👉 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-Ãs |
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-Ãa | escrib-Ãa |
Tú | cant-abas | beb-Ãas | escrib-Ãas |
Él / ella / lo / usted | cant-aba | beb-Ãa | escrib-Ãa |
Nosotros / nosotras | cant-ábamos | beb-Ãamos | escrib-Ãamos |
Vosotros / vosotras | cant-abais | beb-Ãais | escrib-Ãais |
Ellos / ellas / ustedes | cant-aban | beb-Ãan | escrib-Ãan |
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-à | escrib-à |
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-Ãa | beber-Ãa | escribir-Ãa |
Tú | cantar-Ãas | beber-Ãas | escribir-Ãas |
Él / ella / lo / usted | cantar-Ãa | beber-Ãa | escribir-Ãa |
Nosotros / nosotras | cantar-Ãamos | beber-Ãamos | escribir-Ãamos |
Vosotros / vosotras | cantar-Ãais | beber-Ãais | escribir-Ãais |
Ellos / ellas / ustedes | cantar-Ãan | beber-Ãan | escribir-Ãan |
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 | peÃnate |
Usted | peÃnese |
Nosotros / nosotras | peinémonos |
Vosotros / vosotras | peinaos |
Ustedes | peÃnense |
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