If you're like me, you'll find verb drills a real drag and although they're a must-do exercise, they are a bit of a bore! And many common verb uses aren't taught in formal courses and these are the streetwise phrases that will add authenticity to your Spanish. Here's 5 cool and practical verbs you can blend in to your vocab that'll make a fabulous impression wherever you travel in the Hispanic world!



First up we have the verb Andar - to walk. This is the straight-forward usage, as in: Ando a las tiendas - I'm walking to the shops. But what if you were asked:

¿Por dónde andas?

This is a cool way of asking: "Where are you" and not "to where are you walking?". Andar has many more uses like this but one I like refers to how things are working:

"Mi reloj no anda bien" - My watch isn't working well."

"¿Qué tal anda tu moto nuevo?" - "How's your new motorcycle going?"

Dejar, "to leave" provides us with a pair of phrases that are really useful to have when you're being pestered by all manner of sales people and con-artists on the streets of major cities like my home city Barcelona. In summer, there's hardly a week goes by without me saying these phrases:

Déjame en paz - Leave me alone

Déjalo - Leave it (You can also use this when you want to drop a subject from conversation.)

Here's a cool little verb you will rarely discover in formal courses. Lograr means "to manage" and it is a handy little verb to acquire. A couple of examples for you:

"Si yo logro salir de trabajo antes de las cinco, llegaré a tu casa a las seis"

"If I manage to leave work before 5 I'll be at your house for six o' clock."

"Logré fijar la televisor así que podremos mirar el fútbol esta noche."

"I managed to fix the TV so will we be able to watch the football tonight."

I'm sure your familiar with the common usage of Parecer, to seem, e.g. me parece bien - it's good with me. But the reflexive form, paracerse is another cool verb to master and it means "to look like." So, Me parezco a mi padre - I look like my father. Pero, ¡cuidado! If you want to say "it looks like" then you need to use parecer que, like this: "Parece que va a ser un día calorazo" - it looks like it's going to be a very hot day or "Parece que va a llover." - it looks like it's going to rain.

Finally, a favourite cool verb of mine that's sure to win you the admiration of native speakers. Soler doesn't really have an English equivalent and it's used to describe your regular habits and actions. Examples will work the best here:

Suelo ir el bar saliendo del trabajo - I normally go to the bar after work

Suele cenar a las ocho cada noche - He normally has dinner at 8 'o' clock every night every night.

El autobús suele llegar a las tres - The bus usually arrives at 3 'o' clock.

It's a great little verb and fun to play around with and form your own phrases that reflect your daily routines.

That's five cool, useful verbs that'll add an authentic flourish to your Spanish. Play around with them to get them nicely dialled-in and enjoy the looks of admiration from native speakers as you sprinkle them into your conversations!

Hasta pronto,

Peter.

Copyright (c) 2009 Peter Christian