What’s in store for you today: -go verbs

Listen to Track 4.1.1

Man: Hola, Carla. ¿Qué haces aquí en el parque? (Hello, Carla. What are you doing here in the park?)

Woman: Hola, David. Hago la tarea. ¿Qué haces tú? (Hello, David. I am doing homework. What are you doing?)

Man: Yo salgo a correr. (I am going for a run.)

Woman: Muy bien. Mi médico dice que es muy buen ejercicio salir a correr. (Very good. My doctor says it’s very good exercise to go running.)

Man: Yo digo lo mismo. Por eso, salgo a correr tres días de la semana. (I say the same. Because of this, I go for a run three days a week.)

The -go Verbs

What in the world are the -go verbs? They aren’t verbs that deal with “going” somewhere, if that’s what you’re thinking. The “-go” verbs get their name because of the way they conjugate.

If you remember before, we discussed how ser, estar, and tener aren’t regular verbs. Well, our “-go” verbs are going to be irregular as well.

Listen to Track 4.1.2

The important thing to remember about “-go” verbs is their name – the change will come in the 1st person singular. So, while hablar changes to yo hablo, “-go” verbs such as decir (to say/tell) will change to yo digo.

Hacer (To do/To make), and other verbs like it, will be our “-go” verbs. Let’s take a look at how they conjugate, shall we?

-Go Verbs: Group 1

Listen to Track 4.1.3

This first group of verbs will only be irregular in the 1st person singular (yo) form. They are:

• Hacer – To do/To make
• Poner – To put/To place
• Salir – To go out/To leave
•  

Hacer

Poner

 Salir

-Go Verbs: Group Two

Listen to Track 4.1.5

This next group of verbs will only be irregular in the 1st person singular (yo), but you’ll notice that the change is a little more than just adding a “-g.” For this group, we’ll look at the verbs:

• Caer – To fall
• Traer – To bring

Caer

Traer

-Go Verbs: Group 3

Listen to Track 4.1.6

This next set of -go verbs will be a little trickier. There are a lot of changes taking place, so you’re really going to want to pay close attention. The verbs we’ll look at now are:

• Decir – To say/To tell
• Oír – To hear

Decir*

*Note: This verb is not only a -go verb, it is also a “boot-shoe” or “stem-changing” verb. We will go into that in more detail in the next lesson. For now, pay attention to how in the 1st and 2nd person plural, the stem-change (the vowel change from “e” to “i”) doesn’t carry over.

Oír

Affirmation and Negation

Listen to Track 4.1.8

When we want to negate something, we usually say “no.” No tengo cebollas. No trabajo por las mañanas. No viajamos con mucha frecuencia.

But we can also negate using “negation words.” Here, you’ll find a list of the most common negation words with their affirmation counterparts:

Some of these should be familiar to you.

Using Negations

Listen to Track 4.1.9

Using negations in Spanish is a little different than in English. We can say:

• Nadie está en casa. – No one is at home.
• No está nadie en casa. – No one is at home.
• Nunca recibo cartas. – I never receive letters.
• No recibo cartas nunca. – I never receive letters.
• Nada está aquí. – Nothing is here.
• No está nada aquí. – Nothing is here.

I’m sure you noticed a lot of negative words in some of those sentences. This is because not only are double negatives acceptable in Spanish, they are very common.

If you put your negation word at the beginning of the sentence, you don’t need to add an extra “no”. But if you want to put the “no” first, you will add your negation in after the verb.

Something to note

Listen to Track 4.1.10

When you answer a question that requires a “no” response, make sure you say “no” twice!

• ¿Siempre llegas tarde a tu trabajo? (Do you always arrive late to work?)
• No, no llego tarde a mi trabajo nunca. (No, I never arrive late to work.) OR
• No, nunca llego tarde a mi trabajo. (No, I never arrive late to work.)

A “yes” answer would look like this:

• Si, siempre llego tarde a mi trabajo. (Yes, I always arrive late to work.)

Additional Vocabulary

Listen to Track 4.1.12

• Tarea – Homework
• Lo mismo – The same
• Semana – Week
• Mantequilla – Butter
• Escaleras – Stairs
• Hacer ejercicio – To work out