New ideas for getting the hang of conjugating Spanish verbs

Without a doubt, one of the hardest things about learning the Spanish language is understanding how to conjugate verbs correctly.

Many Spanish learners find that getting to grips with the grammar is the one thing stopping them from progressing in the language and feeling comfortable in having conversations in Spanish. Not being able to conjugate the verb correctly can often result in a communication breakdown. Where the person you’re speaking to might understand the verb and vocabulary you’re trying to say, using the wrong verb ending could mean they interpret your meaning in a completely different way.

For example, imagine you’re trying to say “the package has arrived” (el paquete ha llegado). While you might know the correct verb and vocabulary to express yourself, not knowing the correct grammar could end up getting completely wrong and saying the “paquete will arrive” (el paquete llegará).

While this all may seem a little obvious, it’s important to stress the difficulties you can find yourself in if you don’t knuckle down and get a firm understanding of Spanish verb conjugation. But like most things in life, it’s just one of those things you will never master without plenty of practise and dedication.

Spanish verbs are a completely different ball game to English verbs. As long as you’ve got the pronouns down, you really only need to know two different forms of the verb in question (not taking irregular verbs into consideration). I go, he goes, he/she/it goes, we go, they go. There, just two forms of the verb to go to learn.`

But just because there’s a lot of hard work involved in learning Spanish verbs, it doesn’t mean there aren’t a few decent language-learning tools out there to help you along your journey.

Take Verbarrator, for example. This software cosists of 34,770 mp3 audio files to help you perfect your ability to conjugate Spanish verbs. It allows you to focus on which person you are having particular difficulty with. For example, if you are having trouble with conjugating verbs for the Spanish “nosotros” you can set the software to drill verbs for that person. Or perhaps it’s irregular Spanish verbs you’re having difficulty with? Or even there’s a few verbs you just can’t seem to remember how to conjugate? Wth 567 verbs programmed into the system, Verbarrator can help you with these too. Take a look at their site for more information.

There are also a few free options out there too. Spaleon is an online Spanish verb conjugation trainer. It allows you to choose the verb tense you want to practise and lets you drill them for free online. You can also learn a new Spanish word every day with their word of the day section. Check out Spaleon’s entry in Tonguetide’s language-learning directory. Or you could try Verbix, which is similar to Spaleon. You can use the software online or download it for Windows. Verbix is especially useful if you’re learning other languages other than Spanish, as it also allows you to practise verb conjugation for French, German, Italian, Korean, Latic and many more.

Getting the hang of verb conjugation is by no means an easy task. But rather than sitting with a heavy text book or dictionary attempting to learn them by heart, make use of some of the useful language-learning tools out there to make lessen the headache of conjugating Spanish verbs.