If you are learning a foreign language, you will most likely have to conjugate verbs. This means that the verb must be modified according to the subject, number, and possibly some other information. We'll start with the infinitive and participle verbs and move on to number, gender, and tense. Get your pen, paper and dictionary ready, then read Step 1 below to get started.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Preparation
Step 1. Choose a language
How to conjugate verbs is different in every language. Conjugation may be more detailed in languages that often use masculine, feminine, and plural subjects. Conjugations also change according to tense and for a number of other reasons, depending on the structure of the language.
Verb conjugation is relatively easier in English because the second person pronoun (you) is used to replace both singular and plural subjects and the verb does not change according to gender. However, English has many irregular verbs (irregular verbs). Every language is different
Step 2. Choose one verb (or multiple verbs)
Choose a verb that you use frequently, so that you can conjugate the verb in your mind, if possible. It is better if you choose one verb for each type and one irregular verb for each type. In Spanish, choose an -ar verb, an -ir verb, and an -er verb, as well as an irregular verb such as "ser."
Often the most common verbs are irregular verbs. Think of the three most commonly used verbs in English: be, have, and do -- all three follow their own unique patterns. This is because common verbs maintain a pattern because they are used frequently -- their modified patterns are well-formed and difficult to replace
Step 3. Identify the type of tense you want to conjugate
A verb must be conjugated separately for each tense (at least in languages that use tenses frequently). There are many different tenses, including present, past, future, present continuous, past continuous, past perfect continuous, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, and present perfect continuous. And that's only a small part! Which one do you need to conjugate?
To start at the most basic level, choose the present simple, past simple, and future simple. That way you'll be able to talk about things in the past, present, and future
Step 4. Look up the verb in the dictionary if you're not sure how to use it
That way, you can see examples of how the verb is used in a sentence to help you get started. Online resources can also be of great help by providing you with complete diagrams.
Even so, try to guess first! The more you rely on your brain, the stronger your memory of this will be in the future. Use a dictionary or the internet only if you really need to
Part 2 of 3: Discussing Subject, Number, Tense, etc
Step 1. To start your diagram, write the words infinitive, present participle, and past participle on the first three lines
In some places, these terms are also known as verbs 1, 2, and 3. Write a colon after each term. You will then write the proper conjugations for each term.
- Write the infinitive form of the verb at the top. This is a word used with the word to. In English, this is also the part of the verb used for the future tense and with auxiliary verbs. For example, the verb to search, the basic form of which is search.
- Write the present participle form. This is the form of the verb you use for the present continuous tense, such as I am searching.
- Write the past participle form. This is the form of the verb you would normally use for the past perfect, present perfect and future perfect tenses. For example, I had searched, I have searched, and I will have searched.
Step 2. Write down all the types of personal pronouns you have to conjugate in order
These are the most commonly used personal pronouns, including I, you, he, she, it, we, you, and they. Write the first, second, and third person pronouns, both singular and plural.
- The personal pronouns you conjugate vary depending on the language. Make sure what language conjugation is requested before you start creating your assignment.
- When working with English conjugations, you can group he, she and it together. You can also omit the second-person plural, or you, because the verbs for the second-person pronoun don't change according to the number of people. (This means, you search versus you (all) search. The verb search does not change in these two sentences).
Step 3. Consider gender or other variables
You only need to consider the subject and amount in some languages (Latin for example), but in others, that's not enough. If your language also takes gender, mood, and voice into account (the full list is in the last section), do so now.
It's best to use a few verbs. How many “types of verbs” are there in your language? Make sure you choose one verb for each type, including irregular verbs
Step 4. Fill in the verb conjugation diagram
Write down the form of the verb used for each subject in each tense you work with, after the personal pronouns. Make separate diagrams that have the same shape, but are different for the past tense, present tense, and future tense.
For example, to conjugate the verb to search in the present tense, write I search, you search, he/she/it searches, we search, they search. The diagrams will look similar, but not the same, if you conjugate the verb in the past tense
Step 5. Create a diagram for all your verbs
In conclusion, your diagram should:
- Distinguishing the infinitive, present, and past participle bentuk
- There are columns for subject and number (for example, I, they, etc.)
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There is a column for gender, etc., if needed
You should make different diagrams for different types of verbs (with different structures) for different tenses. For example, conjugate to search in present simple, past simple, and future simple. Then, in the same way conjugate to be because it is an irregular verb
Part 3 of 3: Understanding Patterns
Step 1. Understand what conjugation is
Most of us have only an intrinsic knowledge of our own language -- that is, all we know is not something we consciously know. It is only when you pay attention to your own language that you can realize that you are conjugating verbs every day based on a pattern that you have mastered years ago. For example, if your native language is English, you can say I go there on Tuesdays and She goes there on Tuesdays, too without even thinking. Why is that?
- When you use the word goes, you are indicating that you are talking about someone else or something else. You are also indicating that whoever or whatever you are talking about is one person or thing. What's more, you use the present simple tense, which indicates habitual, repetitive actions. If someone can't hear you clearly, and can only catch Goes there on Tuesdays, he or she will know that someone or something is somewhere every, or at least almost every, Tuesday (and not any other day). Useful information!
- Visually, conjugation changes part of a verb. If you add an extra suffix, you are providing some information. If you omit a part of the word, you are also providing some information. If you are dealing with a language that has verbs that can change greatly, you can have a whole sentence in “one word” just by changing the word properly.
Step 2. Understand what changes can occur as a result of conjugation
Certain languages have lost their patterns over the centuries (while others have acquired their patterns). Maybe your language only indicates the subject or the number, but there are some languages where verb conjugation can almost write a book. Here are the "general" possibilities of what conjugated verbs can indicate:
- Subject. In English, you must use a subject. You can't just say …is beautiful. In Spanish, for example, you can say Soy bonita. The verb soy is conjugated in the first person -- yourself.
- Amount. How many people are doing something? In French, you say Je marche (I walk). If you're walking with some friends, you say, Nous marchons.
- Gender. Languages like Hebrew also indicate gender in their verbs. If a woman (or something that is considered female) is doing something, the ending -/et/ or /a/ (this is the phonemic pronunciation) is added at the end. For men? No changes.
- Tense. Many languages use verbs to indicate when an action is performed. You said I went to the store last Tuesday in English, not I went to the store last Tuesday.
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Aspect. This is similar to tense, but different. Tense refers to "when" is done, while aspect refers to "how" it is done. An example of this is the passé simple and the imparfait tense in French -- both are past tenses, but are used in different situations.
There are also languages that have aspects, but don't have tenses -- just look at Mandarin
- Voice. This makes the sentence active or passive. So, it could be The boy kicked the ball or the ball was kicked by the boy.
- Mood. This includes whether a statement is a fact, a wish, an order, based on reality, etc. An example of this is the subjunctive tense -- If I were hungry quite clearly indicates that right now, you are not hungry.
Step 3. Understand how conjugations differ in different languages
Every language is different. Conjugating verbs in one language, while a useful exercise, may not make the other language any easier to learn. Also, other languages conjugate verbs in ways that don't include the ones described above! When you're conjugating, make sure you've considered all the things involved.
- For example, Korean has seven language levels. Depending on how formal your situation is, you conjugate verbs in different ways!
- Japanese has different ways of conjugating depending on the speaker-hearer relationship. This is called honorific speech. The conjugation you choose indicates how far above or below your status with the person you are talking to.
Step 4. Be aware that some languages also use declension
That's a fancy term for modifying nouns and adjectives. The process is very similar to conjugation and indicates much the same thing, only the name is different. If your language also has declensions, you can create a diagram for that too.
This is especially important for languages with cases and languages that do not have a specific word order. There are some languages where you can say (roughly translated, of course), “boy kicks girl” and “girl kicks boy” have the same meaning if the nouns are properly declensioned
Step 5. Also know that some languages don't actually use conjugation
It's very likely that the language you're learning doesn't have many verb conjugations. In Vietnamese, for example, you use the past tense as a separate word (đã) and don't modify the verb at all to indicate something you've done. While this may sound like making the language seem easier to learn, it often leads to complexities of its own!
Tips
- To help you conjugate, use websites that cover conjugation to see examples of verb conjugation.
- You can separate the singular and plural forms of a verb in different columns, if you wish.
