state that something ocurred in a particular year or when we want to make a reference to a particular season or month of the year. In other words, we use the preposition en when talking about time.

Esa institución dejó de existir en mil novecientos noventa y nueve.

That institution ceased to exist in nineteen ninety-nine.

Caption 60, Carlos comenta - Los Años Maravillosos - Costumbres alimenticias y conflicto

 Play Caption

Y en invierno suele hacer mucho frío.

And in winter it tends to be very cold.

Caption 15, Clara explica - El tiempo

 Play Caption

En abril, llueve mucho.

In April, it rains a lot.

Caption 17, El Aula Azul - Estaciones y Meses

 Play Caption

When it comes to time, we also use the preposition en when we want to express a particular amount of time:

En veinte minutos se va a servir la cena.

In twenty minutes dinner is going to be served.

Caption 3, Muñeca Brava - 36 La pesquisa

 Play Caption

The preposition en in Spanish is also used when we want to indicate the location of a person or object.

Estoy en la escuela, El Aula Azul.

I am at the school, The Blue Classroom.

Caption 4, El Aula Azul - Ser y Estar

 Play Caption

El perro de Ana duerme en el horno.

Ana's dog sleeps in the oven.

Caption 5, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 1 - La llegada de Sam

 Play Caption

One of the most common uses of the preposition en is when we use it to talk about means of transportation.

Me fui a Bélgica con mi novio en avión.

I went to Belgium with my boyfriend on a plane.

Caption 2, Blanca y Mariona - Proyectos para el verano

 Play Caption

The preposition en is also used to express the value of something.

Y las cabañas sin baño están en ochenta mil pesos.

And the cabins without a bathroom go for eighty thousand pesos.

Caption 35, Cleer y Lida - Reservando una habitación

 Play Caption

Finally, the preposition en is also used to indicate how something is carried out.

En silencio pensaré tan sólo en ti

In silence I will think only of you

Caption 34, La Oreja de Van Gogh - Deseos De Cosas Imposibles

 Play Caption

In this example, notice how we can use the preposition en along with the verb pensar (to think) when we want to express "thinking of" someone or something.

Common expressions that use the preposition en in Spanish

Apart from the uses we have mentioned above, the preposition en can be found in various expressions that are quite common in Spanish. Let's look at some of them:

¿Es en serio?

Seriously?

Caption 50, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos

 Play Caption

Acuérdate que tenemos muchos amigos en común.

Remember that we have a lot of friends in common.

Caption 14, Los casos de Yabla - Problemas de convivencia

 Play Caption

En realidad, sólo con la práctica podemos entender mejor.

Actually, only with practice can we better understand.

Caption 64, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Conjugación

 Play Caption

To summarize, the following are the most common uses of the preposition en in Spanish:

- When talking about time (years, month, seasons or amount of time)

- To indicate the location of a person or an object

- To indicate the means of transportation

- To express the value of something

- To indicate how something is carried out.

- In some very common expressions

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

That's it for today. Now that you know how to use the preposition en in Spanish, try to write some sentences with all the different uses we mentioned throughout this lesson. And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions.

Let’s talk about accentuation and pronunciation. Today, we’ll discuss the so-called palabras esdrújulas (proparoxytone words). That’s a weird name, isn’t? Before we talk about palabras esdrújulas, we need to remember something important.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

As we previously mentioned, all words in Spanish are stressed on one syllable. Depending on where that stress falls, words are divided into the following groups:

Palabras agudas (oxytone words) | accent on the last syllable

Palabras graves (paroxytone words) | accent on the second-to-last syllable

Palabras esdrújulas (proparoxytone words) | accent on the third-to-last syllable

Palabras sobresdrújulas (over-proparoxytone words) | accent on any syllable before the third-to-last syllable

Let’s get into palabras esdrújulas with the following example:

Palabras como micrófono, pirámide.

Words like "micrófono," [microphone], "pirámide" [pyramid].

Caption 44, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 4: Clasificación de las palabras según el acento

 Play Caption

The word micrófono has four syllables (mi | cró | fo | no) and the stress goes on the third-to-last syllable “cró.” Similarly, the word pirámide has four syllables (pi | rá | mi | de) and the stress also goes on the third-to-last syllable “rá.”

If you noticed it, the two proparoxytone words that we just mentioned bear a graphic accent (tilde) on their stressed syllables. And that’s exactly the beauty of the palabras esdrújulas. Unlike palabras agudas and palabras graves, which follow complex rules regarding the use of the graphic accent, the esdrújulas ALWAYS need to have a graphic accent. Let’s see more examples:

También nos dedicamos a música clásica.

Also, we do classical music.

Caption 13, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Paty

 Play Caption

...ya construimos la cámara para grabar la película.

...we already built the camera to film the movie.

Caption 16, Guillermina y Candelario - Una película de terror

 Play Caption

Yo realmente prefiero no dar mi número de mi tarjeta de crédito por teléfono.

I really prefer not to give my credit card number on the phone.

Caption 50, Cleer y Lida - Reservando una habitación

 Play Caption

As you can see from the examples above, there are lots of palabras esdrújulas in the Spanish language and some of them are quite common. Before we go, one last curious thing to remember: 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The word esdrújula is also an esdrújula word!

That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take one of our videos and try to find all the proparoxytone words in it. And of course, don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.