I had a great Spanish teacher when I was in high school. He was known as Alfarito.
Once, one of my classmates asked him why regular verbs are called “regular” in Spanish. Here’s the answer he gave us!
Regular Verbs
In the Spanish language, all verbs belong to one of three classifications or groups.
1. Verbs that end in -ar
2. Verbs that end in -er
3. Verbs that end in -ir
Spanish verbs, when they appear in their original form (infinitives), are made up of two parts: a stem and an ending.
In the verb amar, am is its stem. Ar is the ending.
Spanish verbs are considered regular if their stem does not change when they are conjugated.
Now, how can you use regular verbs in Spanish? You need to conjugate them. Let’s learn more about it!
Regular Verb Conjugation
To understand how regular verbs in Spanish work, it is necessary to use something called “tenses.”
A tense is any of the forms of a verb that can be used to express when an action occurs. In this lesson, we will focus on one of the most used tenses in Spanish, the present tense.
The Spanish present tense is like the English simple present. We use it to talk about routines, facts or permanent situations.
• Tomo café por las mañanas. (I drink coffee in the morning.)
• El cielo es azul. (The sky is blue.)
• Trabajo todos los días. (I work every day.)
Tomo means “I drink.” But how do I know that it means “I drink” and not “you drink?” The word tomo is not accompanied by a pronoun after all. Well, it does not need to.
In Spanish, verbs change depending on the person they refer to. A verb in Spanish expresses the person who performs the action and the time in which that action occurs.
• Tomo café. (I drink coffee.)
• Tomas café. (You drink coffee.)
• Tomamos café. (We drink coffee.)
• Toman café. (They drink coffee.)
Spanish speakers don’t usually use pronouns when they speak, since they are sort of included in the verbs when they conjugate them.
How can you conjugate regular verbs in Spanish? Let’s learn!
Regular Ar Verbs
To conjugate regular -ar verbs, keep the stem of the verb, drop the -ar ending, and use any following verb endings, depending on the person you want to refer to: -o, -as, -ás, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.
• Yo hablo
• Tú hablas
• Vos hablás
• Él habla
• Ella habla
• Usted habla
• Nosotros hablamos
• Nosotras hablamos
• Vosotros habláis
• Vosotras habláis
• Ellos hablan
• Ellas hablan
• Ustedes hablan
Regular Er Verbs
To conjugate regular -er verbs in the simple present tense, drop the -er ending and add any of the following endings to the verb stem, depending on the person you want to refer to: -o, -es, -és, -e, -emos, -éis, -en.
• Yo como
• Tú comes
• Vos comés
• Él come
• Ella come
• Usted come
• Nosotros comemos
• Nosotras comemos
• Vosotros coméis
• Vosotras coméis
• Ellos comen
• Ellas comen
• Ustedes comen
Regular Ir Verbs
To conjugate regular -ir verbs in the simple present tense, drop the -ir ending and add any of the following endings to the verb stem, depending on the person you want to refer to: -o, -es, ís, -e, -imos, -ís, -en.
• Yo vivo
• Tú vives
• Vos vivís
• Él vive
• Ella vive
• Usted vive
• Nosotros vivimos
• Nosotras vivimos
• Vosotros vivís
• Vosotras vivís
• Ellos viven
• Ellas viven
• Ustedes viven
Regular Verb Conjugation Chart
Wondering about the conjugation of Spanish regular verbs with other tenses? Use this cheat sheet to conjugate them with five common tenses!
Now that you know how to conjugate regular verbs in Spanish, why not practice a bit?
Grab your favorite verbs from this Complete List of Spanish Verbs and conjugate them!
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