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Conjugating regular verbs in the present tense

Important terms: Verb – action word in the sentence.

Infinitive – form of the verb before conjugation, “to ______”; most basic form of a verb; verb without a subject

Conjugation – changing the form of the verb to agree with the subject; gives the verb a subject

Subject – person or thing performing the action of the verb.

Pronoun – word that replaces a noun.

There are three kinds of verbs in Spanish:

-AR verbs

-ER verbs

-IR verbs

-AR verbs

Infinitives ending in –ar

Examples of –ar verbs:

Hablar – to speak

Trabajar – to work

Visitar – to visit

Cantar – to sing

-ER verbs

Infinitives ending in –er

Examples of –er verbs:

Comer – to eat

Beber – to drink

Leer – to read

Aprender – to learn

-IR verbs

Infinitives that end in –ir

Examples of –ir verbs:

Vivir – to live

Escribir – to write

Recibir – to receive

Abrir – to open

Every verb in Spanish has six forms.

The six forms of the verb are inserted into six “persons” on a verb chart.

1st Person singular

1st Person Plural

2nd Person Singular 2nd Person Plural

3rd Person Singular 3rd Person Plural

The subject pronouns are then divided into six groups, according to which form of

the verb they use.

Subject Pronouns:

SINGULAR

Yo = I

Tú = You (familiar,

informal)

Usted/ Ud. = You (formal)

Él = He

Ella = She

PLURAL

Nosotros/as = We

Vosotros/as = You all (familiar, informal)

Ustedes/ Uds. = You all (for)

Ellos = They (masc, masc/femn together)

Ellas = They (fem)

The subject pronouns are inserted into the “persons” of the verb chart:

Yo I [used only when referring to yourself]

Nosotros/as We [used when you’re referring to yourself & someone else together]

Tú You [informal] [used when you’re talking to someone you know well]

Vosotros/as Y’all [inf.] [used when you’re talking to a group you know well]

Usted (Ud.) You [formal]

[used when you’re talking to someone you don’t know well]

Él He; Ella She [used when you’re talking about someone…Juan, la chica; replaces any singular noun]

Ustedes (Uds.) You all [formal; talking to a group you don’t know well]

Ellos They [masc/femn]

Ellas They [femn only] [used when talking about a group; replaces any plural noun]

Each kind of verb has a set of six endings, one for each “person”: -AR verbs

-O

-AMOS

-AS

-ÁIS

-A

-AN

Each kind of verb has a set of six endings, one for each “person”: -ER verbs

-O

-EMOS

-ES

-ÉIS

-E

-EN

Each kind of verb has a set of six endings, one for each “person”: -IR verbs

-O

-IMOS

-ES

-ÍS

-E

-EN

There are three steps to conjugating a verb in Spanish:

Remove: remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) from the verb stem.

Locate: find the subject of the verb (I, he, they etc.) in a person in the correct verb chart (-ar, -er, -ir) for the kind of verb you are using.

Replace: replace the infinitive ending with the new ending found in the person in the verb chart by attaching it to the verb stem.

You want to say “I speak”...

To speak = Hablar

Follow the three steps using the

–AR chart.

Step One: Remove

HABL AR

Leaves the verb stem...

Step Two: Locate on the verb chart.

Yo Nosotros

Tú Vosotros

Usted (Ud)

Él

Ella

Ustedes

Ellos

Ellas

“I”

=

Step Three: Replace

-O

-AMOS

-AS

-ÁIS

-A

-AN

-O

HABL

O

YO HABLO = I SPEAK

“She eats”.... COMER = to eat

Yo Nosotros

Tú Vosotros

Usted (Ud)

Él

Ella

Ustedes

Ellos

Ellas

She

“She eats”...

-O

-EMOS

-ES

-ÉIS

-E

-EN She

= COM

E

ER

She eats = Ella come

Complete verb chart for: Hablar – To speak

-O

-AMOS

-AS

-ÁIS

-A

-AN

Hablo

Hablas

Habla

Hablamos

Habláis

Hablan

Complete verb chart for: Comer – To eat

-O

-EMOS

-ES

-ÉIS

-E

-EN

Como

Comes

Come

Comemos

Coméis

Comen

Complete verb chart for: Vivir – To live

-O

-IMOS

-ES

-ÍS

-E

-EN

Vivo

Vives

Vive

Vivimos

Vivís

Viven

¿Cómo se dice “We live”?

Nosotros vivimos

¿Cómo se dice “You (fam) sing”?

Tú cantas

¿Cómo se dice “They (mas) read”?

Ellos leen

¡Muy bien!

¡Adiós!

EL FIN