Crash Course: Conjugar Verbos en Español (Present Indicative)
Conjugar- When we change the ending of an infinitive verb (to + an action i.e. to talk, to run, to
sing, etc.) so that it agrees with its subject. We do this in English, but usually only change the
ending once. This crash course will cover regular, present indicative verbs so that we can
conjugate verbs for what is happening at present. Let’s use the infinitive verb To learn
I learn
You learn
She/he/it learns
We learn
You all learn
They learn
Note that the only change that occurs is in the she/he/it subject line for the verb (where we added
an ‘s’ to agree with the subject). When we conjugate in Spanish, the ending of the verb changes
with the each change of subject. There are three different endings that Spanish infinitives can
take on, but each of these changes in different ways. Below you will find the pattern that regular
verbs take with their different endings:
-ar: o, as, a, amos, áis, an
Let’s try that with the verb hablar (to speak/talk). It ends with –ar, so that it will follow the pattern
above:
Yo hablo
Tú hablas
Él/ella/usted habla
Nosotros hablamos
Vosotros habláis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes, hablan
-er: o, es, e, emos, éis, en
The verb comer (to eat) ends with –er, and therefore follows this pattern:
Yo como
Tú comes
Él/ella/usted come
Nosotros comemos
Vosotros coméis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes comen
-ir: o, es, e, imos, ís, en
Using the verb insistir (to insist/persist/stress), we can see how –ir ending verbs work just the
same:
Yo insisto
Tú insistes
Él/ella/usted insiste
Nosotros insistimos
Vosotros insistís
Ellos/ellas/ustedes insisten
Irregular Present Indicative Verbs:
Just like in English, Spanish has irregular verbs as well. Below are some frequently used irregular
verbs with their conjugations. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all of them, but a few
common verbs you will be using frequently.
Tener-To have
Yo tengo
Tú tienes
Él/ella/usted tiene
Nosotros tenemos
Vosotros tenéis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes tienen
Ser- To be
Yo soy
Tú eres
Él/ella/usted es
Nosotros somos
Vosotros sois
Ellos/ellas/ustedes son
Estar- To be
Yo estoy
Tú estás
Él/ella/usted está
Nosotros estamos
Vosotros estáis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes están
Ir- To go
Yo voy
Tú vas
Él/ella/usted va
Nosotros vamos
Vosotros vais
Ellos/ellas/ustedes van