Verbs are a fundamental part of grammar as they allow a sentence to be placed in time (gift, past or future).
They can express actions, changes of state, phenomena of nature and desire, among others.
O All Matter has set out a series of quiz exercises to help you improve your knowledge of Spanish verbs.
Read the statements carefully and get to work.
Good studies!
1. (Enem/2016)
In this graffiti carried out by a group that makes artistic interventions in the city of Lima, there is a play on words with the verb “poner”. In the first occurrence, the verb is equivalent to “wear a garment”, whereas in the second, it indicates
a) start of action.
b) change of state.
c) conclusion of idea.
d) simultaneity of facts.
e) process continuity.
Correct alternative: b) change of state.
The change of state is expressed by the use of the word happy.
In Spanish, when we want to say that something/someone has left a certain person in a certain mood or that something/someone made a certain person feel different from what they were feeling initially, we use the verb
pose.Example:
The film made me sad. (The movie made me sad.)
2. (UPF)
It can be said that the verb "sea" is conjugated in:
a) past tense imperfect.
b) past tense perfect.
c) indefinite past tense.
d) present del subjunctive.
e) present indicative.
Correct alternative: d) present del subjunctive
sea is part of the conjugation of present subjunctive.
O present subjunctive is used to indicate desire, doubt, imagined fact, possibility or supposition.
See below for the complete conjugation of the verb to be in the verbal tenses available as alternatives:
| Subjunctive Present | Past Imperfecto del Indicativo | Past Imperfecto del Subjuntivo | Past Perfect | Present Indicative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (that) yo sea | yo was | (si) yo fuera/fuese | yo went | yo soy |
| (that) you | you were | (si) you fueras/fueses | you were | you are |
| (that) usted sea | usted was | (si) usted fuera/fuese | usted fue | usted |
| (that) is he/she sea | he/she was | (if) is/her/fuese/fuese | he/she was | is he/she is |
| (that) nosotros/nosotras seamos | nosotros/nosotras we were | (si) nosotros/nosotras fuéramos/fuésemos | nosotros/nosotras we went | us/we are |
| (that) vosotros seáis | yous/yous erals | (si) vosotros fuerais/fueseis | you/you were vain | you are |
| (that) ustedes sean | ustedes were | (si) ustedes fueran/fuesen | ustedes fueron | usted son |
| (that) they/they sean | they were | (si) ellos/ellas fueran/fuesen | hellos fueron | they are |
IMPORTANT: Indefinite Past was already a nomenclature presented by the RAE, but is currently designated as Past tense Perfecto Simple.
3. (PUC-RJ/2008)
Read and contest according to what the text says.
At the end of the 4th paragraph, the following sentence appears: “the women who decided to stay at home”. Mark the other correct way to decide the mismo.
a) Women who decided to stay at home.
b) Women who decided to stay at home.
c) Women who decided to stay at home.
d) Las mujeres if you decide to drop in at home.
e) Women who have decided to stay at home.
Correct alternative: e) Women who have decided to stay at home
The indication of the reflex verb can happen in two ways:
- the reflexive pronoun if can be placed before the inflecting verb: if decided to fall;
- the reflexive pronoun if it can be agglutinated to the verb when it is in the infinitive, the gerund or the imperative. In the sentence of the statement, the if is agglutinated in an infinitive verb: I decided to fallif.
4. (PUC-RJ/2009)
4.1. In paragraph 3 the infinitive of the verb “cupo” es:
a) coger.
b) fit.
c) merge.
d) cover.
e) comply.
Correct alternative: b) fit.
The verb fit it is an irregular verb and therefore does not follow a conjugation pattern as with regular verbs. Irregular verbs have their own conjugation.
cup is a third person singular inflection of the verb to fit in Past tense Perfecto Simple.
Check the complete conjugation of this verb in the referred tense:
Past tense Perfecto Simple
yo cup
you termite
usted cup
he/she cup
nosotras/nosotras termites
vouotros/vosotras cupistiles
ustedes cupieron
hellos cupieron
4.2. We can change the order of the elements of the verbal construction “if it has been constituted” without changing its meaning.
a) has come constituyéndose.
b) it has been constituted.
c) has come into being.
d) has come to be constituted.
e) has come by constituying.
Correct alternative: a) has come constituyéndose.
The indication of the reflex verb can happen in two ways:
- the reflexive pronoun if can be placed before the inflected compound verb. Note that in the sentence of the statement: if has come constituting;
- the reflexive pronoun if it can be agglutinated to the verb when it is in the infinitive, the gerund or the imperative. In the sentence of the statement, the if is agglutinated in a verb in the gerund: has come constituyingif.
5. (PUC-RS/2006)
"celebrate" (line 04) can be replaced, without change of meaning, by
a) celebrated.
b) celebrated.
c) has celebrated.
d) celebrated.
e) had been celebrated.
Correct alternative: b) celebrase.
So much celebrate how much celebrate are inflections of the verb to celebrate conjugate in the Past Imperfect.
O Past Imperfect, also called Past, has two conjugation possibilities for each verbal person.
Check out the complete conjugation below:
Past tense imperfect / Past tense
yo will celebrate the celebrate
you will celebrate or celebrate
usted will celebrate the celebrate
hey, she will celebrate the celebrate
nosotros, usotras celebrámos or celebrásemos
ye, ye shall celebrate
ustedes celebrate the celebrasen
hello they celebrate the celebrate
6. (PUC-RS/2006)
The verb that has the same ending of “read” in the form of gerund is
a) huir.
b) predict.
c) deduce.
d) beware.
e) oler.
Correct alternative: a) huir.
The gerund form of the verb to read é reading.
The verb to read is a conjugation verb irregular and, therefore, it does not follow any conjugation model.
Know the gerund inflection of the verbs presented in the answer alternatives:
a) huir: huyendo
b) predict: predict
c) deduct: deducting
d) precaution: precaution
e) oler: oliendo
Note that the gerund of the verb huir ends in –yendo as well as the gerund of read.
7. (PUC-RS/2007)
The verb “se ubica” (line 17) can be replaced, without a change of meaning and without affecting the syntactic construction, by
a) is intended.
b) if halla.
c) preserves itself.
d) conserves itself.
e) if necessary.
Correct alternative: b) if halla.
the spanish verb to be located is used to indicate the location of a place.
So much to be located how much hallarse refer to where something is situated.
Hallarse can be taken as be found; to be located can be translated as locate yourself.
8. (PUC-RS/2007)
The word "subrayó" (line 29) can be translated as
a) highlighted.
b) estimated.
c) contested.
d) reiterated.
e) questioned.
Correct alternative: a) highlighted.
The verb subray is used to highlight information.
This highlight can be given physically (for example, underlining part of a text) or abstract (drawing attention to a given data or fact.)
In the text, the person responsible for multilingualism emphasizes that the linguistic competence indicator will serve to know the "distance that it still separates the Barcelona European Council from the outlined objectives: access by European Union citizens to multilingualism".
9. (PUC-RS/2007)
The verb that has the same ending of “to build” (line 19) in the form of gerund is
a) poseer.
b) evade.
c) predict.
d) discover.
e) deduce.
Correct alternative: a) poseer.
The gerund form of the verb to build is building.
The verb ramp up is a conjugation verb irregular and, therefore, it does not follow any conjugation model.
See what is the gerund inflection of the verbs presented in the answer alternatives:
a) poseer: poseyendo
b) evade: evading
c) predict: predict
d) discover: discovering
e) deduct: deducting
Note that the gerund of the verb poseer ends in –yendo, just like the gerund of building.
If you want to know more about the Spanish language, it's worth checking out the following contents:
- Weekdays in Spanish
- Hours in Spanish
- False Cognates in Spanish (False Friends)
- Indefinite past tense in Spanish (simple perfect past tense)
