Spanish Regular Verbs (How to Conjugate Them)

👉 How to Conjugate Regular Spanish Verbs

– Spanish Grammar Basics for Beginners –

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What is a regular verb?

In English, as in Spanish, there are several types of verbs. Some are regular while others are not. A verb is regular when it is conjugated in a uniform way.

This means that whatever the world (infinitive, indicative, imperative, subjunctive or conditional) and the tense (past, present or future), the verb adopts the corresponding endings without changing its stem.

To conjugate a regular verb, all you have to do is keep its root and add the ending that corresponds to the desired tense and mode.

What are the regular verbs in Spanish?

There are three groups of verbs in Spanish.

They can be recognized by the ending of their infinitive.

  • The verbs in the first group end in “-ar” (for example: cantar: to sing; bailar: to dance; amar: to love).
  • The verbs of the second group end in “-er” (for example: comer: to eat; beber: to drink; saber: to know).
  • Third group verbs end in “-ir” (e.g. escribir: to write; morir: to die; vivir: to live).

How to conjugate regular verbs?

The simple tenses

The present tense of the indicative

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cant– o beb-o escrib-o
Tú cant-as beb-es escrib-es
Él / ella / lo / usted cant-a beb-e escrib-e
Nosotros / nosotras cant-amos beb-emos escrib-imos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-áis beb-éis escrib-ís
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cant-an beb-en escrib-en

The imperfect tense

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cant-aba beb-ía escrib-ía
Tú cant-abas beb-ías escrib-ías
Él / ella / lo / usted cant-aba beb-ía escrib-ía
Nosotros / nosotras cant-ábamos beb-íamos escrib-íamos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-abais beb-íais escrib-íais
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cant-aban beb-ían escrib-ían

The past simple

It is used in everyday conversations to talk about a short past action.

Example : Me quemé la lengua. I burned my tongue.

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cant-é beb-í escrib-í
Tú cant-aste beb-iste escrib-iste
Él / ella / lo / usted cant-ó beb-ió escrib-ió
Nosotros / nosotras cant-amos beb-imos escrib-imos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-asteis beb-isteis escrib-isteis
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cant-aron beb-ieron escrib-ieron

The present subjunctive

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cant-e beb-a escrib-a
Tú cant-es beb-as escrib-as
Él / ella / lo / usted cant-e beb-a escrib-a
Nosotros / nosotras cant-emos beb-amos escrib-amos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-éis beb-áis escrib-áis
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cant-en beb-an escrib-an

The imperfect subjunctive

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cant-ara beb-iera escrib-iera
Tú cant-aras beb-ieras escrib-ieras
Él / ella / lo / usted cant-ara beb-iera escrib-iera
Nosotros / nosotras cant-áramos beb-iéramos escrib-iéramos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-arais beb-ierais escrib-ierais
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cant-aran beb-ieran escrib-ieran

The imperative

In Spanish, the imperative is conjugated with five persons:

  • Tú → you (informal)
  • Usted → you of politeness for a single speaker (singular)
  • Nosotros → we
  • Vosotros → you
  • Ustedes → you of politeness for several speakers (plural)

The imperative is conjugated in two different ways depending on whether it is in the affirmative or negative form.

The imperative: affirmative form

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Tú cant-a beb-e escrib-e
Usted cant-e beb-a escrib-a
Nosotros / nosotras cant-emos beb-amos escrib-amos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-ad beb-ed escrib-id
Ustedes cant-en beb-an escrib-an

The imperative: negative form

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Tú No cant-es No beb-as No escrib-as
Usted No cant-e No beb-a No escrib-a
Nosotros / nosotras cant-emos beb-amos escrib-amos
Vosotros / vosotras cant-éis beb-áis escrib-áis
Ustedes cant-en beb-an escrib-an

The future tense

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cantar-é beber-é escribir-é
Tú cantar-ás beber-ás escribir-ás
Él / ella / lo / usted cantar-á beber-á escribir-á
Nosotros / nosotras cantar-emos beber-emos escribir-emos
Vosotros / vosotras cantar-éis beber-éis escribir-éis
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cantar-án beber-án escribir-án

The conditional

First group as cantar Second group like beber Third group as escribir
Yo cantar-ía beber-ía escribir-ía
Tú cantar-ías beber-ías escribir-ías
Él / ella / lo / usted cantar-ía beber-ía escribir-ía
Nosotros / nosotras cantar-íamos beber-íamos escribir-íamos
Vosotros / vosotras cantar-íais beber-íais escribir-íais
Ellos / ellas / ustedes cantar-ían beber-ían escribir-ían

The compound tenses

For the compound tenses, the auxiliary “haber” (to have) is used, conjugated in the appropriate tense + the past participle of the verb in question. It should be noted that in Spanish the past participle is invariable in the compound tenses.

Pronominal verbs

In Spanish there are pronominal verbs. In the infinitive they end with “-se”. To know to which group a pronominal verb belongs, it is necessary to look at the ending of the verb. This is the last syllable before the “-se” ending.

Examples :

  • llamarse → llamar-se → first group (to call oneself);
  • accostarse → accostar-se → first group (to lie down).

When conjugating a pronominal verb, regardless of its group, the reflexive pronoun precedes the verb.

Example: “Llamarse” in the present tense

Llamarse
Yo me llamo
Tú te llamas
Él / ella / usted se llama
Nosotros / nosotras nos llamamos
Vosotros / vosotras os llamáis
Ellos / ellas / ustedes se llaman

In the affirmative imperative, the reflexive pronoun is attached to the conjugated verb.

Example : « Peinarse » (to comb one’s hair) in the imperative

Peinarse
Tú peínate
Usted peínese
Nosotros / nosotras peinémonos
Vosotros / vosotras peinaos
Ustedes peínense

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👉 Previous lesson: The imperfect subjunctive

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