To conjugate a Spanish verb in the present tense (or any other tense), you will need the root of a verb and the particular ending. You will find the root of the verb in the infinitive form. Infinitives in Spanish can be recognized by one of three endings: -ar, -er or –ir, attached to […]
To conjugate a Spanish verb in the present tense (or any other tense), you will need the root of a verb and the particular ending.
You will find the root of the verb in the infinitive form. Infinitives in Spanish can be recognized by one of three endings: -ar, -er or –ir , attached to the root of the verb, like: habla-ar, beb-er, sal-ir .
To conjugate a Spanish verb drop the –ar, -er, -ir ending and replace it with the present tense ending that correspond to the subject doing the action (FYI. Subject pronouns in Spanish can be omitted).
The following table shows the endings used in the present tense in the three categories, -ar, -er, -ir .
| Comprar (to buy) | Aprender (to learn) | Recibir (to receive) | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| Compr o (I) | Compr amos (we) | Aprend o (I) | Aprend emos (we) | Recib o (I) | Recib imos (we) |
| Compr as (you) | Compr áis (you) | Aprend es (you) | Aprend éis (you) | Recib es (you) | Recib ís (you) |
| Compr a (he,she, it) | Compr an (they) | Aprend e (he,she, it) | Aprend en (they) | Recib e (he,she, it) | Recib en (they) |
Note the subject pronouns in Spanish:
Yo compro – I buy
Tú compras – You buy
Él compra – He buys
Ella compra – She buys
Usted compra – You (formal singular) buy
Nosotros/as compramos – We buy
Vosotros/as compráis – You buy
Ellos/as compran – They buy
Ustedes compran – You (formal plural) buy
Remember that:
- The first person singular yo , has the same ending in all three conjugations (-ar, -er , -ir)
- In the –er and –ir verbs all three third person singular forms have the same ending.
- The subject pronouns are usually omitted in Spanish since verb endings inform about the subject
Now that you can conjugate Spanish verbs in present tense practice with this list of commonly used regular verbs:
| -ar | -er | -ir |
| Comprar – to buy | Beber – to drink | Abrir – to open |
| Conversar – to talk | Comer – to eat | Compartir – to share |
| Dibujar – to draw | Comprender – to understand | Decidir – to decide |
| Escuchar – to listen | Correr – to run | Discutir – to discuss |
| Trabajar – to work | Creer – to believe | Escribir – to write |
| Limpiar – to clean | Leer – to read | Subir – to climb, to go up |
| Cocinar – to cook | Vender – to answer | Vivir – to live |
