Language Transfer Spanish notes
Lesson 17
The We Form Starts with -amos
Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.
New vocabulary
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| colgar | to hang (up) |
| cuelgo | I hang (o→ue) |
| tomar | to take |
| tomo | I take |
| toma | he/she takes |
| toman | they take |
| tomas | you take |
| alcohol | alcohol |
| azúcar | sugar |
| cerrar | to close |
| cierro | I close (e→ie) |
| cierra | he/she closes |
| mostrar | to show |
| muestra | he/she shows |
| muestran | they show |
| mostramos | we show |
| pensamos | we think |
| cerramos | we close |
The "we" form for -ar verbs: Remove -ar, add -amos
-
hablar→hablamos, tomar→tomamos
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Stem changes do NOT apply to "we" (stress is on the ending, not the stem)
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pensar→pensamos (NOT piensamos), cerrar→cerramos (NOT cierramos)
Example sentences
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué quieres? | What do you want? |
| Pierdo. | I lose. |
| Pierde. | He loses. |
| Pierden. | They lose. |
| Pierdes. | You lose. |
| Cuelgo. | I hang it up / I hang. |
| Lo cuelgan. | They hang it up. |
| No tomo alcohol. | I don't drink alcohol. |
| No tomo azúcar. | I don't take sugar. |
| ¿Qué tomas? | What are you taking/drinking? |
| Hablamos. | We speak / we're speaking. |
| Encontramos. | We find. |
| Pienso que sí. | I think so. |
| ¿Qué piensas hacer? | What are you planning to do? |
| Cerramos. | We close. |
Key notes
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This lesson locks in the we form for -ar verbs: -amos.
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Stem-changing verbs stop changing in the we form because the stress moves to the ending: pensamos, cerramos, encontramos.
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It also reinforces a useful habit: work backwards from a form like cuelgo to the infinitive colgar before building the other forms.