This article contains the verb list (and more) that Eric mentioned in the last article about spending five minutes per day getting reps on certain targeted verbs. Read the first paragraph in particular. I highly recommend doing exactly what it says. Also, if you make a Verb Wall from these, I highly recommend writing them in the third person singular, not in the infinitive:
I think limiting the activity to 5 minutes, having a student timer and a student counter, as well as telling kids the purpose of the activity and sharing your personal repetition best, gets student buy-in and focus. I teach beginners and the activity stays largely in the present tense, but I use different tenses as needed (with a simple hand gesture to indicate tense), even with beginners.
The list of 50 verbs comes from Mark Davies’ Spanish Frequency Dictionary. There is nothing particularly significant about the number 50, so you could set the PQA cutoff higher or lower. They are all verbs in the top 200 most frequent words, except for a few words, which are good ones from the 200-300 frequency range. There are some 8 verbs that I will not PQA, because they are the storytelling words my students have already heard a bunch (is, has, wants, says, etc.), there may be some that are taught with TPR (mirar, escribir, etc.), and others that are cognates (pasar, existir, entrar, producir, ocurrir, recibir, permitir, necesitar). I have a Verb Wall with the words in the 3rd person, rather than the infinitive (that was a suggestion I had read somewhere, maybe from this blog). I think that intentionally planning the 50 high frequency verbs gives me a reassuring sense (whether healthy or not) of having a “curriculum.” I’ve heard before that all we have to do is speak naturally and we will give students CI on the high frequency words, but I know I don’t get to all the 50 verbs and if I don’t plan them, then some don’t get enough reps.
On page 148 of the Frequency Dictionary there is a list of the verbs most common in speech, as well as lists of the verbs most common in fiction and those in nonfiction. Starting on page 235 there is a frequency list by part of speech (verbs on page 275).
Here are the verbs from the range 1-200, including their rank frequency.
#. #Frequency. Spanish verb – English verb
______________________________
1. 8. ser – to be (identity)
2. 11. haber – to have (+Ved)
3. 17. estar – to be (location, feeling)
4. 18. tener – to have
5. 25. hacer – to do, make
6. 27. poder – to be able to; can
7. 28. decir – to say
8. 30. ir – to go
9. 37. ver – to see
10. 39. dar – to give
11. 46. saber – to know (a fact), find out
12. 57. querer – to want, love
13. 66. llegar – to arrive
14. 67. pasar – to pass, spend (time)
15. 75. deber – should, ought to; to owe
16. 77. poner – to put (on), get (+adj)
17. 81. parecer – to seem, look like
18. 89. quedar – to remain, stay
19. 91. creer – to believe, think
20. 92. hablar – to speak, talk
21. 93. llevar – to take, carry
22. 94. dejar – to let, leave
23. 97. seguir – to follow, keep on
24. 100. encontrar – to find
25. 104. llamar – to call, name
26. 105. venir – to come
27. 106. pensar – to think
28. 111. salir – to leave, go out
29. 112. volver – to return, to V again
30. 122. tomar – to take, drink
31. 124. conocer – to know (someone or place)
32. 128. vivir – to live
33. 131. sentir – to feel, regret
34. 134. tratar – to try, treat, deal with
35. 142. mirar – to look, watch
36. 155. contar – to tell, count
37. 161. empezar – to begin, start
38. 163. esperar – to wait, hope (for), expect
39. 173. buscar – to look for
40. 177. existir – to exist
41. 179. entrar – to enter
42. 183. trabajar – to work
43. 187. escribir – to write
44. 190. perder – to lose, miss
45. 195. producir – to produce, cause
46. 200. ocurrir – to happen, occur
Here are the next verbs after 200:
47. 203. entender – to understand
48. 204. pedir – to ask for, request
49. 205. recibir – to receive
50. 215. recordar – to remember, remind
51. 219. terminar – to finish, end
?52. 220. permitir – to allow, permit
53. 221. aparecer – to appear
54. 222. conseguir – to get, acquire, obtain
55. 223. comenzar – to begin, start
56. 226. servir – to serve
57. 228. sacar – to take out
58. 229. necesitar – to need
Here are common verbs in the spoken register not listed above:
263. oír – to hear
325. tocar – to touch
328. estudiar – to study
353. gustar – to be pleasing to
387. valer – to be worth
407. fijar – to fix, set
415. dedicar – to dedicate
437. comprar – to buy
448. interesar – to interest
486. imaginar – to imagine
524. enseñar – to teach
Eric adds:
I’m getting the sense that my kids genuinely enjoy the activity, because they reminded me to do it today 🙂
I’ve been trying to do 2 power verbs/day, 1 right after the other. I’m going to start breaking these sessions up, because the 5 minutes can be intense for both the students and me. Had I done this activity from the beginning of the year, I think I would be doing 1/day. I’m excited for my current 7th graders who will be get reps on the top 50 and then I’ll have next year with them to maybe extend that list to the top 100 verbs and/or reinforce the first 50 in different persons/tenses.