Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course - Chapter 7

In the last lesson, you learnt that the Spanish language has three
types of regular verbs - -ar, -er, and –ir verbs – as in:
hablar
comer
vivir

You also learnt how to conjugate –ar verbs in the present indicative
tense using hablar as the example.

In this lesson, we'll concentrate on regular verbs ending in –er,
taking comer (to eat) as the example, and learn how to conjugate that
in the present tense.

First of all, we'll take the infinite (to eat) – comer – and find the
root of the verb by knocking off the –er ending:
com ( = comer – er)

To this root, we'll add the endings for the present tense of regular
–er verbs, as follows:
-o
-es
-e
-emos
-éis
-en

Consequently, the present indicative tense of the verb comer would be:
 Singular
yo como .............................. I eat
tú comes ............................. you (familiar) eat
él/ella/Vd come ................... he/she/you (polite) eat/s
 Plural
nosotros/as comemos ......... we eat
vosotros/as coméis .............. you (familiar) eat
ellos/ellas/Vds comen .......... they/you (polite) eat
These same endings do not just apply to comer but to all regular –er
verbs.


Regular –ir Verbs
You know how to conjugate regular –ar and –er verbs in the present
indicative tense. Now let´s look at the last group – the verbs ending
in – ir. We´ll take vivir (to live) as our example.

Once again, find the root of the verb by removing the ending which, in
this case, will leave:
viv
Then, depending on the person you wish to speak in, add the endings:
o
es
e
imos
ís
en

In other words, the full present tense of the verb vivir would be:
 Singular
yo vivo ....................................... I live
tú vives ...................................... you (familiar) live
él/ella/Vd vive ............................ he/she/you (polite) live/s
 Plural
nosotros/as vivimos ................... we live
vosotros/as vivís ........................ you (familiar) live
ellos/ellas/Vds viven ................... they/you (polite) live
Again, the above rules apply to any regular verb ending in –ir.

You now know how to decline all regular verbs in the present indicativetense!

Using Verbs

Because verb endings vary so much more in Spanish than they do in
English, it's not always necessary to use the personal pronoun with
the verb.
For example, you could say:
 Hablas español .............You speak Spanish
 Como mucha fruta ..........I eat a lot of fruit
 Vivimos en España ........We live in Spain

None of the above sentences need personal pronouns because it's
obvious from the ending of the verb who the subject is.
It is, however, sometimes necessary to include the personal pronoun in
order to clarify who it is we are talking about, as in the case of
vive. If left on its own, it could mean he/she lives or you live.
Therefore you'd include the personal pronoun:
él vive
ella vive
Vd vive
Nevertheless, very often in conversation, it's obvious who the subject
is and, if this is the case, the personal pronoun is not included.
Sometimes, personal pronouns are included purely to add emphasis:
Yo como carne y tú comes pescado
I eat meat and you eat fish

When using two verbs in a row, the first is conjugated and the second
comes in the infinitive:
 Deseo comer paella ..... I wish to eat paella

In Spanish, if you wish to imply negation, you place the word no
before the verb:
 El niño no come .................... The boy doesn´t eat
 No hablo español ................... I don´t speak Spanish

If you wish to use the interrogative form and ask a question, you have
to remember to place a reversed question mark at the beginning of the
sentence.If using the verb alone, without the personal pronoun, this
is all you have
to do to form a question in the present tense. For example:
Hablas español? ............... Do you speak Spanish?
When including the personal pronoun, you just reverse the normal
position of the verb and the pronoun. For example:
Habla Vd español? ............ Do you speak Spanish?
(as opposed to "Vd habla español", which would mean "You speak Spanish.)

Common –ar Verbs
You know how to decline the present tense of regular –ar verbs so,
here´s a list of 25 for you to practise with!
 alquilar ..................... to rent
 ayudar ..................... to help
 bailar ........................ to dance
 buscar ...................... to look for
 comprar .................... to buy
 contestar ................... to answer
 dejar .......................... to allow, to leave
 entrar (en) ................. to enter (into)
 enviar ........................ to send
 esperar ...................... to hope, to wait/for
 ganar ......................... to earn, to win
 gastar ........................ to spend
 llegar ......................... to arrive
 llevar ......................... to wear, to carry
 mirar .......................... to look at, to watch
 necesitar .................... to need
 olvidar ........................ to forget
 pagar ......................... to pay/for
 preguntar ................... to ask
 preparar ..................... to prepare
 regresar ..................... to return
 tomar ......................... to take, to drink
 trabajar ...................... to work
 viajar .......................... to travel
 visitar .......................... to visit


Common –er Verbs
Here 's a list of 25 regular –er verbs.
 aprender .................... to learn
 beber ......................... to drink
 ceder .......................... to give in
 comer ......................... to eat
 cometer ...................... to commit
 comprender ................ to understand
 correr .......................... to run
 creer ........................... to believe
 deber .......................... to have to, to owe
 depender (de) ............. to depend (on)
 esconder ..................... to hide
 exceder ....................... to exceed
 leer .............................. to read
 meter (en) ................... to put (into)
 ofender ........................ to offend
 poseer ......................... to possess
 proceder ...................... to proceed, to come from
 prometer ...................... to promise
 proveer ........................ to provide
 responder .................... to reply
 romper ......................... to break
 sorprender ................... to surprise
 suceder ........................ to happen
 temer ........................... to fear
 vender .......................... to sell

Common –ir Verbs
And, to finish off with, here's a list of 25 regular –ir verbs.
 abrir .................... to open
 admitir ................. to admit
 asistir a ................ to attend
 confundir ............. to confuse
 cubrir ................... to cover
 decidir .................. to decide
 describir ............... to describe
 descubrir .............. to discover
 discutir ................. to argue, to discuss
 dividir ................... to divide
 escribir ................. to write
 evadir ................... to evade
 existir ................... to exist
 fundir .................... to melt
 hundir ................... to sink
 imprimir ................ to print
 ocurrir .................. to happen, to occur
 omitir .................... to omit
 partir ..................... to leave, to divide
 permitir ................. to allow, to permit
 recibir ................... to receive
 subir ..................... to climb
 sufrir ..................... to suffer
 unir ....................... to unite
 vivir ....................... to live

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