🔤 Verb Conjugation - Conjugación de verbos

Beginner Spanish · Regular verbs

Regular Spanish Verb Conjugation

Regular Spanish verbs follow predictable patterns. Once you recognize whether a verb ends in -ar, -er, or -ir, you can remove that ending and add a new one that matches the subject.

Your next small win: recognize the three regular verb families and build useful present-tense forms such as hablo, comes, trabajamos, and viven.

Look at the infinitive ending

The Three Types of Regular Verbs

The infinitive tells you which conjugation pattern to use.

-ar verbs
hablar, estudiar, trabajar
-er verbs
comer, beber, leer
-ir verbs
vivir, abrir, escribir
hablar
to speak
comer
to eat
vivir
to live

Infinitive: forms such as hablar, comer, and vivir name the action without identifying who performs it.

Sort the verbs

Identify the verb family for trabajar, beber, and escribir.

Stem + ending

How to Conjugate a Regular Verb

Regular conjugation starts with two simple steps.

Step 1: remove the infinitive ending

hablar → habl-
Remove -ar
comer → com-
Remove -er
vivir → viv-
Remove -ir

Step 2: add the ending for the subject

habl + o = hablo
I speak
com + es = comes
you eat
viv + imos = vivimos
we live

The subject controls the ending: compare yo hablo, tú hablas, and nosotros hablamos.

Build three forms

Conjugate hablar for yo, comer for tú, and vivir for nosotros.

Learn the repeating patterns

Regular Present-Tense Endings

-AR verbs

yo → -o
hablo
tú → -as
hablas
él / ella / usted → -a
habla
nosotros → -amos
hablamos
ellos / ustedes → -an
hablan

-ER verbs

yo → -o
como
tú → -es
comes
él / ella / usted → -e
come
nosotros → -emos
comemos
ellos / ustedes → -en
comen

-IR verbs

yo → -o
vivo
tú → -es
vives
él / ella / usted → -e
vive
nosotros → -imos
vivimos
ellos / ustedes → -en
viven

Notice the overlap: -er and -ir verbs share several endings. The main difference shown here is the nosotros form: -emos for regular -er verbs and -imos for regular -ir verbs.

Compare two nosotros forms

Conjugate comer and vivir for nosotros.

Put the endings into real sentences

Regular Verbs in Everyday Spanish

Hablo español.
I speak Spanish.
Tú trabajas mucho.
You work a lot.
Ella vive aquí.
She lives here.
Nosotros comemos pizza.
We eat pizza.
Ellos comen fruta todos los días.
They eat fruit every day.
Vivimos cerca del parque.
We live near the park.

Subject pronouns are often optional: both Yo hablo español and Hablo español mean “I speak Spanish.” The verb ending often makes the subject clear.

Useful questions

¿Qué estudias?
What do you study?
¿Dónde trabajas?
Where do you work?
¿Qué comes normalmente?
What do you normally eat?
¿Dónde viven ustedes?
Where do you all live?

Talking about work and languages

A
¿Dónde trabajas?
Where do you work?
B
Trabajo en un hospital.
I work in a hospital.
A
¿Hablas inglés?
Do you speak English?
B
Sí, hablo inglés y español.
Yes, I speak English and Spanish.

Use all three verb families

Say that you speak Spanish, eat fruit, and live near the park.

Your turn · 8 quick questions

Practice: Regular Verb Conjugation

Choose the form that matches the subject and verb family. Focus on regular present-tense endings for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.