Accidents of a verb

A verbal accident is defined as one of the changes of form that a verb can undergo.
Spanish verbs have five accidents. Every verb changes according to the following:
Person/Number, Mood, Tense, Non-finites, Voices.

Person and number
Spanish verbs are conjugated in three persons, each having a singular and a plural
form. Plus a "polite" one.
** Because Spanish is a "pro-drop language", the subject pronoun is often omitted.

First person
The grammatical first person refers to the speaker ("I").
(Yo) hablo. "I speak."
(Nosotros) hablamos. "We speak."
(Used when referring to a group that includes at least one male.)
(Nosotras) hablamos. "We speak."
(Used when referring to a group that is composed entirely of females.)










Second person
The grammatical second person refers to the addressee, the receiver of the
communication ("you").
Spanish has different pronouns (and verb forms) for "you," depending on the
relationship, familiar or formal, between speaker and addressee.
Singular forms
(T) hablas. Familiar singular. Used when addressing someone who is of close
affinity (a member of the family, a close friend, a child, a pet). This is also the form
used to address the deity.
(Vos) habls. Familiar singular.
Generally used in the same way as t. Its use is restricted to some areas of
Hispanic America (Argentina). In areas where t and vos are both used, vos is used
to denote a closer affinity.
(Usted) habla. Formal singular.
Used when addressing a person respectfully, someone older, someone not known
to the speaker, or someone of some social distance.
It uses third-person verb forms
** l habla (He talks), Usted habla (You speak)
It's like this because it developed as a contraction of vuestra merced (literally, "your
mercy" or "your grace").
Plural forms
(Vosotros/Vosotras) hablis.
Used when addressing people who are of close affinity (members of the family,
friends, children, pets). The feminine form vosotras is used only when addressing a
group composed entirely of females; otherwise, vosotros is used. This form is used
primarily in Spain and Equatorial Guinea, though it may appear in old, formal texts
from other countries, such as the Philippines, or in the initial line of the Argentine
national anthem (Od, mortales, el grito sagrado).
(Ustedes) hablan. Used when addressing people respectfully or addressing
people of some social distance. Like usted, it uses third-person verb forms, for the
same reasons. In Spanish America, the form ustedes serves as the second-person
plural for both familiar and formal situations.
Third person
The grammatical third person refers to a person or thing other than the speaker or
the addressee.
Singular forms
(l) habla. "He/it speaks."
Used for a male person or a thing of masculine (grammatical) gender.
(Ella) habla. "She/it speaks."
Used for a female person or a thing of feminine (grammatical) gender.
Plural forms
(Ellos) hablan. "They speak."
Used for a group of people or things that includes at least one person or thing of
masculine (grammatical) gender.
(Ellas) hablan. "They speak." Used for a group of people or things that are all of
feminine (grammatical) gender.

Mood
Grammatical mood is one of a set of distinctive forms that are used to signal
modality. In Spanish, every verb has forms in three moods.

Indicative: Is used for factual statements and positive beliefs.
The Spanish conditional, although semantically expressing the dependency of one
action or proposition on another, is generally considered a tense of the indicative
mood, because, syntactically, it can appear in an independent clause.
Subjunctive: Expresses an imagined or desired action in the past, present, or
future.
Imperative: Expresses direct commands, requests, and prohibitions.
In Spanish, using the imperative mood may sound blunt or even rude, so it is often
used with care.

Verbal tense
The tense of a verb indicates the time when the action occurs.
It may be in the past, present, or future.

Impersonal or non-finite forms of the verb
Refer to an action or state without indicating the time or the person.
Spanish has three impersonal forms:

Infinitive
The infinitive is generally the form found in dictionaries.
It corresponds to the English "base-form" or "dictionary form" and is usually
indicated in English by "to _____" ("to sing," "to write," etc.).
The ending of the infinitive is the basis of the names given in English to the three
form classes of Spanish verbs:

-ar verbs
Examples: hablar ("to speak"); cantar ("to sing"); bailar ("to dance")
-er verbs
Examples: beber ("to drink"); leer ("to read"); comprender ("to understand")
-ir verbs
Examples: vivir ("to live"); sentir ("to feel"); escribir ("to write")






Gerund
Although in English grammar the gerund refers to the -ing form of a verb used as a
noun, in Spanish the term refers to a verb form that behaves more like an adverb.

-ar verbs = Ending is -ando.
Hablar Hablando
(Speak) (Speaking)
Cantar Cantando
(Sing) (Singing)
Bailar Bailando
(Dance) (Dancing)

-er verbs = Ending is -iendo.
Beber Bebiendo
(Drinking)
Leer Leyendo
(Reading)
Comprender
Comprendiendo
(Understanding)

-ir verbs = Ending is also -iendo.
Vivir Viviendo (Living) Sentir Sintiendo
(Feeling)
Escribir Escribiendo
(Writing)













Past participle
This turns the verb into an adjective.
Corresponds to the English -en or -ed form.

-ar verbs = Ending is -ado.
Hablar Hablado
(Spoken)
Cantar Cantado
(Sung)
Bailar Bailado
(Danced)
-er verbs = Regular ending is -ido.
Beber Bebido (Drunk)


Leer Ledo (Read)


Comprender
Comprendido
(Understood)
-ir verbs = Regular ending is also -ido.
Vivir Vivido (Lived) Sentir Sentido (Felt) Hervir Hervido
(Boiled)

Haber + Verb
The past participle, ending invariably in -o, is used following a form of the auxiliary
verb haber to form the compound or perfect: (Yo) he hablado ("I have spoken");
(Ellos) haban hablado ("They had spoken"); etc.
Past participle as an adjective
When the past participle is used as an adjective, it agrees with the noun that it
modifiesfor example: una lengua hablada en Espaa ("a language spoken in
Spain").
Ser + verb / Estar + verb
The past participle, similarly agreeing with the subject of ser or estar,
can be used to form, respectively, the "true" passive voice (e.g., Los platos fueron
preparados en la maana ["The dishes were prepared in the morning"])
or the "passive of result" (e.g., Los platos ya estn preparados ["The dishes are
already prepared"])

Voice (Active / Passive)
The voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state) that the
verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.).
When the subject is the agent or doer of the action, the verb is in the active voice.
When the subject is the patient, target, or undergoer of the action, it is said to be in
the passive voice.

Verbal aspect
Verbal aspect marks whether an action is completed (perfect), a completed whole
(perfective), or not yet completed (imperfective).

Perfect: Verbs that are conjugated with haber ("to have [done something]") are in
the perfect aspect.
Perfective: Verbs in the preterite are in the perfective aspect.
Imperfective: The present, imperfect, and future tenses are in the imperfective
aspect.