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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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