Learn Spanish Lesson 16: Three Power Verbs Every Beginner Must Know

Let's jump into our three power verbs. These are QUERER, to want, NECESITAR, to need, and TENER, to have. Let's start with how to express I want. The sound is QUIERO, so this makes the sound of QUI, then ERO, QUIERO. To say I want it, so now we have the word it. Now, in Spanish, pronouns come before the conjugated verb, so unlike in English where it comes on the end, in Spanish it would be LO QUIERO, so we have this conjugation QUIERO, meaning I want, then the pronoun LO, which stands for it, is coming up front. This is how it works in Spanish. To express I don't want is simply NO QUIERO, and to say I don't want it would be NO LO QUIERO, almost like no, I don't want it. NO LO QUIERO. How would you say I want it now? LO QUIERO AHORA. The word for because is PORQUE, PORQUE. Now say I want it now because it's very important. LO QUIERO AHORA PORQUE ES MUY IMPORTANTE. The word for coffee in Spanish is masculine, so to say a coffee is UN CAFÉ. How would you say I want a coffee? QUIERO UN CAFÉ. What about I don't want a coffee? NO QUIERO UN CAFÉ. The verb to study in Spanish is ESTUDIAR, so this is the full verb to study, ESTUDIAR. Now, to say I want to study, you're going to take that sound of QUIERO for I want, then add on the verb to study, ESTUDIAR, so it becomes QUIERO ESTUDIAR. The word for Spanish is ESPAÑOL. Now say I want to study Spanish. QUIERO ESTUDIAR ESPAÑOL. Here's another verb, to do or to make, in Spanish is expressed with one verb, HACER. To express I want to do it in Spanish would look like this, QUIERO HACERLO. Notice how the pronoun is getting hooked onto the end of the verb HACER, so unlike before where we just had a conjugated verb, right, so rather than I want it, now we have I want to do it. When you have a full verb followed by a pronoun, that pronoun is going to get hooked onto the end of the verb, and it gets joined up, so it becomes one sound. So, I want, QUIERO, to do, HACER, it, LO. QUIERO HACERLO. It's the same order that we have in English, so it's very easy to follow. So, just to clarify, when you have a conjugation on its own like QUIERO, the word it will come up front, but if it's followed by a full verb, then the pronoun gets hooked onto the end. How would you say I want to do it now? QUIERO HACERLO AHORA. Here's a useful little word for building sentences, IF, which is simply SI. Now try to say I want to do it now if it's possible. QUIERO HACERLO AHORA SI ES POSIBLE. I want to do it now because it's important for me. QUIERO HACERLO PORQUE ES IMPORTANTE PARA MI. Now that we've learned how pronouns work with verbs and how we build out sentences from there, that's really the hard part done. Now we just need to learn the sounds for the other power verbs. To express I need is NECESITO. It's quite a nice sound we have here. NECESITO. How would you say I need it? LO NECESITO. I don't need it. NO LO NECESITO. I need it now. LO NECESITO AHORA. It's important and I need it now. ES IMPORTANTE Y LO NECESITO AHORA. I need it today. LO NECESITO HOY. I need to study. NECESITO ESTUDIAR. I need to do it. NECESITO HACERLO. I need to do it today. NECESITO HACERLO HOY. The verb to buy in Spanish is COMPRAR. How would you say I need to buy it? NECESITO COMPRARLO. I don't need to buy it. NO NECESITO COMPRARLO. Let's move on to the next power verb I have. To express I have, the sound is TENGO. TENGO. How would you say I have the book? TENGO EL LIBRO. I don't have the car. NO TENGO EL COCHE. I have it. LO TENGO. I don't have it. NO LO TENGO. I don't have it because it's not important. NO LO TENGO PORQUE NO ES IMPORTANTE. I have a big family. TENGO UNA FAMILIA GRANDE. I have a yellow house. TENGO UNA CASA AMARILLA. I have a lot of work. TENGO MUCHO TRABAJO. I don't have a blue shirt. NO TENGO UNA CAMISA AZUL. The word for time is TIEMPO. How would you say I don't have time? NO TENGO TIEMPO. Let's do a mix and match to finish off. I don't need to study today. NO NECESITO ESTUDIAR HOY. I want it because it's good for me. LO QUIERO PORQUE ES BUENO PARA MI. I don't want it, I need it. NO LO QUIERO LO NECESITO. The word for but is PERO. PERO. How would you say I have it but I don't need it? LO TENGO PERO NO LO NECESITO. I don't have it and I want to buy it. NO LO TENGO Y QUIERO COMPRARLO. I want to do it but I don't have time today. QUIERO HACERLO PERO NO TENGO TIEMPO HOY.