Action Verbs in Spanish

¡Hola! Welcome back.

In our last lesson, you learned the very useful phrase vamos a + [verb] to suggest activities, like vamos a jugar (let's play) or vamos a leer (let's read). This was a great first step in initiating playtime with your son in Spanish.

Today, we're going to dive deeper into some of those action words. The goal is to move from suggesting an activity to describing it as it happens. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use five common action verbs—correr (to run), saltar (to jump), bailar (to dance), cantar (to sing), and dibujar (to draw)—to say what you or your son are doing. This will help you narrate your daily fun and build simple sentences.

1. Learning Verbs Through Movement

One of the best ways to learn action words, especially with a child, is to physically do the action while saying the word. Let's start with two very active verbs: bailar (to dance) and saltar (to jump/hop).

The following video is a fun "Freeze Dance" game in Spanish. It's designed for kids and is a perfect activity to do with your son. It introduces the words and encourages you to do the actions together.

Spanish Freeze Dance 🛑 Para Baila 💃 Bilingual Merengue Activity

This video from ¡Hey Amigos! will get you moving! It's a great way to connect the Spanish words 'bailar' and 'saltar' with their actions.

Watch from the beginning until 1:03. First, you will practice bailar (to dance). Then, you will practice saltar (to hop/jump). Don't just watch—try to dance and jump along! This physical connection is key to remembering the words.

As you saw, the video uses the simple command forms baila (dance!) and salta (jump!). This is a great way to learn, and we'll talk more about commands in a future lesson.

2. Building Your Action Vocabulary

Now, let's formally introduce our five key verbs for today. The following resource provides a clear list of common action words, including the ones we're focusing on.

Verbs and action words in Spanish list

This article from Studycat, 'Verbs and action words in Spanish list', presents verbs with pronunciation guides and simple examples. We'll use it to learn our target verbs.

Please find and review the entries for these five verbs. Pay attention to the pronunciation guide (e.g., kah-mee-NAR) and the example sentence provided for each. Under the first heading, find saltar (jump) and correr (run). Under 'Basic movement and physical verbs', find bailar (dance). Under 'Creative and artistic verbs', find dibujar (draw) and cantar (sing).

Here are the five verbs for today, all together. This image is a great visual summary you can even use as flashcards.

Spanish Action Verb Flashcards — A set of flashcards showing stick figures performing actions. We are focusing on `saltar` (to jump), `correr` (to run), `cantar` (to sing), and `bailar` (to dance). `Dibujar` (to draw) is our fifth verb for today.

3. Using Verbs to Describe Actions

Now for the most important part: using these verbs in simple sentences. You learned vamos a cantar (let's sing), but how do you say "I sing" or "He sings"?

In Spanish, the verb ending changes depending on who is doing the action. Let's learn the two most useful forms for you right now: yo (I) and él/ella (he/she). This allows you to talk about yourself and your son.

Most of our verbs today (cantar, bailar, saltar, dibujar) are "-ar" verbs. They follow a simple pattern:

To say "I do the action," you replace the -ar ending with -o.
To say "He/She does the action," you replace the -ar ending with -a.

Correr is an "-er" verb. It has a slightly different pattern:

To say "I do the action," you replace the -er ending with -o.
To say "He/She does the action," you replace the -er ending with -e.

Here’s a summary:

Verb (Infinitive)	Meaning	I do the action... (`yo`)	He/She does the action... (`él/ella`)
cantar	to sing	`(Yo) canto`	`(Él/Ella) canta`
bailar	to dance	`(Yo) bailo`	`(Él/Ella) baila`
saltar	to jump	`(Yo) salto`	`(Él/Ella) salta`
dibujar	to draw	`(Yo) dibujo`	`(Él/Ella) dibuja`
correr	to run	`(Yo) corro`	`(Él/Ella) corre`

Note: The words yo, él, and ella are often omitted in Spanish because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. So, you can simply say Canto for "I sing" or Corre for "He runs."

Now you can narrate playtime!

While your son is running in the park: ¡Corre! (He's running!)
When you are drawing together: Yo dibujo un coche. Tú dibujas una casa. (I'm drawing a car. You're drawing a house.)
- Here dibujas is the "you" form. It's another easy pattern to pick up!

Test your understanding!

Imagine you are playing with your son. How would you say the following in Spanish?

He is singing.
I am dancing.
He is running.

Show answer

Él canta (or just Canta)
Yo bailo (or just Bailo)
Él corre (or just Corre)

4. Practice Through Play

The best way to make these words stick is to use them actively. The Studycat article you read earlier has some excellent suggestions for practicing with your son.

Verbs and action words in Spanish list

Let's revisit the Studycat article for some fun, practical ideas on how to practice these new verbs.

Read the final section titled 'How to learn and remember action words in Spanish'. Pay special attention to the suggestions 'Act them out' and 'Verb charades'.

Try this:

Act it out: Say ¡Yo salto! and jump. Then say ¡Él salta! and encourage your son to jump. Do this for all five verbs.
Verb Charades: Act out one of the verbs without speaking and have your son guess which one it is (he can point to a picture or just do the action back!). Then, let him act one out for you. This is a fun game that reinforces meaning without any pressure.

Conclusion

¡Buen trabajo! (Good job!) Today you've moved beyond simply knowing the names of actions and have started using them to describe what's happening in the moment.

Key Takeaways:

You learned five key action verbs: cantar, bailar, saltar, correr, dibujar.
You learned how to form simple sentences by changing the verb ending for yo (I) and él/ella (he/she).
For -ar verbs: canto (I sing), canta (he/she sings).
For -er verbs: corro (I run), corre (he/she runs).
The most effective way to practice is through physical play and games like charades.

Next Steps

You can now suggest an activity (vamos a correr) and describe the action while it's happening (¡corres!). In our next lesson, we will learn how to give simple, direct instructions during play, such as tira la pelota (throw the ball) and comparte los juguetes (share the toys). This will add another important layer to your playtime conversations.

¡Hasta la próxima