A Beginner’s Guide to 12 of the Most Common Spanish Verbs

If you are learning Spanish then you got to know these 12 verbs. These verbs are essential to communicating and your day-to-day activities, as well as describing how your feel and more.

Here is our beginner guide to 12 of the most common Spanish verbs to get you speaking Spanish from day one!

Ser (to be)

Used for time, date nationality, occupation, profession, or physical descriptions of people, places, and locations. 

Examples:

• Soy de Nueva York - I am from New York
• Soy americano(a) - I am an American (male - americano, female - americana)

Estar (to be, to be located)

Mainly used for feelings, describing food, what is happening, and the location of places.

Examples:

• Estoy cansada - I am tried
• La sopa está muy rica - The soup is delicious

Tener (to have)

Used to share how old you are or things that you have (siblings, things to do, etc).

Examples:

• Tengo 23 (veintitrés) años - I am 23 years old
• Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana - I have 2 brothers and a sister

Hacer (to make/do)

In Spanish, there is no difference between the activities that we do and the things we make and both are described using “hacer”.

Examples

• Hago una tarta - I am making a cake
• Hago un dibujo - I am drawing a picture 

Poder (to be able to, can)

For example:

• Puedo ir a la fiesta - I am able to go to the party
• Puedo conducir un coche - I can drive a car

Ir (to go)

Almost solely used with “a” (preposition) here are some examples:

• Voy al parque - I am going to the park
• Voy a ir al cine - I am going to the cinema

Saber (know, can)

Be aware that “saber” and “poder” both mean “can” but there is a difference! 

“Saber” is used for skills that require experience in some form of learning. “Poder” on the other hand is used to express the possibility of being able to do something.

Examples:

• ¿Sabes bailar salsa? - can you dance salsa?
• Mis amigas y yo no sabemos nadar - my friends and I don’t know how to swim
• ¿Sabes la respuesta? - do you know the answer?

Decir (to say)

“Decir” isn’t used to tell stories or facts, there is another verb “contar” for that, and we will explain that one later. 

Examples:

• Voy a decir que no - I am going to say no
• Te digo una cosa - let me tell you something

Contar (to tell/to narrate) 

This is also used to count things (numbers, objects) but also to tell a story, or recount something, which we will look at instead.

Examples: 

• Le conté las grandes noticias - I told him the big news
• Te lo voy a contar todo - I’m going to tell you everything

Necesitar (to need)

For example: 

• Necesito descansar - I need to rest
• Necesitamos un coche nuevo - We need a new car

Comprender (to understand)

There are two ways to say that you “understand” in Spanish, “comprender”, and “entender”. Think about “comprender” as the English “to comprehend” and it is used more in formal situations and the written language. Here are some examples: 

• No comprendo la tarea - I don’t understand the homework
• No comprendo lo que estás diciendo - I don’t understand what you’re saying

Entender (to understand)

Think of “entender” as “to understand” in English, this “entender” is more common in everyday conversations, especially in some Latin American countries like Mexico. 

Here are some examples:

• No entiendo español - I don’t understand Spanish
• Entendéis la pregunta? - Do you understand the question?

Conclusion

There are many more verbs that we will cover next time, so do keep an eye out for them! In the meantime keep up with practicing your Spanish with these 12 common verbs.

¡Buena suerte! (Good luck!)