The present tense in Spanish is pretty straightforward as there is a simple form to apply to verbs to get the conjugation right, but bear in mind that there are 3 types of endings in Spanish verbs: -AR, -ER, and -IR which we will explain and give some examples.
Present Tense In Spanish
Verbs in Spanish have three endings: -ar, -er, -ir, for regular verbs, the stem doesn’t change and we conjugate according to their endings, let’s start with verbs that end with -ar.
Verbs that end with -ar
| Yo | -o |
| Tú | -as |
| Él/ ella | -a |
| Usted | -a |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | -amos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | -áis |
| Ellos / Ellas | -an |
| Ustedes | -an |
Example: Estudiar (to study):
| Yo | estudo |
| Tú | estudas |
| Él/ ella | estuda |
| Usted | estuda |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | estudamos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | estudáis |
| Ellos / Ellas | estudan |
| Ustedes | estudan |
Example: Hablar (to speak):
| Yo | hablo |
| Tú | hablas |
| Él/ ella | habla |
| Usted | habla |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | hablamos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | habláis |
| Ellos / Ellas | hablan |
| Ustedes | hablan |
Verbs that end with -er
| Yo | -o |
| Tú | -es |
| Él/ ella | -e |
| Usted | -e |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | -emos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | -éis |
| Ellos / Ellas | -en |
| Ustedes | -en |
Example: aprender (to learn)
| Yo | aprendo |
| Tú | aprendes |
| Él/ ella | aprende |
| Usted | aprende |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | aprendemos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | aprendéis |
| Ellos / Ellas | aprenden |
| Ustedes | aprenden |
Example: comer (to eat)
| Yo | como |
| Tú | comes |
| Él/ ella | come |
| Usted | come |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | comemos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | coméis |
| Ellos / Ellas | comen |
| Ustedes | comen |
Note: you can practice what you’ve learned here, and learn how to pronounce each of the words in our Memrise course here, don’t know how to use the platform or sign up? we’ve got you covered in this easy-to-follow tutorial here.
Verbs that end with -ir
| Yo | -o |
| Tú | -es |
| Él/ ella | -e |
| Usted | -e |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | -imos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | -ís |
| Ellos / Ellas | -en |
| Ustedes | -en |
Example: decidir (to decide)
| Yo | decido |
| Tú | decides |
| Él/ ella | decide |
| Usted | decide |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | decidimos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | decidís |
| Ellos / Ellas | deciden |
| Ustedes | deciden |
Example: partir (to leave)
| Yo | parto |
| Tú | partes |
| Él/ ella | parte |
| Usted | parte |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | partimos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | partís |
| Ellos / Ellas | parten |
| Ustedes | parten |
Happy learning!
