1.  Learn the most commonly used words

When you learn Spanish vocabulary, most lessons have you start by memorizing words in easy-to-form groups like animals, furniture, or parts of the body etc. But it turns out these aren’t always the most useful.  Other words that are more difficult to represent in groups but are used more often.  For example, think about words like like something (algo) or thing(cosa), maybe (quizá), or after (despues).

Take the time to memorize these words before remember more generic grouped words.   We’ve provided a list of the most commonly used words in Spanish in a previous post.  As an example, here are the first 10:

3. Learn verbs in the infinitive to use with starter verbs

There is an important and useful rule in Spanish regarding infinitive verbs (truth be told it’s the same in English but most native speakers don’t notice)

The rule is this:
verbs that follow conjugated verbs are expressed in the infinitive

The infinitive is the non-conjugated form of the verb. In English, the infinitive form generally includes the word ‘to’, as in ‘to walk’ or ‘to eat’. In Spanish, the infinitive form is the verb form with the original ar, er and ir endings. So in Spanish, caminar (to walk) is in the infinitive form, as is comer (to eat).

For example:

I want to walk to the supermarket
Quiero caminar al supermercado

I need to buy a car
Necesito comprar un coche

I can count to ten
Puedo contar hasta diez

The Starter Verbs

There are a few verbs that very often precede the infinitive.  They are also very useful for basic conversation, so learn them well.  The beauty is, you can memorize these conjugations and then substitute any infinitive verb into the sentence.  Notice that the start of the previous phrases: I want …, I need …, I can …

So for example:

I need …
necesito ir al hospital
necesito comer
necesitamos salir

I want …
quiero ir
quiero pagar
quieren salir

I can …
Puedo pagar
Puedes venir
Pueden conducir

I like … (*)
me gusta comer
me gusta viajar

Also in question form and negation
¿Puedes ayudarme?
¿Quieres comer?
No quiero comer
No me gusta bailar

Learn The Infinitives

The following is a example list of more than 35 common verbs in the infinitive to be used with starter phrases.  Eventually you will learn their conjugations, but first thing’s first …

abrir – to open
bailar – to dance
beber – to drink
caminar – to walk
cantar – to sing
cerrar – to close
cocinar – to cook
comer – to eat
comprar – to buy
conducir – to drive
conocer – to meet
correr – to run

creer – to believe
dejar – to leave / to quit
disfrutar – to enjoy
dormir – to sleep
empezar – to begin / to start
encontrar – to find
escribir – to write
esperar – to wait / to hope
hablar – to speak
jugar – to play
llamar – to call
mirar – to watch/look

morir – to die
pagar – to pay
pensar – to think
poner – to put
salir – to leave / to go out
seguir – to follow
sentir – to feel
tomar – to take
trabajar – to work
vender – to sell
venir – to come
vivir – to live
volver – to return

Another Important Starter verb for the Future

As you learned above, the verb ir means ‘to go’.  We can use the verb ir to express the future tense by conjugating it in the present tense, followed by an infinitive verb.  The verb ir is always followed by a prepositional ‘a’.

For example:

Voy a ir = I am going to go
Voy a comer = I am going to eat
Voy a pensar = I am going to think
Vas a cocinar = You are going to cook
Va a jugar = She is going to play