Regular Verbs (Present/Past)

I. Intro: Regular vs. Irregular verbs

Ready to maximize your comprehension in a really big way? In this lesson, we’re going to cover regular verbs in the present and past tenses.

The two verbs we have learned so far, ser & estar, are irregular verbs. What does irregular mean? Basically, that their conjugation patterns are unique and there aren’t really any other verbs that have the same forms.

Soy, eres, es, somos, son. Estoy, estás, está, estamos, están.

In the grand scheme of things, while important and fundamental in Spanish, irregular verbs only represent a fraction of all verbs. So for now, keep the irregular forms of ser & estar in your mind, but slide them onto the back burner for this lesson. We’re about to brush up on regular verbs!

II. Grammar: Regular verbs: Present tense

Conjugating verbs in English is easy. In the present tense, all verbs, regular and irregular, conjugate the same way: You use the infinitive or base form, except for the 3^rd person singular (he/she/it), where you add an -s or -es. Apart from that, we add nothing to the verb.

TO TALK

I talk, you talk, he/she/it talks, we talk, you talk, they talk

Infinitive: To talk	Singular	Plural
1st person	I talk	We talk
2nd person	You talk	You talk
3rd person	He/she/it talks	They talk

In Spanish, you take the infinitive verb form, which always ends in either -ar, -er, or -ir, drop those last two letters, and add the following endings:

AR verbs: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -an
ER verbs: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -en
IR verbs: -o, -es, -e, -imos, -en

Español	Singular	Plural
1st persona	-o	-amos, -emos, -imos
2nd persona	-as, -es	-áis, -éis**
3rd persona	-a, -e	-an, -en

HABLAR: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis*, hablan
PREPARAR: preparo, preparas, prepara, preparamos, preparáis*, preparan

COMER: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis*, comen
APRENDER: aprendo, aprendes, aprende, aprendemos, aprendéis*, aprenden

VIVIR: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís*, viven
ESCRIBIR: escribo, escribes, escribe, escribimos, escribís*, escriben

*Primarily used in Spain, other varieties of Spanish use ustedes

III. Grammar: Regular verbs: Past tense (preterite)

Past tense, same story. We take the infinitive verb form, which always ends in either -ar, -er, or -ir, drop those last two letters and add the following endings:

AR: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron
ER & IR: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -teis, -ieron

	Singular	Plural
1st persona	-é, -í	-amos, -imos
2nd persona	-aste, -iste	-asteis, -isteis*
3rd persona	-o, -ió	-aron, -ieron

HABLAR: hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis*, hablaron
PREPARAR: preparé, preparaste, preparó, preparamos, preparasteis*, prepararon

COMER: comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis*, comieron
APRENDER: aprendí, aprendiste, aprendió, aprendimos, aprendisteis*, aprendieron

VIVIR: viví, viviste, vivió, vivimos, vivisteis*, vivieron
ESCRIBIR: escribí, escribiste, escribió, escribimos, escribisteis*, escribieron

*Primarily used in Spain, other varieties of Spanish use ustedes

Notes:

• For -AR verbs, the nosotros (-amos) conjugated form is identical for both present and past tense. (We speak and we spoke are represented by the same word = hablamos)
• -ER and -IR verbs use identical endings in the past tense.

IV. Grammar: Review: Present + Past together

AR verbs

• Present: o, as, a, amos, áis*, an
• Past: é, aste, ó, amos, asteis*, aron

ER verbs

• Present: o, es, e, emos, éis*, en
• Past: í, iste, ió, imos, isteis*, ieron

IR verbs

• Present: o, es, e, imos, ís*, en
• Past: í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron

HABLAR	Singular	Plural
1st persona	Hablo, hablé	Hablamos, hablamos
2nd persona	Hablas, hablaste	Habláis, hablasteis*
3rd persona	Habla, habló	Hablan, hablaron

COMER	Singular	Plural
1st persona	Como, comí	Comemos, comimos
2nd persona	Comes, comiste	Coméis,comisteis*
3rd persona	Come, comió	Comen, comieron

VIVIR	Singular	Plural
1st persona	Vivo, viví	Vivimos, vivimos
2nd persona	Vives, viviste	Vivís, vivisteis*
3rd persona	Vive, vivió	Viven, vivieron

*Primarily used in Spain, other varieties of Spanish use ustedes

The takeaway: The conjugation of regular verbs follow a pattern and constitute about 80% of all verbs in Spanish.