How present-tense conjugation works
Every Spanish verb changes its ending to match who is doing the action. Regular verbs follow one of three patterns, depending on whether the infinitive ends in -ar, -er or -ir. Learn those three patterns and you can conjugate thousands of verbs. Then learn the small group of irregular verbs that show up in almost every conversation.
Regular endings
| Subject | hablar | comer | vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablo | como | vivo |
| tú | hablas | comes | vives |
| él / ella / usted | habla | come | vive |
| nosotros | hablamos | comemos | vivimos |
| ellos / ustedes | hablan | comen | viven |
Notice that -er and -ir verbs share every ending except nosotros (comemos vs. vivimos).
Stem-changing verbs: the “boot” verbs
Some verbs change a vowel in the stem in every form except nosotros. If you shade those four forms in a table, the shape looks like a boot, which is why teachers call them boot verbs.
- e → ie: querer (quiero), empezar (empiezo), tener (tienes), venir (vienes)
- o → ue: poder (puedo), dormir (duermo)
- e → i: pedir (pido), decir (dices)
- u → ue: jugar (juego), the only verb like it
Irregular “yo” forms
Many common verbs are irregular only in the yo form. The largest group ends in -go: tengo, hago, pongo, salgo, digo, vengo. Others to know: conozco (conocer), sé (saber), veo (ver). And ir is irregular everywhere: voy, vas, va, vamos, van.
How to practise
Tap mode trains recognition: you pick the right form from four. Typing mode trains recall and spelling, which is what you need to speak and write. Once you can score 20 or more by tapping, switch to typing. When you miss one, the full conjugation of that verb appears, so read it before moving on.