Spanish Present Tense: Conjugate Regular and Conjugate Irregular Verbs

Kudos for deciding to learn Spanish language! Are you struggling with making basic sentences in Spanish? Then first step to take is learning Spanish present tense. Just like any other language present tense is the most commonly used tense.

Learning the present tense in Spanish, will help you talk about actions related to daily routines(or habitual actions), actions that you’re doing now, actions pertaining to future and facts.

This blog will walk you through how to conjugate Spanish verbs in the present tense, including conjugation rules for regular, irregular, and reflexive verbs.

What Is the Spanish Present Tense?

Spanish present tense is quite similar to Simple present tense in English language. Think about the scenarios where you use it. Below are some examples of such use cases

Daily routines

• I wake up at 10 am every day. (Yo me levanto a las 10 de la mañana todos los días.)
• On weekends I play badminton. (Los fines de semana yo juego al badminton)

Facts

• Sun rises from east. (El sol sale por el este.)
• Spanish is a widely spoken language. (El español es un idioma muy hablado.)

Scheduled or Confirmed future events

• The class starts next Monday. (La clase comienza el próximo lunes.)
• I return from Spain tomorrow. (Regreso de España mañana.)

Actions happening now

Unlike English language where we use present continuous tense to describe actions happening now, in Spanish present tense can be used.

• I am studying now. (Yo estudio ahora.)
• He is reading a book. (Él lee un libro.)

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns describe who is doing the action – I, you, he, she, they, etc. This is crucial to know as the conjugation of the verb in Spanish depends upon the pronoun. The below table shows subject pronouns in Spanish along with their English translation.

Examples –

• I return from Spain tomorrow. (Yo vuelvo de España mañana.)
• He is reading a book. (Él lee un libro.)

How to Conjugate Verbs in the Spanish Present Tense

In simple terms, conjugation means changing the verb as per subject pronoun.

Notice how the verb “dance” changes in English language.

Notice the slight modification of verb – dance → dances. So, in English language the conjugation is quite simple. Similarly, in Spanish verb gets modified with the subject pronoun.

Notice how the verb “bailar” changes in the present tense with different subject pronouns –

Notice that with different subject pronouns, the verb ending changes. This is what conjugation is.

One more thing to keep in mind is that in spanish the verbs can have 3 endings-

-ar ending verbs (bailar, hablar, trabajar)

-er ending verbs (beber, comer, correr)

-ir ending verbs (vivir, recibir, venir)

Also, the verbs can be regular or irregular. Regular verbs follow a fixed pattern for conjugation and irregular ones – as the name suggests they have irregularities with following the pattern.

How to Conjugate Regular -AR Verbs in Spanish Present Tense

Regular -ar ending verbs are those that end in “ar” in their infinitive form and follow a fixed pattern for conjugation. Before we get started, let’s understand what is stem. Removing the ar/er/ir terminations of the verb gives you the stem.

We add certain letters after the stem to conjugate the verb. Notice the table below for the verb hablar(to speak/ to talk).

So, adding these endings will help you conjugate any spanish -ar ending verb which is regular.

Below are some commonly used -ar ending regular verbs

Hablar (to speak)- Ella habla con su madre. (She talks to her mother.)
Cocinar (to cook) – Yo cocino todos los días. (I cook everyday.)
Bailar (to dance) – Ella baila en la fiesta. (She dances in the party.)
Trabajar (to work) – Nosotros trabajamos en la escuela. (We work in the school.)
Odiar (to hate) – Yo odio trabajar por la noche. (I hate working at night.)

How to Conjugate Regular -ER Verbs in Spanish Present Tense

Regular -er ending verbs are those that end in “er” in their infinitive form and follow a fixed pattern for conjugation. In order to conjugate them find the stem by removing -ir and add the correct ending based on subject pronoun. Notice the table below for the verb beber.

Similar to -ar verbs, regular -er verbs use the verb stem and change terminations according to the subject.

If you notice closely, there is a pattern in the conjugation of -ar and -er ending verbs. The endings are quite similar with ‘a’ replaced by ‘e’. Notice the following –

Common regular -er ending verbs include

Beber (to drink) – Yo bebo leche antes de dormir. (I drink milk before sleeping.)
Leer (to read) – Juan lee libros por la mañana. (Juan reads books in the morning.)
Comer (to eat) – Mi abuela no come arroz. (My grandmother doesn’t eat rice.)
Aprender (to learn) – Tú aprendes español. (You learn Spanish.)
Correr (to run) – Vosotros corréis en el parque. (You all run in the park.)

How to Conjugate Regular -IR Verbs in Spanish Present Tense

Regular -ir ending verbs are the verbs ending in “ir” in their infinitive form and follow a fixed pattern for conjugation. By now you understand how to conjugate verbs – get the stem and add the endings as per table.

Some -ir verb conjugation endings are similar to -er verbs, such as “-o,” “-es,” and “-e,” while the “nosotros” and “vosotros” forms have different endings.

Common regular -ir verbs include
escribir (to write) – Yo escribo una carta. (I write a letter.)
recibir (to receive) – Ella recibe flores. (She receives flowers.)
vivir (to live) – Nosotras vivimos en Colombia. (We live in Colombia.)

How to Conjugate Irregular Verbs in the Spanish Present Tense

Irregular verbs in Spanish are verbs that do not follow the standard conjugation patterns of -ar, -er and -ir verbs as discussed above. Instead, they may have changes to their stems, endings, or both, depending on the verb. Common irregular verbs include ser, estar, ir, oír, oler, hacer, and ver.

Ser – to be(is/are/am)

Example –

• Pedro es médico. Él es alto y guapo.(Pedro is a doctor. He is tall and handsome)
• Mi amiga es de Colombia. (My friend is from Colombia.)

Estar – to be(is/are/am)

Example –

• Pedro está en su casa médico. Él está enfermo. (Pedro is in his house. He is sick.)
• Yo estoy muy feliz hoy. (I am very happy today.)

Hacer – to do/to make

Example –

• Mi madre hace una tarta y yo hago mis deberes.(My mother makes a cake, and I do my homework.)
• Tú haces ejercicio por la mañana. (You exercise in the morning.)

Ir – to go

Example:

• Yo voy al gimnasio por la mañana.(I go to the gym in the morning.)
• Mis hijos van al parque. (My kids go to the park.)

Ver – to see/to watch

Example:

• Pedro ve television con su madre.(Pedro watches television with his mother.)
• Yo veo una película los viernes. (I watch a movie on Fridays.)

Stem-Changing Verbs in the Spanish Present Tense

As the name suggests, stem-changing verbs change their stem when being conjugated. They change a vowel in their stem when conjugated. The verb endings remain similar to regular verbs, but the stem changes except for nosotros and vosotros forms. Below we are going to talk about some stem changing verbs in the present tense.

1. Entender (to understand) – e→ie
Stem – Entiend(not entend as “e” changes to “ie”)

2. Poder (to be able to) – o→ue
Stem – Pued(not pod as “o” changes to “ue”)

3. Pedir (to ask for) – e→i

4. Jugar (to play) – u→ue

5. Preferir (to prefer) – e→ie

How to Conjugate Reflexive Verbs in the Spanish Present Tense

Reflexive verbs in Spanish are used when the doer performs an action on himself i.e. the subject is doing action on themselves, implying the subject and object are the same person. These verbs usually end in -se in their infinitive form. To conjugate them, remove -se, change the verb according to the subject, and add the correct reflexive pronoun: me, te, se, nos, os, se.

1. Levantarse (to get up)

2. Ducharse (to shower)

3. Vestirse (to get dressed)

4. Lavarse (to wash yourself)

5. Llamarse (to be called)

Reflexive verbs are used commonly in Spanish as they are used to describe daily routines.

Common Exceptions in the Spanish Present Tense

Spanish present tense has several exceptions where verbs do not follow regular conjugation rules. Some verbs have changes in the first person singular (yo) form, while others undergo vowel changes in their stem. Below, we will describe some common exceptions and their conjugations in detail.

First-Person Singular (Yo Form) Irregularities in Spanish

In this section, we will look at the verbs whose yo conjugation is irregular but the rest of subject pronouns may or may not follow the standard pattern.

Examples :

Yo hago mi tarea (I do my homework).

Yo tengo un libro (I have a book).

Spanish Present Tense Verbs With Vowel Changes

This is essentially same as stem changing verbs.

Below is an example of a verb whose yo conjugation is irregular and is also a stem changing verb.

Tener (to have) – e→ie

Quiz

Q Rellena los huecos con el verbo en paréntesis. (Fill in the blanks with the verb in parenthesis)

1. Mi madre ________(comer) arroz.
2. Ellos ________(vivir) en Inglaterra.
3. Yo ________(tener) veinte años.
4. Vosotros ________(ir) a la plaza.
5. Tú ________(poner) la mochila en el suelo.

Answers

1. Mi madre come arroz.
2. Ellos viven en Inglaterra.
3. Yo tengo veinte años.
4. Vosotros vais a la plaza.
5. Tú pones la mochila en el suelo.

As explained above the present tense is like an onion. Multiple layers unfold as we go deeper. There are regular ar, er and ir verbs, there are verbs that are irregular completely as in unrelated to the standard conjugation like ser, estar. There are verbs with just yo form irregular like conocer, hacer, poner, etc. and the rest of the conjugation is as per the standard conjugation pattern. And there also are stem changing verbs with yo conjugation also irregular like tener(tengo, tienes), venir(vengo, vienes, . . .), etc.

All in all there’s no rule of thumb to determine if the verb is regular or irregular just by looking at it. With time gradually , while learning Spanish you will be able to memorize it.