Verb types:
All categories
Action
Aspectual
Auxiliary
Copular
Existential
Locative
Modal
Movement
Perception
Relationship
State
Utterance
All categories Action Aspectual Auxiliary Copular Existential Locative Modal Movement Perception Relationship State UtteranceThe most common Spanish verb forms:
Auxiliary
An auxiliary verb is combined with part of another 'main' verb. The auxiliary verb conveys on to the main verb some grammatical features such as tense. In other words, it "helps" to construct a compound verb form. For example, in English would be asking, we can say that ask is tha main verb and would and be are auxiliary verbs. In Spanish, the following are often classed as auxiliary verbs:
| Auxiliary verb | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| haber | Construction of compound past tenses such as the perfect tense (equivalent of English I have been etc). | ha preguntado (he/she) has asked |
| estar | Construction of continuous verb forms (equivalent of English I am ...ing etc). | está preguntando (he/she) is asking |
| ser | Construction of the passive. | sera hecho it will be done |
| hacer, dejar | Used in causative constructions, where the subject 'causes' the complement to carry out the action of the main verb. | me hizo leer la carta he made me read the letter |
Note that in Spanish, haber is only used as an auxiliary1; it is not used to mean 'have' as in 'possess'.
1. haber is also used with the 'existential sense': hay = there is/are; habrá = there will be etc.
Browse verbs by category:
Action Aspectual Copular Existential Locative Modal Movement Perception Relationship State Utterance
| Form | Corresponding Infinitive | Form type | Common translation | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ha | haber | Present 3 Sing | (he/she/it) has ... Note: Used to form perfect tense 'has ...ed'; followed by 'de', means 'has to ...' | 48.0 % of sources |
| es | ser | Present 3 Sing | (he/she/it) is | 46.8 % of sources |
| han | haber | Present 3 Plur | (they) have ... Note: Used to form perfect tense 'have ...ed'; followed by 'de', means 'have to ...' | 29.0 % of sources |
| fue | ser | Preterite 3 Sing | (he/she/it) was/went Note: Also used to fill in for the preterite of 'ir' meaning 'to go'. | 26.5 % of sources |
| está | estar | Present 3 Sing | (he/she/it) is | 20.9 % of sources |
| son | ser | Present 3 Plur | (they) are | 19.1 % of sources |
| ser | ser | Infinitive | (to) be | 18.9 % of sources |
| sido | ser | Past participle | been | 17.4 % of sources |
| estado | estar | Present participle | being Note: As a noun, 'estado' means 'state'. | 15.7 % of sources |
| hace | hacer | Present 3 Sing | (he/she/it) does/makes Note: Can also mean '... ago'. | 14.5 % of sources |
| había | haber | Imperfect 3 Sing;Existential | there was/were; (he/she/it) had... Note: Used to form the pluperfect tense: 'he/she/it had ...ed' | 12.5 % of sources |
| están | estar | Present 3 Plur | (they) are | 12.1 % of sources |
| fueron | ser | Preterite 3 Plur | (they) were/went Note: Also used to fill in for the preterite of 'ir' meaning 'to go'. | 11.1 % of sources |
| hacer | hacer | Infinitive | (to) do/make | 10.4 % of sources |
| hecho | hacer | Past participle | done/made Note: As a noun, 'hecho' means 'fact', 'deed'. | 10.4 % of sources |
| será | ser | Future 3 Sing | (he/she/it) will be | 10.1 % of sources |
| haber | haber | Infinitive | (to) have ... Note: Used to form a perfect infinitive, as in 'to have eaten' | 8.2 % of sources |
| estar | estar | Infinitive | (to) be | 7.1 % of sources |
| hizo | hacer | Preterite 3 Sing | (he/she/it) did/made | 6.9 % of sources |
| estaba | estar | Imperfect 3 Sing | (he/she/it) was | 6.6 % of sources |
| haya | haber | Subjunctive 3 Sing;Existential | there will/should/might be; (he/she/it) will have etc | 6.1 % of sources |
| fuera | ser | Past subjunctive 3 Sing | (he/she/it) was/would have been Note: As a preposition, also means 'outside'. | 5.8 % of sources |
| hemos | haber | Present 1 Plur | we have ... Note: Used to form perfect tense 'we have ...ed'; followed by 'de', means 'we have to ...' | 4.8 % of sources |
| sea | ser | Subjunctive 1 Sing | (he/she/it) will/might be | 4.7 % of sources |
| estamos | estar | Present 1 Plur | we are | 4.6 % of sources |
| dejó | dejar | Preterite 3 Sing | (he/she/it) left/let | 4.4 % of sources |
| serán | ser | Future 3 Plur | (they) will be | 4.4 % of sources |
| habían | haber | Imperfect 3 Plur | (they) had ...; there were ... Note: Used to form the pluperfect tense: 'they had ...ed'; sometimes used instead of 'había' to mean 'there were ...'. | 4.3 % of sources |
| estaban | estar | Imperfect 3 Plur | (they) were | 3.8 % of sources |
| sería | ser | Conditional 3 Sing | (he/she/it) would be | 3.7 % of sources |
| siendo | ser | Present participle | being | 3.4 % of sources |
| estuvo | estar | Preterite 3 Sing | (he/she/it) was | 3.3 % of sources |
| eran | ser | Imperfect 3 Plur | (they) were | 3.2 % of sources |
| hacen | hacer | Present 3 Plur | (they) do/make | 2.7 % of sources |
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