Grammar Level One: Lesson 2 – Verbs

Welcome back! In Lesson 1, we talked about nouns—the people, places, and things we talk about. Now let’s move on to verbs—the action.

Verbs are the heart of a sentence. They tell us what someone is doing or how they are feeling.

In Spanish, they’re called verbos, and if you’ve studied Spanish grammar, you know verbs do a LOT of work. Let me show you why English is actually a little easier when it comes to this.

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⚙️ Spanish vs. English Verbs: Why English Is Simpler

Let’s take the Spanish verb jugar (to play).

To use it correctly, you have to change the form based on the subject:

• yo juego

• tú juegas

• él/ella juega

• nosotros jugamos

• ustedes juegan

• ellos juegan

That’s six different forms—just in present tense!

Now let’s look at the English verb play:

• I play

• You play

• He/She plays

• We play

• They play

Yep. Just one change: play becomes plays when the subject is he, she, or it.
Everything else? Same form. Easy, right?

So if English verbs have been stressing you out—take a breath. It’s simpler than it looks.

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📋 Common English Verbs (with Spanish translation)

Here are some everyday verbs you'll hear all the time. I’ll include the meaning in Spanish to help you out.

• play – jugar

• eat – comer

• go – ir

• have – tener

• like – gustar

• want – querer

• live – vivir

• make – hacer / fabricar

• need – necesitar

• see – ver

• study – estudiar

• read – leer

• write – escribir

• say – decir

• walk – caminar

• run – correr

• open – abrir

• close – cerrar

• help – ayudar

• talk – hablar

• sleep – dormir

• work – trabajar

• watch – mirar / ver (TV)

Feel free to pick a few and start making your own sentences with them!

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✅ Verb Forms in Present Tense

Here’s how it works in English:

• I play

• You play

• He/She/It plays

• We play

• They play

The only time we add -s is when the subject is he, she, or it.

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📝 Try it!

Look at each sentence and find the verb.

1. I eat breakfast every morning.

2. She plays video games.

3. They walk to school.

4. We read in class.

5. He works at a restaurant.

Don’t worry about being perfect. Just practice recognizing the verb—the part of the sentence that shows the action or connection.

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🔄 Bonus: The Verb “To Be”

We’ll do a full lesson on this one later, but just know it’s a bit of an oddball.
The forms are:

• I am

• You are

• He/She/It is

• We are

• They are

Unlike most verbs, “to be” changes a lot depending on the subject. But don't stress—we’ll come back to this one with more examples.

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Prof. Rock’s Tip:

Start with a few easy verbs like play, eat, and go. Try using them in different sentences each day. You’ll be surprised how quickly you start getting comfortable.

The more you see and hear them, the more natural they’ll feel.

That’s it for now—short and powerful. You’ve just unlocked one of the most important parts of English. See you in Lesson 3!

– Prof. Rock