Spanish Verb Forms?

Question

Hi,

I would greatly appreciate some help. I am a teacher filling in for a Spanish class on an emergency basis until the end of the year. I don't speak a word of Spanish. We're running a video, and I grade tests and quizzes based on what is in the answer key.

I recently gave a test, and every one of the students (only 3 kids) got it wrong, and they all wrote the same answer. I don't know if it's just a common mistake or if the answer key is wrong and I should mark the question correct. Here's the question:

"Give the verb form which corresponds to the subject in parentheses"

(Ellas) traer.

All the students put "traen", but the answer key says "prefieren". It doesn't seem to me like the answer key is right, but I would like to make sure. If the answer key is wrong, then is "traen" the right answer, or is something else correct?

Thanks.

Please let me amend what I put above:

Some students put "traen", some students put "triagen".

What is the right answer?

Thanks again for your help.

Answer 1

Yeah, the answer key is WRONG. If the verb was "TRAER", the right answer is "ellas TRAEN".

Here is the verb form: (in the present form)

Yo traigo
Tu traes
Ella trae
El trae
Nosotros traemos
Ustedes traen
Ellos TRAEN
Ellas TRAEN
Vosotros traeis

Now, "prefieren" is a verb form of "PREFERIR" and does not correspond to the verb "traer". It goes:

Yo prefiero
Tu prefieres
Ella / El prefiere
Ellas / Ellos PREFIEREN
Nosotros preferimos
Ustedes prefieren

Answer 2

Traen is present tense and traigan is present subjunctive according to my "Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs" Traer is never conjugated as prefieren.

Answer 3

Hi, I'm Spanish and yes, it's "traen", without doubt.

Anyway you may see the correct conjugation of the verb here:

http://www.davekam.com/spanish.pl?verb=traer

Answer 4

"Ellas traen" is correct. It means "They bring"

Technically, there's another form which would go "Que ellas traigan" (it's a request, like in "let them bring...") but it only works with the word "que" in front. An in any case it's "traigan", not "triagen".

I know it's not your fault, but the fact that a non-speaking Spanish person is teaching the language is painful.

Answer 5

Traer and Preferir are two different verbs. Traer is an irregular verb and preferir is regular. You have to be careful with this... Traer es to bring and preferir is to prefer...
Anyway, I know Spanish could be difficult for foreign speakers...

Answer 6

The right answer is

Ellas traen.

Answer 7

Ayer fue en día bastante... Ferdinando y yo vamos/fuimos/iremos a la tienda Teresa y patricia van/fueron/ irán al almacén Teresa va/fue/irá al correo... Patricia va/fue/irá al banco... La película es/era/será muy cómica... No sé quienes son/eran/serán los actores in the places where are three verbs divided by / It´s because I wasnt sure which time you needed, so I out the present,past and future...all of them correct. hope it helps :D

Answer 8

the kids are right!