Spanish

Drawn from Memory is a language learning app that makes studying Spanish fun and memorable, in a way that is perfect for creative and imaginative learners. If you’re just starting out, or continuing on your language-learning journey, Drawn from Memory will complement your other resources and add a creative twist to the learning process.

You can download it from the App Store today!

My name is Chris Davy, I’m the founder of Draw It Books and the creator of the Drawn from Memory app. I’m hugely passionate about communication and entertainment. So much so that I have a degree in Film Studies and Media & Cultural Studies. I created the Drawn from Memory app because it supports my learning style. I’m a playful and creative learner. I like to have a laugh and I like to have fun. Drawn from Memory allows me to do that. Basically, I like to mess about.

I’m currently studying for my Spanish GCSE and using my app to support my learning. You can follow my language learning journey and the development of the Drawn from Memory app here.

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In addition to the app and YouTube channel, here are some of the key elements that will help you learn Spanish.

The Alphabet

Mastering the Spanish alphabet is the first step in learning the language. With consistent sounds for each letter, you’ll be able to pronounce most words as they are written.

Spanish also has the letter ñ, which has its own sound, similar to the ‘ny’ sound in ‘canyon’.

The Spanish Alphabet: Letter Names and Pronunciation

This table displays all of the letters in the Spanish alphabet. In the table there are the letter names. These are what you would use to spell out a word.

For example, the Spanish word for ‘hello’ is ‘hola’. So, to spell hola you would say the letters:

hache–o–ele–a and you would pronounce those letters ah-che – oh – el-eh– ah.

But to say the word hola you would say, oh-lah

Which broken down, would look like this *silent h*–oh–luh–ah

Naturally, when we speak we often smooth sounds out and speed things up and they sound a little different. But it’s important to break things down so we can see what we are using.

The Spanish Alphabet

Verbs

Verbs are one of the main building blocks of any language because they describe actions, events, and states. In English, examples of verbs include ‘talk,’ ‘eat,’ or ‘live.’ In Spanish, examples of regular verbs include hablar (to talk), comer (to eat), and vivir (to live).

Remember the term ‘regular verb’. It is an important one that you will refer back to from time to time. That’s because in Spanish there are regular and irregular verbs.

Understanding the Structure of Words and Spanish Verbs

It’s helpful to understand how Spanish verbs are built. Spanish verbs have different parts that change depending on who is performing the action, how, and when it happens.

But first, let’s have a quick linguistics lesson about words and how they are structured in English.

Structure of English Words

Words are made up of parts. Those parts are called prefix, root(or stem), and suffix. In the graphics below you can start to get a feel of how they are used.

Prefix: Prefix refers to the letters at the start of a word. Think of the letters being ‘fixed on’ before (pre-) the ‘main part’ of the word. The main part of the word is known as the ‘root’ or ‘stem’. In the word prefix, ‘pre-‘ is the prefix and ‘-fix’ is the root.

Words that have the prefix ‘pre-‘ are typically about doing something ‘before’. Take a look at these words:

Prepare
Preview
Prevent
Precaution

The theme of all of these words is that they are referring to doing something that happens ‘before’.

There are lots of different prefixes. Some examples of other prefixes would be bi-, co-, dis-, and sub-.

Technically, not all Spanish verbs have prefixes, but when they do, the prefix modifies the meaning of the root verb. For example, des– in descubrir (to discover) changes the meaning of cubrir (to cover). All of this will make much more sense as you learn more about the language.

Root (Stem): The root, or stem, refers to the focus letters used in a word. The root is the core meaning of a word. For example, in the Spanish verb hablar (to talk), habl- is the root.

Lots of words in English come from other older languages like Latin and Greek. A good example to use to see how a root works is the root -ject-. Ject comes from the Latin word jacere meaning ‘to throw’. Here you can see a list of examples where -ject- is used and the prefix (start of a word) and suffix (end of a word) changes to adjust the meaning of the entire word.

Eject
Inject
Project
Reject
Trajectory
Injection

Suffix: The suffix refers to the letters used at the end of a word. They too have similar patterns that help to give meaning to words. Take a look at these suffixes used in English words, for example:

-ology = The study of something, the science of something, or a branch of knowledge.

Think biology, psychology, and geology.

-ography = The process of writing about, recording, or describing something, often used for topics involving detailed description or mapping.

Think geography, biography, and cartography.

-phobia = An irrational fear or dislike of something.

Think claustrophobia, arachnophobia, and acrophobia.

Structure of Spanish Verbs

Words in both English and Spanish are made up of these parts that help define their meaning. When you break a word down, you can understand more clearly how to use and modify it. This is especially important for Spanish verbs, which change based on who is performing the action, when it is happening, and the manner in which the action is performed.

Prefix

As explained earlier, a prefix is a group of letters added at the start of a word to modify its meaning. Though not all verbs in Spanish use prefixes, when they do, they can significantly change the meaning. For example:

• des- in descubrir (to discover) changes the meaning of cubrir (to cover) to mean “uncover” or “discover.”

Prefixes are more common with complex or compound verbs, so it’s important to understand their role in changing meaning.

Root (Stem)

The root (also known as the stem) is the base part of the verb that gives the word its core meaning. For example:

• The verb hablar (to talk) has the root habl-.

This root stays the same regardless of the tense or subject performing the action. Understanding the root helps you recognise a verb even when it’s conjugated into different forms. You will learn more about conjugations and different verb forms later on.

Suffix

The suffix is where the verb gets its ending, and this changes depending on who is performing the action (subject), when the action is happening (tense), and sometimes the mood of the action. In Spanish, when using regular verbs, the suffix changes consistently depending on whether a verb ends in -ar, -er, or -ir in its infinitive form. (We’ll go through what the infinitive form means shortly).

For example, the verb hablar is an -ar verb. Because it ends with the letters -ar. With the verb hablar (to talk), the suffix changes as follows when we talk about ‘I’:

Yo hablé – I talked (past)
Yo hablo – I talk (present)
Yo hablaré – I will talk (future)

And when we talk about ‘You’:

Tú hablaste – You talked (past)
Tú hablas – You talk (present)
Tú hablarás – You will talk (future)

The root habl- remains constant, but the suffix changes to indicate tense and subject. This pattern is the same for all regular -ar verbs, and there are consistent patterns for -er and -ir verbs too.

Summary of Spanish Verb Structure:

• Prefix: Letters at the start of a word that modify the meaning of the root.
• Root (Stem): The part of the verb that gives the base meaning and remains consistent during conjugation.*
• Suffix: The ending that changes to indicate the subject, tense, and sometimes mood.

*Conjugation is the term used to describe the process of changing a verb from its infinitive form to another form.

Infinitive Verbs

In Spanish, the infinitive is the base, ‘unconjugated’ form of a verb, equivalent to “to” plus the verb in English (e.g., “to talk,” “to eat,” “to live”). Infinitive verbs are not associated with any specific subject or tense. In Spanish, infinitives always end in one of these three ways:

• -ar (e.g., hablar – to talk)
• -er (e.g., comer – to eat)
• -ir (e.g., vivir – to live)

The infinitive form is essential because it’s the base form from which all conjugations are derived. You’ll use the infinitive when learning to conjugate verbs into different tenses and moods.

Infinitive verbs are given that name because the word infinitive comes from the Latin word infinitivus, which means ‘not limited’ or ‘indefinite’. This label reflects the fact the infinitive form of a verb is not restricted by tense, mood, person, or number, unlike conjugated forms that vary based on context.

Now that you know about the infinitive form, let’s explore how these verbs change based on who is being spoken about and the moment being spoken about; whether it is in the past, present, or future. Now we can look more into the topic of conjugation.

Conjugations

In Spanish, conjugation refers to the process of changing the form of a verb to reflect who is performing the action (the subject), when the action is happening (the tense), and sometimes the mood of the action.

Conjugation is the process of modifying a verb to reflect:

• The subject: Who or what is performing the action.
• The tense: When the action takes place.
• The mood: The nature of action (fact, wish, command etc.).

For example, the infinitive verb hablar (to talk) changes based on the subject and tense:

Subject consistency

In this example, the subject (I) stays the same, and only the verb form changes:

Yo hablé – I talked (past tense)
Yo hablo – I talk (present tense)
Yo hablaré – I will talk (future tense)

Tense consistency

In this example, only the subject changes while the verb tense stays the same. However, the verb ending still changes with respect to the subject, as is typical in Spanish:

Yo hablo – I talk
Tú hablas – You talk
Nosotros hablamos – We talk

Learning how to conjugate verbs is a key part of mastering Spanish because verbs change form depending on these factors.

Regular Verbs

Spanish has two types of verbs: regular and irregular. Both are still verbs, meaning they describe actions or things that can be done. The difference between them lies in how they change their structure based on the subject and tense of a sentence.

Regular verbs follow predictable patterns, making them easier to learn and remember. Once you know how to conjugate one regular -ar, -er, or -ir verb, you can apply the same rules to many others.

Irregular verbs unfortunately is not as simple. But, learning and understanding them absolutely achievable.

Verbs are crucial for communication, as they express actions, events, and states. Mastering verb conjugation is key to speaking Spanish.

Regular Verb Conjugation Tables

Regular verbs are the best place to start when learning Spanish verbs. Because there is a consistent pattern that you can learn for each of the verb types; -ar, -er, and -ir. Once you have learnt how to adjust each verb type you can repeat the process for any regular verb.

In the conjugation tables below, you can see how the root of the verb stays the same (e.g., habl- in hablar) while the suffix changes depending on the subject and tense.

• Root: Provides the core meaning (e.g., habl-, com-, viv-).
• Suffix: Changes to reflect the subject and tense (e.g., -o, -é, -ará).

To make things clearer, let’s break down how verbs conjugate into past, present, and future separately. Let’s first focus on regular verbs, which follow consistent patterns. Here’s how they conjugate across different tenses.

-ar Verb Conjugation: Hablar (to talk)

Past Tense: Hablar

Present Tense: Hablar

Future Tense: Hablar

-er Verb Conjugation: Comer (to eat)

Past Tense: Comer

Present Tense: Comer

Future Tense: Comer

-ir Verb Conjugation: Vivir (to live)

Past Tense: Vivir

Present Tense: Vivir

Future Tense: Vivir

Regular verbs

Here are some examples of regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs you can use in everyday conversations.

-ar verbs

aceptar (to accept)
amar (to love)
ayudar (to help)
bailar (to dance)
cambiar (to change)
caminar (to walk)
cenar (to have dinner)
cocinar (to cook)
comprar (to buy)
desayunar (to have breakfast)
enseñar (to teach)
escuchar (to listen)
esperar (to wait)
estudiar (to study)
gastar (to spend)
hablar (to talk)
lavar (to wash)
limpiar (to clean)
llamar (to call)
llegar (to arrive)
llevar (to carry)
mirar (to look)
nadar (to swim)
necesitar (to need)
pagar (to pay)
preguntar (to ask)
tocar (to touch/play an instrument)
trabajar (to work)
usar (to use)
viajar (to travel)

-er verbs

aprender (to learn)
barrer (to sweep)
bater (to whisk)
beber (to drink)
comer (to eat)
comprender (to understand)
correr (to run)
creer (to believe)
deber (to owe)
depender (to depend)
encender (to turn on/light)
esconder (to hide)
extender (to extend)
leer (to read)
meter (to put in)
morder (to bite)
ofrecer (to offer)
perder (to lose)
poseer (to own)
prometer (to promise)
responder (to answer)
romper (to break)
sorprender (to surprise)
tejer (to knit)
temer (to fear)
vender (to sell)
ver (to see)

-ir verbs

abrir (to open)
admitir (to admit)
asistir (to attend)
compartir (to share)
consumir (to consume)
cubrir (to cover)
cumplir (to fulfill)
decidir (to decide)
describir (to describe)
descubrir (to discover)
discutir (to discuss)
escribir (to write)
existir (to exist)
insistir (to insist)
interrumpir (to interrupt)
omitir (to omit)
partir (to divide)
permitir (to allow)
prohibir (to prohibit)
recibir (to receive)
repartir (to distribute)
subir (to go up)
sufrir (to suffer)
unir (to unite)
vivir (to live)

Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs are labelled as such because they do not follow the same patterns as regular verbs. Unfortunately, you have to learn these separately.

Some of the most commonly used irregular verbs include:

ser (to be – used for permanent states, like identity or origin)
estar (to be – used for temporary conditions, like feelings or location)
tener (to have)
hacer (to do/make)
ir (to go)

Spanish has what looks like duplicate verbs for some terms, like ‘to be,’ but they are used in different contexts. So, technically they aren’t duplicated. For example, ‘ser’ is used to describe permanent states like identity or origin, while ‘estar’ is used for temporary conditions like feelings or location. This is a more advanced level and understanding of Spanish.

Remember, although there are irregular verbs, they are still regularly used. So, take some time to learn them. It really is worth it. Focus on the most commonly used ones first.

Always remember to be creative and have fun with your learning!