The verb venir

You use venir to say that someone is comingto a place or an event.

¿A qué hora vienes al restaurante?When are you coming to the restaurant?

Vengo a las cuatro de la tarde.I’m coming at 4:00 in the afternoon.

The verb venirHere are all the present-tense forms:

(yo) vengo (nosotros)(nosotras)

venimos

(tú) vienes

Ud. Uds.(él) viene (ellos) vienen(ella) (ellas)

(vosotros)(vosotras)

venís

The letters b and v

In Spanish, b and v are pronounced thesame. At the beginning of a word orphrase, b and v sound like the b in “boy.”Listen to and say these words:

voy bolígrafo vienen bien viejo video

The letters b and v

In most other positions b and v have asofter “b” sound. The lips barely touch asthe b or v sound is pronounced. Listen toand say these words:

abuelo divertido joven huevos globo Alberto

The letters b and v

Try it out! Listen to and say thistrabalenguas:

Cabral clava un clavo.¿Qué clavo clava Cabral?

The verbs ser and estarYou know that both ser and estar mean “to be.” Their uses, however, are different.

(yo) soy (nosotros)(nosotras)

somos

(tú) eres

Ud. Uds.(él) es (ellos) son(ella) (ellas)

(vosotros)(vosotras)

sois

The verbs ser and estar

Use ser to talk about characteristics thatgenerally do not change. Ser is used fordescriptions that are not about conditions orlocation. For example:• who a person is or what a person is like• what something is or what something is like• where a person or thing is from Teresa es mi prima. Es muy graciosa. Los tacos son mi comida favorita. Son riquísimos. Mis tíos son de México. Son muy simpáticos.

The verbs ser and estarYou know that both ser and estar mean “to be.” Their uses, however, are different.

(yo) estoy (nosotros)(nosotras)

estamos

(tú) estás

Ud. Uds.(él) está (ellos) están(ella) (ellas)

(vosotros)(vosotras)

estáis

The verbs ser and estar

Use estar to talk about conditions that tendto change. For example:

• how a person feels• where a person or thing is

¿Dónde está Mariana? No está aquí. No puede venir hoy porque está muy enferma.