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Originally Posted by MoReNiTa GuApA
to learn the conjugation of verbs or is it just Practice practice practice?
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I recommend this book - The Red Pocket Book of Spanish Verbs : 333 Fully Conjugated Verbs by Ronni L Gordon, and David M Stillman
Cheap, small - pocket sized, has 333 verbs (oddly enough) and notes the top 30 verbs many of which are irregular and all of which yes, you memorize. There is also a not too overwhelming discussion of the tenses and how to form them.
For the top 30 there is an extra page of examples showing their usage.
And among all the advice above remember the stem+ ending is not identical for ar vs. er/ir verbs, though close.
I would say learn these forms:
Present,
Preterit and Imperfect (though really you can get away with just imperfect and the endings are the easiest to remember), your abas and aba's.
Future (also very easy but you can use ir+infinite, e.g. voy a comer , va a correr, etc., and not learn future at all), and
Subjunctive - when you express desire or you ever need to say I need you to do something, that's Subjunctive and very very necessary. (Note as daunting as it sounds Subjunctive is the same for present tense but with the endings switched around - the ar ending for er/ir verbs - e.g.: comas vs. comes for tu, and that's the basic rule. Learn Present, do it backwards, you have Subjunctive.
You will find for a few compound tenses they are easier to remember that you'd think, e.g. he hablado, for I have spoken, has comido you have eaten, etc., since the past participle is so easy to make (ado or ido, for ar or er/ir) and that's it.
The little red book is only $7 at Amazon.
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