"Easy" Spanish Verbs

What is a verb?

Let's start out with the basics. A verb is an action. These are all verbs:

run

play

eat

sleep

study

These are all things you do. They are actions.

In Spanish, verbs can be very tricky. In fact, many people get to this part of learning Spanish and decide to give it. Don't do it! You got this! We are going to break down how to form the verbs - their "conjugation" - step-by-step.

1. Learn the Spanish pronouns

If you don't learn these Spanish pronouns, verb conjugation will be almost impossible. So before anything else, make sure you know these pronouns inside and out before going on.

Singular

Plural

I

yo

we

nosotros

(nosotras for all females)

you (informal)

you all (informal)

Used in Spain ONLY

vosotros

(vosotras for all females)

he

él

they

ellos (all male or male/female)

she

ella

they

ellas (all female)

you (formal)

usted (Ud.)

you all

ustedes (Uds.)

As vosotros/as is only used in Spain, we will not focus on it. (But be aware that you may see it places!) Before moving on, make sure you understanding these. Here is a Quizlet to help you practice.

2. See what kind of verb it is: -ar, -er, -ir

What does that mean? Simple! Look at the ending of the verb. This tells us what kind of verb it is. Here are some examples.

-AR Verbs

-ER Verbs

-IR Verbs

habl

ar

(to talk/speak)

estudi

ar

(to study)

jug

ar

(to play)

com

er

(to eat)

beb

er

(to drink)

le

er

(to read)

escrib

ir

(to write)

viv

ir

(to live)

decrib

ir

(to describe)

3. Take off the ending (the last two letters)

That's all I do? Just chop them off? For now, yes! Take off the bold letters above. So it would look like this:

-AR Verbs

-ER Verbs

-IR Verbs

habl

estudi

jug

com

beb

le

escrib

viv

decrib

4. Add a new ending to match the pronoun

Is that it? Is that all that is involved with verb conjugation?!? Yes! So look at your chart of present tense endings below, find the pronoun you need (remember you memorized these earlier), and then add the new ending to the "root" or "stem" of the verb (the part without the ending in that chart above). Make sure you choose the correct ending. It has to match if it is an -ar, -er-, or -ir verb. Here are your new endings.

Singular

-ar

-er

-er

yo

(I)

o

o

o

(you - informal)

as

es

es

él

(he)

ella

(she)

usted (Ud.)

(you - formal)

a

e

e

nosotros/as

(we)

amos

emos

imos

vosotros/as

(you all - informal)

(only in Spain)

áis

(only in Spain)

éis

(only in Spain)

ís

(only in Spain)

ellos (all male or male/female)

- they

ellas (all female)

- they

ustedes (Uds.)

- you all

an

en

en

So it looks like this when it is all put together. (I'm going to skip vosotros and vosotras because you mostly likely will not use it much if you do not travel to Spain.)

-AR Verb Example

-ER Verb

Example

-IR Verb

Example

yo habl

o

(I talk)

tú habl

as

(you talk) -

informal

él habl

a

(he talks)

ella habl

a

(she talks)

usted habl

a

(you talk) -

formal

nosotros/as habl

amos

(we talk)

ellos/as habl

an

(they talk)

ustedes habl

an

(you all talk)

yo com

o

(I eat)

tú com

es

(you eat) -

informal

él com

e

(he eats)

ella com

e

(she eats)

usted com

e

(you eat) -

formal

nosotros/as com

emos

(we eat)

ellos/as com

en

(they eat)

ustedes com

en

(you all eat)

yo escrib

o

(I write)

tú escrib

es

(you write) -

informal

él escrib

e

(he writes)

ella escrib

e

(she writes)

usted escrib

e

(you write) -

formal

nosotros/as escrib

imos

(we write)

ellos/as escrib

en

(they write)

ustedes escrib

en

(you all write)

I know this sounds easier than it really is. But this is it! All you have to do to conjugate it first determine who is doing the action and second, match the appropriate ending.

Of course there are lots of irregular verbs, or verbs that don't follow a pattern, but we won't get into that now. Work on memorizing your pronouns and verb endings and your speaking AND writing will become so much easier.

Practice

Here are some more sites that will explain this to you AND give you a chance to practice it:

StudySpanish.com

Conjuguemos.com

LiveLingua.com (Choose "Regular" verbs and "no" to "vosotros")

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