# Conjugation of verb: Como



## NightJay0044

Hi, this is the next part of my learning of verbs. Here is a list of verbs which could use some translations please with possibly further explanaitons if needed. Thank you all. 

com*o* 
com*es* 
com*e* 
com*emos* 
com*éis* 
com*en*
** 
I know I have to practice both nouns and verbs to get more of the concepts and understandings. Then I can start putting everything together. 

Jason


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## aleCcowaN

Jason, this is not "a list of verb". This is present tense of the verb "comer" (to eat). What is your question?


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## NightJay0044

That's what I didn't know. I'm wondering, what do all of those words mean in Spanish?

Because I know Como: Means to "like", or I'm not really sure how to use that word, because it's used a lot in my work I believe. Then all the others words below that one on my list in the previous post above. 

I hope this helps...


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## nohablo

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Because I know Como: Means to "like", or I'm not really sure how to use that word, because it's used a lot in my work I believe. Then all the others words below that one on my list in the previous post above.


I think you're confusing the adverb como with the first-person singular present tense of the verb comer, which is also como.  The adverb *como* can mean "like," as in *hablas como un político* -- you talk like a politician.  But that's not at all the same as *como* meaning *I eat*.

The other words you quoted in your original message were other parts of the present-tense conjugation of the verb comer.

Oops--I see that mhp has already made much the same point, so I won't bother continuing to explain the verb comer.  However, if you're still confused, let us know.


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## NightJay0044

Alright, I'll give this trial a shot. What about this Spanish sentence?

Yo no como. 

Did I say "I didn't eat yet?" 

or something along those lines?


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## Gargoyle

Yo no como = I don´t eat. As aleCcowan said before, it´s the present tense of the verb, so you cannot translate it like a past.


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## saturnian

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Alright, I'll give this trial a shot. What about this Spanish sentence?
> 
> Yo no como.
> 
> Did I say "I didn't eat yet?"
> 
> or something along those lines?


"I didn't eat yet" would be "Aún/todavía no he comido" (Spain) or "Aún/todavía no comí" (LatAm).


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## NightJay0044

Alright, I'm not learning properly here. I need to learn the word "como" in a right manner. From my understanding that means "like" when talking to another person in expression? Or can someone please further explain this to me, so I can fully learn this verb or adverb? 

Well, let's start with the verb "como". Can someone please explain again this word and how it's used and all in simple tenses so I dont get hindered from learning? 

Thanks..


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## Gargoyle

Please, look at this
http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/verbs/COMER.HTM

Apart from the verb , there is an adverb which is "como", in English "like" or "as".

Hope it helps.


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## NightJay0044

it's kind of making more sense to me now. I'll start with a couple of those phases/words there to get my understanding of that chart. That pasting didn't work too well, oops try again here.okay
These two words I'll start with..

"como" and "comes"

Como: means I eat, am and eating....

Do I follow that right?

So if I were to say this: "Estoy como" means: "I'm eating" in spanish?


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## saturnian

Hi,

"Como" is not a verb. The verb (infinitive) is "comer" (to eat), and "como" is this verb conjugated in the first person, present tense (i.e. "I eat).

For the full list of conjugations of this verb see...the page that Gargoyle mentioned.

As he also said, "como" (nothing to do with the conjugated form of the verb comer, "como") is also an adverb that can mean "like" or "as"...

A couple of examples with this adverb:

Yo quiero ser como tú - I want to be like you

No es tan fácil como las otras cosas - It isn't as easy as the other things

Whereas (as a conjugated verb):

Como pan = I eat bread


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## saturnian

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Do I follow that right?
> 
> So if I were to say this: "Estoy como" means: "I'm eating" in spanish?


"I am eating" is "estoy comiendo".

To learn more about the present progressive tense in Spanish, see here:

studyspanish.com/lessons/presprog.htm


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## NightJay0044

Alright, so I want to get this word down, because my goal tonight is to learn 3 spanish verbs..

The Spanish word "como" is not a verb, it is an adverb which is conjugated from the verb "como"?

Did I get that right?


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## Gargoyle

Yo como ....I eat
tú comes... you eat
él come ....he or she eats
nosotros comemos...we eat
vosotros coméis-...you eat
ellos comen....they eat
........................

yo estoy comiendo .... i am eating
tú estás comiendo...you are eating
él/ella está comiendo...he/she is eating...
nosotros estamos comiendo...we are eating
vosotros estáis comiendo...you are eating
ellos estan comiendo...they are eating

In the chart, both are together because they have more or less the same meaning in Spanish. But with the form "i am eating" yo are more implicit, you are doing it NOW.


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## saturnian

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Alright, so I want to get this word down, because my goal tonight is to learn 3 spanish verbs..
> 
> The Spanish word "como" is not a verb, it is an adverb which is conjugated from the verb "como"?
> 
> Did I get that right?


As in English, in Spanish there are (a few) words that are written the same but which don't have anything to do with each other. This is one of those cases.

"Como" (conjugated form of the verb "comer") and "como" (the adverb/conjunction/preposition) are completely different words.

See the sentences I gave above for some examples (or look in the WordReference dictionary under "como" for more info).


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## aleCcowaN

Gargoyle said:
			
		

> In the chart, both are together because they have more or less the same meaning in Spanish. But with the form "i am eating" yo are more implicit, you are doing it NOW.


There is a difference.

I eat meat = Como carne
He eats at twelve = Él come a las doce
They are eating now = Ellos/Ellas están comiendo ahora
Don't disturb me while I am eating = No me molestes mientras como.


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## Gargoyle

Well, so I don´t know how to explain it better. I think she should buy a grammar book in which the explanations will be perfect.


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## NightJay0044

Alright, lets try to put this to some use here..I'll start with this phrase that "gargoyle" used: 

yo estoy comiendo .... i am eating....

That means "I am eating" can you just switch these words around if you wanted to? Such as:

estoy yo comiendo

Which means: "am I eating?" Can you reverse or change it like that? To make it into a question..

Thanks..


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## mhp

Gargoyle said:
			
		

> Well, so I don´t know how to explain it better. I think she should buy a grammar book in which the explanations will be perfect.


  Perfect recommendation. It will even explain the difference between “deja que coma”, “la coma” y  “el coma”.


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## NightJay0044

Alright, well just to get this point to your quote, in the quote I read the word "she" was that refering to another person in the forums or me? Because Iam a he....

But can I switch those words around like i did in the previous post above?


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## NightJay0044

Also, what am I saying when I say this in spanish?

Yo como ahora?


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## Gargoyle

Oops sorry, I meant "he"

¿yo como ahora? Do I eat now?


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## NightJay0044

> ¿yo como ahora? Do I eat now?



To follow this sentence....How does "yo" get turned into "do I"? Because isn't the word "yo" mean "i" translated to english?


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## NightJay0044

Alright, well I think I might get the spanish word "como" confused with the other spanish word "como" because "como" means "to eat" and it also means "like"...So I'm not sure if I will confuse the spanish people at my work by saying this in spanish:

Yo como ahora: which means "do I eat now?"

I'm thinking that they could also think of it as "I like now"...See where I'm coming from here?


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## nohablo

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Alright, I'm not learning properly here. I need to learn the word "como" in a right manner. From my understanding that means "like" when talking to another person in expression? Or can someone please further explain this to me, so I can fully learn this verb or adverb?
> 
> Well, let's start with the verb "como". Can someone please explain again this word and how it's used and all in simple tenses so I dont get hindered from learning?


Jason, I think that for the moment, you should forget about como as an adverb meaning "like."  Concentrate instead on understanding verbs, and how verbs work in Spanish.  In English, the form of the verb doesn't usually change very much.  If you say "I eat," "you eat," "we eat," or "they eat," the verb stays the same: eat.  It changes only if you use the third-person singular: he or she.  Then the verb changes from eat to eats.  We know who is doing the eating because of the pronoun: I, you, we, they, etc.

In Spanish, the verb changes a lot more than it does in English.  As you know by now, the verb "*to eat*" in Spanish is *comer*.  If you want to say "*I eat*" you can say "*yo como*" or just "*como*."  We can tell who is eating just by looking at the verb.  "Como" means "I eat."  If you want to say "*you eat*," you say "*tú comes*."  Tú = you, and comes = eat.  Because each verb form is distinctive, you can drop the pronoun (tú) and just say "*comes*," and everyone will understand that you're saying "you eat."  Similarly, "he eats" is "él come" or just "come." "We eat" is "nosotros comemos" or just "comemos."  The reason you can use just the verb (comemos) without the pronoun (nosotros) is that comemos is used only to mean WE eat.  You can't use "comemos" to mean "I eat" or "you eat," only "we eat."  

So, getting back to "como," "como" means "I eat."  If you want to say you eat, he eats, we eat, or they eat, you have to change the spelling of the verb comer.  In other words, you have to *conjugate* the verb.
That's what you were doing in your first message, though you may not have realized it:  

com*o* --                   I eat
com*es*  --                 you (singular familiar) eat
com*e*      --              he/she eats
com*emos*    --           we eat
com*éis*          --        you (plural familiar) eat
com*en*             --     they eat

If you want to learn Spanish, you have to learn how to conjugate verbs.  Most verbs follow a pattern, and you have to learn the pattern and then learn which verbs do not follow the pattern.  

Once you understand how Spanish verbs work, you can turn your attention to the fact that como can also be an adverb that means like or as.  But first learn about the verbs.

I hope some of this helps.


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## mariente

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Alright, well I think I might get the spanish word "como" confused with the other spanish word "como" because "como" means "to eat" and it also means "like"...So I'm not sure if I will confuse the spanish people at my work by saying this in spanish:
> 
> Yo como ahora: which means "do I eat now?"
> 
> I'm thinking that they could also think of it as "I like now"...See where I'm coming from here?


I= yo, no other possiblity. 
In spanish many times you dont need to use the pronoun because its understood by the conjugation of the verb and sometimes can be redundant.
If you want to translate: do i eat now?  the translation to spanish is ¿como ahora?


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## NightJay0044

Alright, that's understandable..But with what you put the sentence "como ahora?"

Do you think that the spanish people could get that confused with thinking that could mean "like now?"


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## mariente

No, because the stress is different (tonic accent) I mean the intonation. If you want to say ¿cómo ahora? (eat) you stress the first o in como. If you want to say like now  it goes in Cómo ahóra? this is just for entonation, you dont have to write it.  No written accent. 1st O in Como and O in ahora


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## nohablo

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> So I'm not sure if I will confuse the spanish people at my work by saying this in spanish:
> 
> Yo como ahora: which means "do I eat now?"
> 
> I'm thinking that they could also think of it as "I like now"...See where I'm coming from here?


Yes, you will confuse other people because _you_ are confused.  You don't seem to know the difference between a verb and an adverb.  In one of your earlier messages, you said "The Spanish word "como" is not a verb, it is an adverb which is conjugated from the verb "como."  Jason, adverbs are not conjugated from verbs.  You're going to have a hard time understanding the explanations people are offering you if you don't understand the terms they're using: verbs, adverbs, conjugation, etc.  I strongly urge you to follow the advice someone else provided earlier: get a good grammar book.  In fact, you might find it helpful to get an English grammar book as well as a Spanish grammar book.

To answer one of your questions quoted above, "Yo como ahora" means "I eat now."  If you put question marks around that sentence (¿Yo como ahora?), you could translate it as "Am I eating now?"  But you CANNOT translate "yo como ahora" as "I like now."  Here, again, you're handicapped by not understanding the difference between a verb and an adverb.


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## NightJay0044

so if you say the o in the first word of the sentence "como ahora" with as soft voice you mean dont stress it, that's where they will tell the difference? 

Also, Cómo ahora...that is the first "ó" in that word, that means: "Do I eat now?" but if I want to say "like now" in spanish you say "como ahóra?"..which the last word indicates "like now".. 

Did I follow that correctly? Then how would you say that and stress that if you wanted to speak that and have the spanish speaker understand that?


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## mariente

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> so if you say the o in the first word of the sentence "como ahora" with as soft voice you mean dont stress it, that's where they will tell the difference?
> 
> Also, Cómo ahora...that is the first "ó" in that word, that means: "Do I eat now?" but if I want to say "like now" in spanish you say "como ahóra?"..which the last word indicates "like now"..
> 
> Did I follow that correctly? Then how would you say that and stress that if you wanted to speak that and have the spanish speaker understand that?


 If you stress only the o in ahora, you mean like now. Me gusta estar como ahóra. I like to be like now. With the stress thing i ve told you are  going to be understood the way you want
ps: you can stress as i said before  the two words to mean like now if you are asking a question. I forgot to tell you that, sorry. Se fue ahora ¿Cómo ahóra? remember this is not a written accent


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## NightJay0044

Nohablo~
Hi, thanks for the advice..I know what I'm doing might seem over my head. But this is what I have to learn since I want to learn spanish..Also My english grammar is in somewhat fair conditions but it's not in good conditions..

I know this can cause confusion...but everything that Iam doing can and will be done as long as I have the right mind set and attitude...So bare with me through all this for whomever reads this post. I'm also taking night classes on English, Science and math to get all my knowledge up to the level desired for me...

I have a lot of knowledge to keep up on...Always should be with me what can be done...instead of what not can be done...Also want to point out I'm not trying to go across or against your previous post here. I'm just stating my position in my journey of learning knowledge..

A thank you for all who help me in the future...


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## nohablo

Following up on my previous message, I'd like to mention a specific grammar book that several people have mentioned enthusiastically in other forums.  It's called _*English Grammar for Students of Spanish*_ by Emily Spinelli.  It's now in a 5th edition that's available from Amazon.com, but the 4th edition is also listed by Amazon, and they list it as available used for as little as $2.91 plus postage.  I have not seen or used this book, but most of the reviews on Amazon are very favorable, and several people have mentioned it enthusiastically either in person or on other forums.  Here's a link to the 4th edition:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0934034303/sr=1-2/qid=1153932221/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-4268392-5661752?redirect=true&ie=UTF8&s=books
On this page, you can "look inside the book" and see the table of contents as well as an excerpt, so you can decide whether it seems like a book you'd find helpful.


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## mariente

This will help you a lot
http://www.cuyamaca.edu/ddetwile/Resources/spanishgrammar.asp
http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/exercises/


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## NightJay0044

Alright, I'm not following clearly here on this adverb of "como"..Before when I used this sentence 

Como Ahora

Which means "do I eat now"..You can put it in two different ways from my understanding..here are the two different ways..

Cómo ahora / como ahóra

Now the first one has the accent mark in the first word and second one has it in the second word. I'm just not sure how I can know the difference in those two. Because to me, if i say that to a spanish person at my work.

I could say "Do I eat now?" or I think I could say to them "Like now"..So I'm not really sure how that works if someone could explain and help me understand..Thanks..


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## NightJay0044

Alright, I'm not following clearly here on this adverb of "como"..Before when I used this sentence 

Como Ahora

Which means "do I eat now"..You can put it in two different ways from my understanding..here are the two different ways..

Cómo ahora / como ahóra

Now the first one has the accent mark in the first word and second one has it in the second word. I'm just not sure how I can know the difference in those two. Because to me, if i say that to a spanish person at my work.

I could say "Do I eat now?" or I think I could say to them "Like now"..So I'm not really sure how that works if someone could explain and help me understand..Thanks..


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## mariente

NightJay0044 said:
			
		

> Alright, I'm not following clearly here on this adverb of "como"..Before when I used this sentence
> 
> Como Ahora
> 
> Which means "do I eat now"..You can put it in two different ways from my understanding..here are the two different ways..
> 
> Cómo ahora / como ahóra
> 
> Now the first one has the accent mark in the first word and second one has it in the second word. I'm just not sure how I can know the difference in those two. Because to me, if i say that to a spanish person at my work.
> 
> I could say "Do I eat now?" or I think I could say to them "Like now"..So I'm not really sure how that works if someone could explain and help me understand..Thanks..



I guess you dont have the concept very clear, why dont you re try and read it again?


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## NightJay0044

Alright, I'm not sure how to stress the "O's" to make them so the native speakers understand me.

The first sentece is this: "Cómo ahóra?"/Do I eat now
The second sentence is this: "cómo ahora?"/Like now

Which I hope I got those right..How do you stress those two so that a person may understand you?

I'm not familar with how to use the stress and the sound of your voice.


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## nohablo

Jason, first of all, for the most part, mariente was not talking about
written accents, she was talking about where you put the stress when
you speak.  "Como ahora" means "I eat now."  In English, if you say "I
EAT now" (with the stress on EAT), you're making a statement.  You can
say the same words, however, but make them into a question simply by
putting the stress on a different word and having your voice go up at
the end rather than down: "I eat NOW?"  By doing something similar in Spanish, 
you can also turn "Como ahora" ("I eat now")  into 
"¿Como ahora?"  ("I eat now?" or "Do I eat now?").

As for how someone will know whether you mean como as a verb (as in
"como ahora" - "I eat now") or como as an adverb (as in your example
of "como ahora" - "like now"), the answer is that *people can tell from
the context*.  In English, the same thing is true.  Even though "seen"
and "scene" sound the same, you can tell from the context which word
some is using: "Have you seen Maria?  No, I haven't seen her" or "Did you 
like the movie?  Yes, but I thought the first scene was confusing."


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## mariente

Thats right. And if you want no question you say.
como ahóra  like now

and yo cómo ahóra = I eat now . Without saying the question mark


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## Jellby

"¿Cómo como? Como como como" -> How do I eat? I eat the way I eat.


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