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- Topic: Spanish >
- "Sí, yo hablo español."
350 Comments
985
In English you say:
I speak
You speak
she speaks
Notice how in English we add an S to the verb when using it with the third person (3rd person = he, she, it etc.. | 2nd person = You | 1st person = I). It's called verb conjugation. This is more obvious with the verb "to be."
I am
you are
she is
we are
You are (plural you)
they are
That's the difference between Hablo and Hablas, they are different conjugations of the same verb.
I speak = yo hablo
You speak = tu hablas
she speaks = ella habla
we speak = nosotros hablamos
you speak (plural) = ustedes hablan (Americas) vosotros habláis (spain)
they speak = ellos hablan
I suggest looking up verb conjugation online, not just in Spanish, but in English as well. English conjugation is so easy we're barely aware of it, so you'll look at some English conjugation tables and have an aha moment pretty quickly. You've been doing it your whole life.
www.thoughtco.com/introduction-to-spanish-verb-conjugation-3079157 [intro. to Spanish verb conjugation}
this is my favorite site for conjugation tables, this is the page for the verb hablar: http://www.wordreference.com/conj/EsVerbs.aspx?v=hablar For now, don't look at anything but the list for "presente" in the "indicativo" section.
202
No, it is "Tú hablas español" or "Usted habla español" depends on politeness and "yo hablo español".
In Spanish the verb change by its pronoun (yo, nosotros, ustedes ,ella...).
So there are a lot of verb forms (hablo, habla ,hablas, hablan...).
While English it is more simpler. You only have two forms "I SPEAK Spanish" and "He/She/It SPEAKS Spanish).
1003
I speak = yo hablo = hablo You speak = tu hablas = hablas He/she speaks = él/ella habla = habla
In most situations you can omit the pronoun, unless you want to emphasize it for some reason or if there could be an ambiguity, such as in he case of "él" and "ella". But there is no big problem if you choose not to omit the pronoun; at most it may sound a bit redundant if it is not really necessary.
Notice that there is no "hablos"
1003
While “yo” can be omitted in almost any situation because there is no possible ambiguity, Duolingo’s phrase is perfectly correct. You may want to keep the pronoun if for example you want to emphasize that it is you who speaks Spanish, not someone else, and similar cases. But the use of “yo” is not wrong. In the worst case it may sound a bit redundant if it is not really necessary, and probably you do not want to use it several times in one sentence. But in general you will decide to use it or not mostly depending on context and the flow of the conversation. As a native Spanish speaker born and living in Argentina I see that the use or not of “yo” is never an issue and I would recommend people learning Spanish to relax about it and save the energy for better causes.
1003
There is a correspondence between the ending of any verb and the pronoun (person) such as in many other languages. In Spanish, there are usually more variants than in English.
To speak = hablar
I speak = yo hablo
you speak = tú hablas / usted habla
he/she speaks = él/ella habla
we speak = nosotros hablamos
you speak = vosotros habláis / ustedes hablan
they speak = ellos/ellas hablan
Notice that for the second person singular “you” can be translated as both “tú” (informal, familiar) or “usted” (more formal and polite in most countries). In the case of “usted” the ending is the same as for the third person.
Something similar happens with the second person plural “ustedes”. Incidentally, “ustedes” is used both as formal and informal in most Latin American countries and therefore “vosotros” is not used. “Vosotros” is used almost exclusively in Spain.
1003
I repeat here my previous post. There is a correspondence between the ending of any verb and the pronoun (person) such as in many other languages. In Spanish, there are usually more variants than in English.
To speak = hablar
I speak = yo hablo
you speak = tú hablas / usted habla
he/she speaks = él/ella habla
we speak = nosotros hablamos
you speak = vosotros habláis / ustedes hablan
they speak = ellos/ellas hablan
Notice that for the second person singular “you” can be translated as both “tú” (informal, familiar) or “usted” (more formal and polite in most countries). In the case of “usted” the ending is the same as for the third person.
Something similar happens with the second person plural “ustedes”. Incidentally, “ustedes” is used both as formal and informal in most Latin American countries and therefore “vosotros” is not used. “Vosotros” is used almost exclusively in Spain.
1003
The verb ending does not change with gender, if that is your question. Both a woman and a man would say "yo hablo" (yo habla is incorrect). Similar with other persons, for example, notice that he/she speaks = él/ella habla
1003
I have posted a detailed explanation in a previous post of this same thread.
As for "hablás" it has to do with a particular form of the second person singular, used in Argentina and probably a few other places of which I am not completely sure.
So the following expressions are equivalent:
you speak = tú hablas = vos hablás
You should not worry too much about that last particular form as "tú hablas" will be understood everywhere even if rarely used in those few places.
1003
Verb ending is not affected by gender. Women and men say "hablo". "Hablas" is second person: "you speak".
I'm a little confused as to the difference between hablas and hablo . How do I know when.to use one or the other ?
1003
Please see a detailed explanation that I gave in one of my previous posts. In addition notice that "hablos" does not exist
I think you mean "hablas", because I don't think you have already come across "hables" at that stage.
Like in many languages, Spanish verbs change their endings in correspondence with person and number:
I speak: (yo) hablo
he/she/it speaks: (él/ella) habla
we speak: (nosotros) hablamos
they speak: (ellos/ellas) hablan
you speak: singular informal (tú) hablas, singular formal (usted) habla, plural informal (vosotros) habláis, plural formal (ustedes) hablan
Although "Yo hablo español" is still correct, but if you take out the first word, that's also correct.
274
I have used " Si hablo español " every time,and been marked as correct .Why not this time?