Regular verbs in the present tense

A verb changes to match its subject

The dictionary form of a Spanish verb is its infinitive. Regular infinitives belong to three groups: -ar, -er, and -ir. Hablar means to speak, comer means to eat, and vivir means to live.

To form the present tense of a regular verb, remove the infinitive ending and add an ending for the subject. With yo (I), all three of these verbs end in -o.

Tú, él, ella, usted, and plural forms

For tú, use -as with regular -ar verbs and -es with regular -er and -ir verbs: hablas, comes, vives. For él, ella, and usted, use -a or -e: habla, come, vive.

For ellos, ellas, and ustedes, use -an or -en: hablan, comen, viven. Ustedes is the usual plural you throughout Latin America. Much of Spain also uses vosotros/vosotras informally; those forms are included in the verb reference.

Nosotros and nosotras

With nosotros/nosotras (we), the regular endings are -amos, -emos, and -imos: hablamos, comemos, vivimos. The -er and -ir patterns differ here, so say those two forms together a few times.

Spanish often leaves out the subject pronoun when the verb form or context makes the subject clear. Hablo español is a complete sentence. To make a basic negative statement, place no before the verb: no hablo francés.

Lesson vocabulary

Read each word aloud, then test your recall of its meaning.

Practice questions

Answer the questions and read the explanations. You can repeat the exercises.

Start with hablo, como, and vivo. Add what you speak, eat, or where you live to make a useful sentence.