ending/suffix to use in the different tenses.

Question

I'm in beginning Spanish and am having difficulty with verbs and verb endings. I don't understand how you tell which ending/suffix to use in the different tenses.

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How can you tell that the original form is "habl-ar" when you look at the word "hablo"?

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Do you just have to memorize? Is there a "cheat sheet" or easy way to remember things (like "i before e, except after c")?

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Thanks in advance for any help!

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~K~

Answer 1

Watch the videos. I believe the learning works the other way. When you begin with hablar and conjugate it in different situations you learn hablar -> hablo, etc., and therefore hablo originated from hablar. Also, recognize that habl- is the stem and -o is a verb ending. Problem comes with stem changing verbs and plain 'ol irregular verbs.

In this case, you do need to memorize. Start by learning the present tense verb endings.

Answer 2

You're best off watching and lessons 1.4 and 1.5 which have clear and concise explanations, examples and tests. Each video is about ten or twelve minutes long.

Answer 3

Thanks for all the help! The vids helped a lot! :D