Lesson 1.1 · Unit 1 · Structures
The present tense you need on the first day of the year
Everything this year is built on the first-year present tense, so this lesson restores it in one place. You will review the three groups of regular verbs and the four verbs that show up in nearly every conversation: ser, estar, tener and ir. If any ending here feels unfamiliar, stay with this lesson until it does not, because a wrong ending in the present will also be wrong in every tense that follows.
- Three groups of regular verbs. Drop the ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add the personal ending. Hablar: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablan. Comer: como, comes, come, comemos, comen. Vivir: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven.
- The -er and -ir groups differ in one place. Only nosotros separates them: comemos against vivimos. Every other ending is the same.
- The ending carries the subject. You can drop yo, tú, nosotros; use the pronoun for contrast (Yo trabajo, pero ella estudia) or when it is unclear who is meant.
- Ser: soy, eres, es, somos, son. It names what something is: identity, origin, description, time, possession and material. Soy de Perú. Es profesora. Son las tres.
- Estar: estoy, estás, está, estamos, están. It names how or where something is: location and condition. Estoy en casa. Está cansada. Origin is ser, location is estar.
- Tener: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tienen. It means "to have", gives age (Tengo quince años) and names states of the body (tengo hambre, sed, frío, calor, sueño, miedo, prisa).
- Ir: voy, vas, va, vamos, van. It takes a before a place (Voy a la playa), and ir a plus an infinitive is the near future (Vamos a comer).
- Negatives and questions. Put no before the verb (No tengo tiempo) and raise the voice or invert the order for a question (¿Vives aquí?). Question words carry accents: ¿dónde? ¿qué? ¿quién?
Where students lose marks: Yo estoy de México (origin takes ser: soy de), Mi hermana es en casa (location takes estar), Tengo quince alone for age (keep años), and Voy la escuela (missing a). Name the frame first: identity or origin, location or condition, possession or age, movement.
The problem. Write seven sentences about Lucía: (1) She is from Chile. (2) She lives in Los Angeles. (3) She is sixteen. (4) Today she is at school. (5) She is tired. (6) She and her friends are going to the library. (7) She has a test.
Step one: sentence 1. Origin is what a person is, so use ser: Lucía es de Chile.
Step two: sentence 2. Vivir is a regular -ir verb and the subject is ella, so the ending is -e: Vive en Los Ángeles.
Step three: sentence 3. Age uses tener, never ser, and the noun años stays: Tiene dieciséis años.
Step four: sentence 4. A place at a moment is location, so use estar: Hoy está en la escuela.
Step five: sentence 5. Tired is a condition today, so estar again, and the adjective is feminine because Lucía is: Está cansada.
Step six: sentence 6. The subject is plural (ella y sus amigas), so ir is van, followed by a before the place: Ella y sus amigas van a la biblioteca.
Step seven: sentence 7. Tener with tiene: Tiene un examen.
Step eight: check. Seven sentences, seven right verbs: es, vive, tiene, está, está, van, tiene. Each ending matches its subject, and no sentence uses ser for location or age.
Problems 1 to 5 are routine. Problems 6 to 10 are multi-step or ask for reasoning.
- Write the present tense of vivir for yo, tú and nosotros.
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Vivir is an -ir verb: stem viv- plus -o, -es, -imos. vivo, vives, vivimos
- Complete with the correct form of ser or estar: Mis primos ___ de Colombia, pero ahora ___ en Texas.
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Origin is ser, and a place at the moment is estar. Both subjects are plural. son; están
- Complete: Yo ___ (tener) catorce años y mi hermano ___ (tener) diez.
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Age uses tener; yo takes tengo and mi hermano takes tiene. tengo; tiene
- Complete: Nosotros ___ (ir) ___ la playa.
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Ir with nosotros is vamos, and a place after ir needs a. vamos; a
- Write the tú form of comer, escribir and tomar.
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Each takes the tú ending: -es for -er and -ir, -as for -ar. comes, escribes, tomas
- Say "I am hungry, but my friends are not hungry."
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Hunger is a state expressed with tener, not ser or estar. No goes before the verb. Tengo hambre, pero mis amigos no tienen hambre.
- Say "Where do you (informal) live, and where are you from?"
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Both questions use tú, and each question word carries an accent. Origin uses ser: de dónde eres. ¿Dónde vives y de dónde eres?
- Find and fix the errors: Yo estoy de México y mi hermana es en casa.
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Origin takes ser, so estoy de becomes soy de. Location takes estar, so es en casa becomes está en casa. Yo soy de México y mi hermana está en casa.
- Say "We are going to eat at six, and then we are going to study."
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The near future is ir a plus an infinitive, with vamos for nosotros, and a clock time uses a las. Vamos a comer a las seis y luego vamos a estudiar.
- Write four sentences about yourself, one with ser, one with estar, one with tener and one with ir.
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One correct answer: Soy estudiante. Estoy en casa. Tengo quince años. Voy a la biblioteca los lunes. Each verb matches yo (soy, estoy, tengo, voy), and ir is followed by a. Soy estudiante. Estoy en casa. Tengo quince años. Voy a la biblioteca los lunes.