Most important Spanish verbs.

On my Learn Dominican Spanish page I promised I would help you learn Spanish that will provide the most benefit with the least amount of work to help you to be able to start communicating in a Spanish speaking country. These are the verbs that I find to be most frequently used in the Dominican Republic. They are pretty much the “Must Learn” verbs so I will try to keep this list as short as possible. Every one speaks a little differently so be prepared to add and delete from this list as you become more familiar with Spanish.

Bottom line: you should memorize and practice these verbs, you are likely to use them every day that you spend in a Spanish Speaking country. I will list these in the infinitive. Although people will likely understand you if you say “yo hablar” which literally means “I to speak”, you will in time need to learn how to conjugate these verbs i.e. “Yo hablo” or simply “hablo” meaning “I Speak”.

After memorizing some of these verbs stop by my Spanish Present Tense page to get started on conjugation. This page will also give you a tip on how you can fake future and past tenses easily (to get you by until you learn how to conjugate the verbs properly).

  • Andar – To Walk
  • Aprender – To learn
  • Caer – To Fall
  • Comer – To Eat
  • Comprar – To Buy
  • Dar – To Give
  • Deber – To Owe (also used for must and should)
  • Decir – To Say
  • Dormir – To Sleep
  • Entender – To understand
  • Escribir – To Write
  • Estar – To Be (this is one of two words meaning to be, you need to learn both. Read Ser vs Estar)
  • Gustar – To Like
  • Haber – To Have
  • Hablar – To Speak (as in I speak Spanish)
  • Hacer – To Do or To Make
  • Ir – To Go
  • LLamar – To Call (like in calling on the phone)
  • LLevar – To Carry or To Take
  • Oir – To Hear
  • Pagar – To Pay
  • Pensar – To Think
  • Perder – To Lose
  • Poder – To be able or can
  • Quedar – To Stay
  • Querer – To Want
  • Saber – To know (as in to know a fact, this is not used for knowing someone that verb is Conocer)
  • Salir – To Leave or To Go Out
  • Sentir – To Feel
  • Ser – To Be (also see Estar and read Ser vs Estar)
  • Tener – To Have
  • Tomar – To Take
  • Traer – To Bring
  • Venir – To Come
  • Ver – To See
  • Vivir – To Live
  • Volver – To Return

I know, it’s a pretty long list but these are Spanish verbs that you will use almost every day. They are not always used exactly as you would use the equivalent in English, so even if you don’t think you would use the verb much if you were speaking English, you likely will when speaking Spanish.

In time you will want to learn many more Spanish verbs, but with this list you will be able to find ways to convey most of the ideas you will want to, sometimes you’ll just have to be creative in the way you say something.

Print this list and Practice, rinse, repeat!