Regular –ar, -er and –ir verbs

In We established that the subject of the sentence is often omitted in Spanish, especially when the subject is a pronoun. The reason is that conjugated^[1] Spanish verbs indicate whether the subject is first, second, or third person,^[2] and also whether the subject is singular or plural. Observe the sentences below:

 

 

¿Tienes hijos? Do you have children?

Tengo tres hijas. I have three daughters.

 

 

Both sentences use conjugated forms of the Spanish verb tener (to have). Notice that have is rendered differently in the two Spanish sentences and that the sentences omit the pronouns tú and yo. The conjugated form tienes is only used with tú, and tengo is only used with yo. The inclusion of pronouns in this example (Yo tengo tres hijas. ¿Tú tienes hijos?) would emphasize the subject (I have three daughters. Do you have children?) and could be taken as condescending, obnoxious or confrontational!

 

This lesson will lay the groundwork for your study of Spanish verbs. There are 14 tenses, as well as imperative (command) and passive voice conjugations. At this point in your studies, you should consider investing in a book of verb conjugations, which provide all of the forms of selected verbs. Some books have a few hundred verbs, some have a few thousand; since Spanish verbs usually follow predictable patterns, you’re not necessarily missing out if you start with a basic 100-verb guide. Students, professors and translators use these books for reference. As a beginner, I recommend you read as much as possible in Spanish, whether it’s the newspaper, a magazine, or a cereal box, and use the verb conjugation book along with your bilingual dictionary (if you don’t have one, get one!) to build your vocabulary and “discover” the grammar for yourself.

 

-ar verbs

First things first: all verb infinitives^[3] in Spanish end in –ar, -er or –ir. The ending of the infinitive determines the way the verb will be conjugated. Verbs that follow the conjugation rules are simply called regular verbs. There are many irregular verbs and groups of verbs with consistent, alternate sets of rules, which we’ll study later. For this lesson, we’ll begin with a list of regular –ar verbs:

 

 

bailar	to dance	invitar	to invite
cambiar	to change	llamar	to call
cantar	to sing	mandar	to send; to order
cocinar	to cook	mirar	to look
comprar	to buy	pagar	to pay
enseñar	to teach; to show; to point out	preguntar	to ask
estudiar	to study	preparar	to prepare
hablar	to speak	trabajar	to work

 

 

 

 

Think about the present tense conjugation of the English verb to speak: I speak, you speak, we speak, they speak, he speaks, she speaks, it speaks. There are only two conjugated forms: speak and speaks. Notice that the conjugated form speak is the same as the base form. In Spanish, there are six individual present tense conjugated forms for all regular verbs, and each conjugation is different from the base. I use the “verb tree” below to introduce conjugation patterns. Singular and plural forms are opposite one another, and conjugations on the same line are the same person. Here is the verb tree for the present tense of hablar:

 

 

hablar
yo hablo	nosotros hablamos
tú hablas	vosotros habláis
él hablaella habla Ud. habla	ellos hablanellas hablan Uds. hablan

 

 

Study the verb tree. Can you describe how the conjugated forms relate to the infinitive? The –ar ending in the infinitive is in bold because the ending will be dropped in present tense conjugated forms. Habl- is the base of the verb; conjugation will involve adding the correct ending to this base. Notice that each conjugated verb contains the base habl- plus an ending. El, ella, usted and their plural forms are all in the third person in Spanish, and there is only one singular and one plural conjugation per person.

 

Kind of fun, isn’t it? Use the pattern to conjugate preparar, and check your answers at the end of the lesson before you move on to –er and –ir verbs.

 

preparar
yo _____________	nosotros ___________
tú _____________	vosotros ___________
él ella ____________ Ud.	ellos ellas ______________ Uds.

 

 

-er and –ir verbs

 

Good news: if you can conjugate a regular –ar verb, you’ll have no trouble with regular –er and –ir verbs. And more good news: regular –er and –ir verbs share four of the six conjugated endings. Here are –er and –ir verb trees, side by side:

 

aprender		escribir
yo aprendo	nosotros aprendemos	yo escribo	nosotros escribimos
tú aprendes	vosotros aprendéis	tú escribes	vosotros escribís
él ella aprende Ud.	ellos ellas aprenden Uds.	él ella escribe Ud.	ellos ellas escriben Uds.

 

 

Where are the differences? The nosotros and vosotros endings are different in –er and –ir present tense conjugations. Did you notice that the yo ending is always –o in regular present tense verbs? What other patterns do you see among the three types of verb endings? Notice that the tú form always ends in –s. Notice that the ellos, ellas, Uds. form always ends in –n. These consistent patterns will help you make sense of what you read and hear, especially when the subject of the sentence is omitted.

 

We’ll end this lesson with vocabulary lists of regular –er and –ir verbs. All of the verbs in this lesson are regular verbs, so you will be able to conjugate them using the verb trees. Make sure you use –er endings for –er verbs, etc. It’s vital that you begin building your vocabulary right away! Your grammar skills won’t matter if you don’t know what the words mean!

 

aprender	to learn	correr	to run
beber	to drink	leer	to read
comer	to eat	prometer	to promise
comprender	to understand	ver	to see

 

abrir	to open	recibir	to receive
asistir	to attend; to assist	subir	to climb, to raise
discutir	to discuss	sufrir	to suffer
escribir	to write	vivir	to live

 

 

 

Practice

 

Translate these phrases. Be sure to conjugate the verbs correctly. For this exercise, please include all pronouns in Spanish as well as English.

 

 

______________	we live	______________	they work
él abre	______________	______________	she learns
ellos sufren	______________	escribimos	______________
______________	I cook	Ud. ve	______________
tú compras	______________	yo enseño	______________
______________	you prepare	______________	he asks
ellos cantan	______________	______________	they pay
______________	he reads	______________	I promise
Uds. hablan	______________	tú comprendes	______________
aprendéis	______________	______________	we discuss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers

 

Conjugation of preparar:

 

yo preparo nosotros preparamos

tú preparas vosotros preparáis

él, ella, Ud. prepara ellos, ellas, Uds. preparan

 

 

 

nosotros vivimos	we live	ellos trabajan	they work
él abre	he opens	ella aprende	she learns
ellos sufren	they suffer	escribimos	we write
yo cocino	I cook	Ud. ve	you see
tú compras	you buy	yo enseño	I teach
tú preparas*	you prepare	él pregunta	he asks
ellas cantan	they sing	ellos pagan	they pay
él lee	he reads	yo prometo	I promise
Uds. hablan	you speak	tú comprendes	you understand
aprendéis	you learn	nosotros discutimos	we discuss

 

Denise Pettek is the author to this Spanish lesson.

*Also acceptable: Ud. prepara, vosotros preparáis and Uds. preparan.