Every sentence needs a verb. Verbs are the words that describe an action or a state of being. In English, words like "run," "think," "is," and "feel" are all verbs. They are the engine of a sentence, telling you what's happening.

In Spanish, just like in English, verbs are essential. But before we can use them, we need to get to know them in their most basic form: the infinitive.

The infinitive is the starting point. It's the version of the verb you'd look up in a dictionary. The good news? In Spanish, all infinitives are easy to spot.

Every single Spanish verb ends in one of three ways: -ar, -er, or -ir. That's it. Recognizing which group a verb belongs to is the first and most important step in learning how to use it correctly.

Think of these endings as labels that tell you which set of rules to follow when you change the verb to fit a sentence. We call this changing process "conjugation."

For now, just focus on recognizing these endings. When you see a verb like comprar (to buy), you know it's an -ar verb. If you see aprender (to learn), you know it's an -er verb. And decidir (to decide) is an -ir verb.

This small piece of information tells you exactly how the verb will behave. Soon, you'll learn the patterns for changing these endings to say things like "I speak," "you eat," and "we live."

Let's check your understanding of these core concepts.

Once you can spot these endings, you're ready to start putting verbs into action.