Spanish Verbs

Spanish Regular Verbs

In Spanish there are three categories of verbs:

-ar verbs (like hablar, to speak),

-er verbs (like comer, to eat),

-ir verbs (like vivir, to live),

In regular verbs the ending is identical and you can simply follow a specific rule to conjugate them all, we will take the present indicative as an example of conjugating regular verbs, since it's the tense used most, for example hablar (to talk), comer (to eat), and vivir (to live), the present indicative forms are made by removing the infinitive ending of the verb (-ar, -er or -ir) and replacing it with an ending that indicates who is performing the action of the verb:

Spanish Verbs

Stem +(-o, -as,-a, -amos, -áis, -an ) for verbs ending in -ar. Stem +(-o, -es,-e, -emos,-éis,-en) for verbs ending in -er. Stem +(-o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en) for verbs ending in -ir.

The best thing about regular verbs is that you can apply the above rules (endings) to all regular verbs, it's important to know the stem of the verb so that you can add the endings to it, like the stem of hablar is habl, comer: com, vivir: viv. I speak = yo + habl+o = yo hablo. You can have a look at the table below and see the endings of each verb, it includes a list of: present participle, past participle, present indicative, preterit indicative, Imperfect indicative, future indicative, imperative (Commands).

Spanish Regular Verbs
Verb	Pr Part	Pa Part	Present	Preterite	Imperfect	Future	Imperative
Reg (-ar)	hablando	hablado	hablo,as,a,amos,an	hablé,aste,ó, amos,aron	hablaba,s,-,mos,n	hablaré,ás,á, emos,án	habla, hablad
Reg (-er)	comiendo	comido	como,es,e,emos,en	comí,iste,ió, imos,ieron	comía,s,-,mos,n	comeré,ás,á, emos,án	come,comed
Reg (-ir)	viviendo	vivido	vivo,es,e,imos,en	viví,iste,ió, imos,ieron	vivía,s,-,mos,n	viviré,ás,á, emos,án	vive,vivid

The tables below are more detailed, and treat each tense separately; we will start with the present tense:

Spanish Present Tense
Present indicative (Presente de indicativo):	yo (I)	tú(you)	Ud./él/ella(he/she)	nosotros/as (we)	vosotros/as (you)	Uds./ellos/ellas (they/you formal)
hablar: -o, -as,-a,              -amos,-áis,-an	hablo	hablas	habla	hablamos	habláis	hablan
comer: -o, -es,-e,              -emos,-éis,-en	como	comes	come	comemos	coméis	comen
Vivir:   -o, -es,-e,             -imos,-ís,-en	vivo	vives	vive	vivimos	vivís	viven

Now we will have a look at the preterit, which is equal to the past tense, look at the table and examine the changes that occur with each verbs category:

Spanish Past Tense (preterit)
Preterit indicative  (Pretérito de indicativo):	yo	tú	Ud./él/ella	nosotros/as	vosotros/as	Uds./ellos/ellas
hablar:  -é, -aste, -ó,               -amos,-asteis,-aron	hablé	hablaste	habló	hablamos	hablasteis	hablaron
comer:   -í, -iste, -ió,                -imos, -isteis,-ieron	comí	comiste	comió	comimos	comisteis	comieron
vivir:      -í, -íste,-íó,                -imos,-isteis,-ieron	viví	viviste	vivió	vivimos	vivisteis	vivieron

Another tense which is very easy is the future tense, you don’t have to worry about the stem here, you can take the whole Spanish verb and add the future endings to it and that would be it:

Future Tense in Spanish
Future indicative (Futuro de indicativo)	yo	tú	Ud./él/ella	Nosotros/as	Vosotros/as	Uds./ellos/ellas
hablar:   -é, -ás, -á               -emos,-éis,-án	hablaré	hablarás	hablará	hablaremos	hablaréis	hablarán
comer: : -é, -ás, -á                -emos,-éis,-án	comeré	comerás	comerá	comeremos	comeréis	comerán
vivir: :    -é, -ás, -á                -emos,-éis,-án	viviré	vivirás	vivirá	viviremos	viviréis	vivirán

Now we will see the Imperative in Spanish, which is also very easy, because it has only two different categories of endings, look at the table below:

Spanish Imperfect
Imperfect indicative (Imperfecto de indicativo):	yo	tú	Ud./él/ella	Nosotros/as	Vosotros/as	Uds./ellos/ellas
hablar: -aba,-abas,-aba              -ábamos,-abais,ablan	hablaba	hablabas	hablaba	hablábamos	hablabais	hablaban
comer: -ía,-ías,-ía,             -íamos,-íais,-ían	comía	comías	comía	comíamos	comíais	comían
vivir:    -ía,-ías,-ía,              -íamos,-íais,-ían	vivía	vivías	vivía	vivíamos	vivíais	vivían

The present perfect is another Spanish tense which is very important, and used often as well, the good news is that it’s easy to form, have a look at the table:

Spanish Present Perfect
Present perfect indicative (Presente perfecto de indicativo):	yo	tú	Ud./él/ella	Nosotros/as	vosotros/as	Uds./ellos/ellas
hablar: he –ado,has –ado, ha –ado       hemos –ado, habéis –ado, han -ado	he hablado	has hablado	ha hablado	hemos hablado	habéis hablado	han hablado
comer: he –ido,has –ido, ha –ido       hemos –ido, habéis –ido, han -ido	he comido	has comido	ha comido	hemos comido	habéis comido	han comido
vivir: he –ido,has –ido, ha –ido       hemos –ido, habéis –ido, han -ido	he vivido	has vivido	ha vivido	hemos vivido	habéis vivido	han vivido

And finally the imperative or commands in Spanish, a fun to learn mood, and can be very useful, especially if you like giving orders to others, try to memorize it, it’s tricky, because you will have to do some switching, examine the table below, and write down the endings that each verb takes:

Spanish Imperative (Commands)
Commands (Mandatos):	tú	Vosotros/as	usted	ustedes
hablar: -a,-ad,-e,-en         No –es,-éis,-e,-en	¡Habla! ¡No hables!	¡Hablad! ¡No habléis!	¡Hable! ¡No hable!	¡Hablen! ¡No hablen!
comer: -e, -ed, -a, -an         No –as,-áis,-a,-an	¡Come! ¡No comas!	¡Comed! ¡No comáis!	¡Coma! ¡No coma!	¡Coman! ¡No coman!
vivir:    -e, -ed, -a, -an         No –as,-áis,-a,-an	¡Vive ¡No vivas!	¡Vivid! ¡No viváis!	¡Viva! ¡No viva!	¡Vivan! ¡No vivan!

Spanish Verbs

-AR VERBS

Present Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –o
Tú form	Ends in –as
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –a
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –an
Nosotros form	Ends in -amos

Verb “hablar” (to talk)

Spanish Verbs
Hablo	I talk.
Hablas	You talk.
Habla	He/she/usted/it talks
Hablan	They talk.
Hablamos	We talk.

In the present tense, -ar verbs typically follow this form. Remove the “ar” and replace it with the appropriate ending depending on the subject.

Past Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –é
Tú form	Ends in –aste
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –ó
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –aron
Nosotros form	Ends in –amos

Notice: the “nosotros” form of the verb ends in the same way in the present and past tense for regular –ar verbs.

Verb “hablar” (to talk)

Spanish Verbs
Hablé	I talked.
Hablaste	You talked.
Habló	He/she/it/usted talked.
Hablaron	They talked.
Hablamos	We talked.

-ar verbs typically follow this pattern in the past tense.

Future Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –ré
Tú form	Ends in –rás
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –rá
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –rán
Nosotros form	Ends in –remos

Verb “hablar” (to talk)

Spanish Verbs
Hablaré	I will talk.
Hablarás	You will talk.
Hablará	He/she/it/usted will talk.
Hablarán	They will talk.
Hablaremos	We will talk.

Here are more examples of –ar verbs in Spanish that follow the same rules as the verb “hablar”.

• Ella me canta una canción bella. (She sings me a beautiful song.)
• La clase dura dós horas. (The class lasts for two hours.)
• La computadora no funciona. (The computer doesn’t work.)
• Te voy a mandar un email. (I’m going to send you an email.)
• Le llamaré mañana. (I’ll call you tomorrow.)
• Ustedes no votaron en la elección pasada. (You guys didn’t vote in the last election.)
• Saltamos en el río. (We jump in the river.)

Alternate Option To Future Tense Verbs:

Ir + a + infinitive

The verb “ir” in Spanish means “go”. If you put “ir” followed by “a” (to) followed by an infinitive verb (base form), you can say things like “I’m going to study tomorrow” or “She is going to learn Spanish” or “They are going to give me money”.

Spanish Verbs
Voy	I go.
Vas	You go.
Va	He/she/it/usted goes.
Van	They go.
Vamos	We go.

Examples:

• Voy a comprar unas cosas. (I’m going to buy some things.)
• Vas a ir al mercado? (Are you going to go to the market?)
• Va a ganar mucho dinero. (She is going to earn a lot of money.)
• Van a manejar rápido. (They are going to drive fast.)
• Vamos a vernos mañana. (We are going to see each other tomorrow.)

-ER VERBS

Present Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –o or –io
Tú form	Ends in –es
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –e
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –en
Nosotros form	Ends in –emos

Verb “comer” (to eat)

Spanish Verbs
Como	I eat.
Comes	You eat.
Come	He/she/it/usted eats.
Comen	They eat.
Comemos	We eat.

The –er verbs typically follow this form in the present tense unless they are irregular verbs.

Past Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –í
Tú form	Ends in –iste
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –ió
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –ieron
Nosotros form	Ends in –imos

Verb “comer” (to eat)

Spanish Verbs
Comí	I ate.
Comiste	You ate.
Comió	He/she/it/usted ate.
Comieron	They ate.
Comimos	We ate.

The –er verbs typically follow this form in the past tense unless they are irregular verbs.

Future Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –ré
Tú form	Ends in –rás
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –rá
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –rán
Nosotros form	Ends in –remos

Note: the future tense form for –er verbs is the same for –ar verbs.

Verb “comer” (to eat)

Spanish Verbs
Comeré	I will eat.
Comerás	You will eat.
Comerá	He/she/it/usted will eat.
Comerán	They will eat.
Comeremos	We will eat.

• Here are more examples of –er verbs that follow the same rules as the verb “comer”.
• Él mantenió buenas notas en la escuela. (He maintained good grades in school.)
• Voy a beber una cerveza. (I’m going to drink a beer.)
• Los dias amanecen a las 6:00 de la mañana. (The days break at 6:00 in the morning.)
• Si continuas esta acción, romperá el juguete. (If you continue this action, the toy will break.)
• No aprendieron nada durante la clase. (They didn’t learn anything during class.)
• Prendemos la luz. (We turn on the lights.)
• La toalla va a absorber el agua. (The towel is going to absorb the water.)
• Lo aprehenderán el hombre malo. (They will apprehend the bad guy.)

Alternate Option To Future Tense Verbs

Ir + a + infinitive

The verb “ir” in Spanish means “go”. If you put “ir” followed by “a” (to) followed by an infinitive verb (base form), you can say things like “I’m going to study tomorrow” or “She is going to learn Spanish” or “They are going to give me money”.

Spanish Verbs
Voy	I go.
Vas	You go.
Va	He/she/it/usted goes.
Van	They go.
Vamos	We go.

Examples:

Voy a comprar unas cosas. (I’m going to buy some things.)

Vas a ir al mercado? (Are you going to go to the market?)

Va a ganar mucho dinero. (She is going to earn a lot of money.)

Van a manejar rápido. (They are going to drive fast.)

Vamos a vernos mañana. (We are going to see each other tomorrow.)

-IR VERBS

Present Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –o
Tú form	Ends in –es
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –e
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –en
Nosotros form	Ends in -imos

Verb “vivir” (to live)

Spanish Verbs
Vivo	I live.
Vives	You live.
Vive	He/she/it/usted lives.
Viven	They live.
Vivimos	We live.

Important Note: Many –ir verbs are irregular in Spanish. “Vivir” is amongst the few that are regular. Notice the form, but understand that other –ir verbs may be different.

Past Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –í
Tú form	Ends in –iste
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –ió
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –ieron
Nosotros form	Ends in -imos

Verb “vivir” (to live)

Spanish Verbs
Viví	I lived.
Viviste	You lived.
Vivió	He/she/it/usted lived.
Vivieron	They lived.
Vivimos	We lived.

Important Note: Remember, most –ir verbs are irreglar, so their past tense forms will not always follow the same rules that “vivir” does.

Future Tense

Spanish Verbs
Yo form	Ends in –ré
Tú form	Ends in –rás
Él/Ella/Usted form	Ends in –rá
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes form	Ends in –rán
Nosotros form	Ends in –remos

Notice: the future form for REGULAR –ir verbs follows the same pattern as that of the –ar verbs and –er verbs in the future.

Verb “vivir” (to live)

Spanish Verbs
Viviré	I will live.
Vivirás	You will live.
Vivirá	He/she/it/usted will live.
Vivirán	They will live.
Viviremos	We will live.

• Here are more examples of –ir verbs that follow the same rules as the verb “vivir”.
• Ella se siente mal. (She feels badly.)
• Él dormió por toda la noche. (He slept through the whole night.)
• Reunimos mañana? (We’ll meet again tomorrow?)
• Se van a aburrir en el cine. (They are going to bore themselves in the cinema.)
• Subimos el autobus ayer. (We got on the bus yesterday.)
• Revestirá la pared. (She will decorate the wall.)
• Voy a servirte un café. (I’m going to serve you a coffee.)

ALTERNATE OPTION TO FUTURE TENSE VERBS:

Ir + a + infinitive

The verb “ir” in Spanish means “go”. If you put “ir” followed by “a” (to) followed by an infinitive verb (base form), you can say things like “I’m going to study tomorrow” or “She is going to learn Spanish” or “They are going to give me money”.

Spanish Verbs
Voy	I go.
Vas	You go.
Va	He/she/it/usted goes.
Van	They go.
Vamos	We go.

Examples:

• Voy a comprar unas cosas. (I’m going to buy some things.)
• Vas a ir al mercado? (Are you going to go to the market?)
• Va a ganar mucho dinero. (She is going to earn a lot of money.)
• Van a manejar rápido. (They are going to drive fast.)
• Vamos a vernos mañana. (We are going to see each other tomorrow.)

Spanish Reflexive Verbs

Spanish reflexive pronouns are always used with reflexive verbs (verbs expressing an action whose subject is also its object, where the doer acts upon himself). Reflexive verbs exist in English, but they are much more common in Spanish. Sometimes the literal meaning of the reflexive pronouns (myself, etc.) can be translated into English, but usually they cannot be translated in isolation from the verb. Reflexive verbs are conjugated the way you conjugate any other verb.

The reflexive pronouns (pronombres reflexivos) are necessary for the construction of reflexive verbs since they’re a part of it:

Spanish Reflexive Verbs

First person: me (myself). nos (ourselves) Second person (familiar): te (yourself). os (yourselves) Second person (polite): se (yourself). se (yourselves) Third person: se (himself, herself, itself). se (themselves)

Reflexive verbs usually have to do with parts of the body, clothing, or one's state of mind. So in order to conjugate them, we need to remove the reflexive pronoun (se) from the end of the verb, change it so that it should agree with the subject of the verb like (me, nos...) and place it directly in front of the verb, then go ahead and conjugate the verb itself as you do with any other verb.

Here are some examples:
lavarse = Me lavo. (I wash myself).
acostarse= Te acuestas muy temprano. (I go to bed very early).
acordarse= Nos acordamos de eso. (We remember that).
Note that reflexive pronouns normally precede the conjugated verb, but they are attached to the infinitive, the present participle, and affirmative commands:
¿Puedo lavarme? (Can I wash myself?)
Estoy duchándome. (I am taking a shower)
Calláte la boca! (Shut your mouth up!).

Reciprocal verbs are the same as reflexive verbs in Spanish except that the action passes from one person to another. It can only be used in the first and third person plural forms. Reflexive verbs sometimes use the "-self" forms in English, while the reciprocal verbs use "each other".

Nos amamos. (We love each other).

Se escriben todos los días. (They write each other every day).

Here is a table of 4 tenses conjugation of the verb labarse:

Reflexive Verbs in Spanish
Present	Imperfect	Preterit	Future
Me lavo	Me lavaba	Me lavé	Me lavaré
Te lavas	Te lavabas	Te lavaste	Te lavarás
Se lava	Se lavaba	Se lavó	Se lavará
Nos lavamos	Nos lavábamos	Nos lavamos	Nos lavaremos
Os laváis	Os lavabais	Os lavasteis	Os lavaréis
Se lavan	Se lavaban	Se lavaron	Se lavarán

This is a list of the most common reflexive verbs; it would be nice if you memorize them since you will come across them very often:

Reflexive Verbs List
Aburrirse (to get bored)	Enfermarse (to get sick)
Acostarse (to go to bed)	Enojarse (to get angry)
Afeitarse (to shave)	Irse (to go away)
Alegrarse (to be happy)	Lastimarse (to hurt oneself)
Animarse (to cheer up)	Lavarse (to wash oneself)
Arreglarse (to get ready)	Levantarse (to get up)
Asustarse (to get scared)	Peinarse (to comb hair)
Atreverse (to dare)	Pintarse (to put on makeup)
Bañarse (to bathe)	Ponerse (to put on clothes)
Caerse (to fall down)	Preocuparse (to worry)
Calmarse (to calm down)	Probarse (to try on)
Cansarse (to get tired)	Quebrarse (to break: body parts)
Casarse (to get married)	Quedarse (to stay, remain)
Cepillarse (to brush: hair, teeth)	Quejarse (to complain)
Colocarse (to get a job)	Quemarse (to burn oneself, one's body)
Cortarse (to cut: hair, nails)	Quitarse (to take off clothes)
Decidirse (to make up one's mind)	Romperse (to tear (clothes); to break (body parts)
Despertarse (to wake up)	Sentarse (to sit down)
Divertirse (to have fun)	Sorprenderse (to be surprised)
Dormirse (to fall asleep)	Vestirse (to get dressed)
Ducharse (to take a shower)

Spanish Verbs Dialogue

A: Ya comiste?

B: Si, comí un sandwich.

A: Y tu hermano, comió tambien?

B: No sé. Me habló hace una hora para decirme que fue al cinema.

A: Bueno. Cuándo vas al cine tú?

B: Luego. Iré primero al mercado y después al cine.

A: Muy bien. Cuídate.

B: Como siempre, mamá.

I hope the content of this page was useful to you, and that you learned some Spanish Verbs, consonants and vowels. Try to memorize them to be able to use them in your daily conversation. Make sure to check our Learn Spanish page, which contains several lessons that might help you in your learning process.