Spanish Present Tense: Complete Guide

Master -AR, -ER and -IR verb conjugations with audio, examples and practice. Click any conjugation to hear it.

Verb groups3
Irregulars12
QuizYes
CostFree

How regular verbs work

Spanish verbs in the infinitive end in -AR, -ER or -IR. To conjugate in the present tense, remove the ending and add the appropriate suffix for each person. Once you learn three patterns, you can conjugate thousands of verbs.

HABLAR

-AR verb (to speak)

PronounForm
yohablo
hablas
él/ellahabla
nosotroshablamos
vosotroshabláis
elloshablan

COMER

-ER verb (to eat)

PronounForm
yocomo
comes
él/ellacome
nosotroscomemos
vosotroscoméis
elloscomen

VIVIR

-IR verb (to live)

PronounForm
yovivo
vives
él/ellavive
nosotrosvivimos
vosotrosvivís
ellosviven
The pattern

Notice: yo always ends in -o. ER and IR verbs share the same endings except for nosotros (-emos vs -imos) and vosotros (-éis vs -ís). Master the AR pattern first — it covers the most verbs.

Essential Irregular Verbs

The most common Spanish verbs are irregular. These must be memorized individually, but the good news is that there are patterns within the irregulars.

TENER

to have (go-verb + stem change)

yotengo
tienes
él/ellatiene
nosotrostenemos
ellostienen

IR

to go (completely irregular)

yovoy
vas
él/ellava
nosotrosvamos
ellosvan

HACER

to do/make (go-verb)

yohago
haces
él/ellahace
nosotroshacemos
elloshacen

More key irregular verbs

QUERER

to want (e→ie stem change)

yoquiero
quieres
él/ellaquiere
nosotrosqueremos
ellosquieren

PODER

can/to be able (o→ue stem change)

yopuedo
puedes
él/ellapuede
nosotrospodemos
ellospueden

SABER

to know (yo irregular)

yo
sabes
él/ellasabe
nosotrossabemos
ellossaben
Stem-changing verbs pattern

E→IE: querer, pensar, preferir, entender. O→UE: poder, dormir, volver, encontrar. E→I: pedir, servir, repetir. The change happens in all forms EXCEPT nosotros and vosotros. This is called the "boot pattern" because if you draw a line around the changed forms, it looks like a boot.

Practice Quiz

Conjugate in present tense

Yo _____ (hablar) español.

Ella _____ (comer) a las dos.

Nosotros _____ (vivir) en Madrid.

Tu _____ (tener) un gato.

Ellos _____ (ir) al cine.

Yo _____ (ser) estudiante.

Ella _____ (dormir) ocho horas.

Nosotros _____ (poder) ayudar.

Tu _____ (hacer) la tarea.

Yo _____ (salir) a las ocho.

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