Spanish Verb – Competir

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Antonella Lusardi – Spanish Tutor. “Spanish Verb – Competir.” Lingua Linkup, 10 Sep. 2022, lingualinkup.com/spanish-verb-competir.

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Antonella Lusardi – Spanish Tutor. (2022, September 10). Spanish Verb – Competir. Lingua Linkup. https://lingualinkup.com/spanish-verb-competir/

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Antonella Lusardi – Spanish Tutor. “Spanish Verb – Competir.” Lingua Linkup, September 10, 2022. https://lingualinkup.com/spanish-verb-competir/.

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¿Compites conmigo y crees que ganarás?

Conjugation of the Spanish verb Competir

Learning Spanish can be challenging, especially because of the many variations that exist, the differences in vocabulary of each region, and the colloquialism that may play an important role as well. That’s why reading articles about the uses of specific words in context can be very helpful.

Today we are going to talk about a verb that is both irregular and special, given that it can replace a couple of words in English. Allow me to introduce you to the Spanish Verb Competir and its Conjugations.

If you’ve ever been to any kind of competition, watched a race, or a dancing contest, it is likely that the Spanish translation would have been: competencia de…, competir en…, which are words that are related to competir. Por ejemplo:

Ayer competimos en un concurso de Salsa y ganamos. (Yesterday we competed in a Salsa contest and won.)

La competencia de anoche estuvo reñida. (Last night’s competition was close.)

Competir as a noun

Competencia or competición are two derivative words from the verb that are normally found, and they may replace words such as race, tournament, contest, although we also have words in Spanish for each one of them. But the good thing about competencia is that it is very general, so we use it in sentences with several meanings, such as:

Boca y River se encuentran en una competencia feroz por obtener la copa. (competition)

Juan es la competencia de Antonio por el amor de Ana. (rival)

Necesitamos evaluar si Juan tiene la competencia para este trabajo (competence/skills)

Theree are more uses as a noun or as an adjective (competente). Today we will focus mainly on the use of the verb, although it is important to keep in mind that we can find it in different contexts as a noun or adjective.

As a verb it can be also used around these concepts:

Martín está compitiendo en una carrera de matemáticas. (competition)

Mónica siempre compite conmigo y quiere ser más linda. (rival)

And there is an interesting phrase a bit harder to analyze but frequently used in Spanish:

No te compete lo que haga de mi vida. A ti qué te compete.

Al maestro no le compete decirte qué es lo que tienes que comer, debes ir a un médico para eso.

This colloquial expression denotes the idea of “it’s none of your business” or not the person’s place to state a certain judgment, same as the English version, both business and compete are used not literally but to refer to a different concept.

Another of the irregular ones in the family

Competir is an irregular verb and they are called this way given that the verb can change its root or ending. In this case, competir follows the same pattern as pedir and it changes the ending, which means that it does not follow the same ending rule as a regular verb.

For example: vivir (to live) is a regular -ir verb.

Vivo en una casa grande (yo, simple present)

Compito en una pista grande (also yo, simple present) 

However the ending instead of changing to “o”, vivir>vivo; competir>competo, changes to competir>compito

Verbals of competir

Verbals are the forms of infinitive, gerund, and participle of the verbs that need another verb to make sense. As stated earlier, the verb may behave as a noun or adjective, or will simply form a more complex verb like the continuous form. Let’s have a look.

To Conjugate? Of course!

I know Spanish has tons of conjugations. Having a list handy is always helpful, but don’t worry. Once you start using these words, it gets easier!

Competir Conjugation: Indicative Mood

Indicative mood is the mood we use to express concrete and objective actions in the past, future or present.

Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Examples:

Competimos en el concurso de belleza. (We competed on the beauty contest).

Martín compite esta semana en la escuela. (Martin competes this week at school).

Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Examples:

Ustedes habrían competido el fin de semana pasado, pero llovió (You would have competed last weekend, but it rained).

He competido en varios torneos de Judo. (I have competed in several Judo tournaments).

Competir Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

When thinking about forming the subjunctive mood in Spanish, we could add a “que” to the beginning of the sentenceto form it, although is not always necessary to add the que, for example: que yo compita en la carrera no quiere decir que tú no compitieras.

Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Examples:

Ojalá compitiera en el mundial de fútbol. (I wish I could compete in the soccer world cup).

Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Examples:

Ojalá hubiera competido en el torneo de baile. (I wish I had competed in the dance tournament).

Competir Conjugation: Imperative Mood

This mood is used to give orders, requests, or instructions.

Imperative Mood’s Conjugations

Examples:

No compitan en el próximo torneo. Van a perder. (Don’t compete in the following tournament. You will lose).

Let’s get to practice!

Practice makes the master

1. Natalia_______(preterite) contra Juliana pero empataron.

2. Mis hijos_______(future simple) el fin de semana que viene en un torneo de ajedrez.

3.Juan________(conditional perfect) en la carrera, pero decidió no presentarse.

4. ________(imperative/you pl) ahora que son jóvenes.

5. Ojalá que Messi_______(present subjuctive) contra el Barcelona.

6. Cuando tenía cinco años_________(preterite imperfect, I) en los torneos de la escuela.

7. ¿Quieres_________(infinitive) en el próximo encuentro?

8. Estaba_________(gerund) cuando me llamaste.

The answers

1. Compitió

2. Competirán

3. Habría competido

4. Compitan

5. Compita

6. Competía

7. Competir

8. Compitiendo

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