In this lesson we’re going to look at how to conjugate present tense of regular Spanish verbs. Like in English, the basic form of a Spanish verb is the infinitive. “To be,” “to rest,” “to speak,” and “to work” are examples of English infinitives. Spanish infinitives consist of two parts: the root and the infinitive ending. The infinitives belong to three groups determined by these endings: -ar, -er, and –ir. The present tense forms of Spanish verbs are made by removing the infinitive ending and replacing it with an ending corresponding with who or what is performing the action.

 

A few notes before we get to the examples: First, the verb ending itself indicates the subject of the sentence. You can (and usually should) omit the subject pronouns yo, tú, nosotros, nosotras, vosotros, and vosotras. However, sometimes the subject pronouns él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes must be included to clarify the exact meaning of the verb. Second, the infinitives themselves can be used with impersonal expressions. In these cases, the implied subject is the word “it.” Finally, the conjugation charts below assume that you have read the lesson on Spanish subject pronouns or are otherwise familiar with them. They include translations of the examples being conjugated, but they do not provide a comprehensive review of the meanings of the subject pronouns.

Present Tense Regular –AR Verbs

 Example: trabajar – to work.

Pronoun	Ending	Conjugation	Translation
yo	o	trabajo	I work
tú	as	trabajas	You work
él, ella, usted	a	trabaja	He/she works, you work
nosotros, nosotras	amos	trabajamos	we work
vosotros, vosotras	áis	trabajáis	You work
ellos, ellas, ustedes	an	trabajan	They work

Present Tense Regular –ER Verbs

 

Examples: vender – to sell.

Pronoun	Ending	Conjugation	Translation
yo	o	Vendo	I sell
tú	es	Vendes	You sell
él, ella, usted	e	Vende	He/she sells, you sell
nosotros, nosotras	emos	Vendemos	we sell
vosotros, vosotras	éis	vendéis	You sell
ellos, ellas, ustedes	en	venden	They sell

Present Tense Regular –IR Verbs

 

Examples: abrir – to open.

Pronoun	Ending	Conjugation	Translation
yo	o	Abro	I open
tú	es	Abres	You open
él, ella, usted	e	Abre	He/she opens, you open
nosotros, nosotras	imos	Abrimos	we open
vosotros, vosotras	ís	Abrís	You open
ellos, ellas, ustedes	en	Abren	They open