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Book Lesson
Level A020 minutes

The Spanish Present Tense for Beginners

A simple introduction to conjugating regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in the Spanish present tense.

Learning ObjectiveConjugate regular verbs in the present tense and understand how pronouns are often omitted.

The Spanish Present Tense for Beginners

In English, verbs don’t change very much. We say “I speak,” “you speak,” “we speak,” “they speak.” The only change is “he/she speaks.”

In Spanish, the verb changes depending on who is doing the action. This is called conjugation. While it seems like a lot to memorize at first, it follows a very predictable pattern.

The Three Verb Groups

Every verb in Spanish ends in one of three ways:

  1. -ar (like hablar - to speak)
  2. -er (like comer - to eat)
  3. -ir (like vivir - to live)

To conjugate a verb, you remove those last two letters (the ending) and add a new ending based on who is doing the action.

1. Regular -AR Verbs

Let’s look at hablar (to speak). Take off the “-ar” to get the stem: habl-

  • Yo hablo (I speak)
  • Tú hablas (You speak - informal)
  • Él/Ella/Usted habla (He/She speaks, You speak - formal)
  • Nosotros hablamos (We speak)
  • Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes hablan (They/You all speak)

2. Regular -ER Verbs

Let’s look at comer (to eat). Take off the “-er” to get the stem: com-

  • Yo como (I eat)
  • Tú comes (You eat - informal)
  • Él/Ella/Usted come (He/She eats, You eat - formal)
  • Nosotros comemos (We eat)
  • Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes comen (They/You all eat)

3. Regular -IR Verbs

Let’s look at vivir (to live). Take off the “-ir” to get the stem: viv-

  • Yo vivo (I live)
  • Tú vives (You live - informal)
  • Él/Ella/Usted vive (He/She lives, You live - formal)
  • Nosotros vivimos (We live)
  • Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes viven (They/You all live)

Notice that -er and -ir verbs have almost exactly the same endings, except for the “nosotros” form (-emos vs -imos).

Dropping the Pronoun

Because the verb ending tells us who is doing the action, Spanish speakers usually drop the subject pronoun (yo, tú, nosotros, etc.).

  • Instead of saying “Yo hablo español”, we usually just say “Hablo español.”
  • Instead of saying “Nosotros comemos pizza”, we say “Comemos pizza.”

You only need to use the pronoun for emphasis, or if it isn’t clear who you are talking about (since él, ella, and usted share the same ending).

Practice

Try conjugating these verbs:

  1. (Yo) _______ (trabajar - to work)
  2. (Tú) _______ (beber - to drink)
  3. (Nosotros) _______ (escribir - to write)
  4. (Ellos) _______ (estudiar - to study)

Answers

  1. trabajo
  2. bebes
  3. escribimos
  4. estudian