Spanish Verbs in the Present Tense
In order to understand the Spanish verbs in the present tense, it's good to review some basic concepts. A verb is a word used to express an action, a process, or to describe a state or existence, and it affects people and things. Learning about how to use these verbs in their different tenses and conjugations is an invaluable asset that will open a big door for fluency and conversation in Spanish.
In this lesson you will learn about verbs in their non-conjugated forms as well as the one used in the present tense and how to conjugate them.
Understanding Infinitives
The infinitive of a verb is, as the name suggests, timeless. It is the unconjugated form of the verb and therefore has no tense (such as past, present, or future).
In English, the infinitive of a verb is formed by adding the word “to.” Examples include: to learn, to act, and to be.
In Spanish, the infinitive of a verb is indicated by one of the following endings:
–AR, -ER, and -IR.
Here are some common verbs.
- -AR verbs
- caminar "to walk"
- preguntar "to ask"
-IR verbs
- escribir "to write"
- compartir "to share"
-ER verbs
- leer "to read"
- tener "to have"
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Isolating Verb Endings
Just as you saw with ser, every verb has a different conjugation according to the subject and tense of the sentence. Fortunately, the conjugations follow some very simple rules. All you have to do is change the ending of the verb according to the appropriate rule.
Let’s start with the present tense and see how the verb endings change with each subject pronoun.
Each type of verb —AR, —ER, and —IR has a different set of endings. Study the verb endings in the table below. How is each type of verb different? Can you detect any patterns?
Conjugate a Verb
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Present Tense Verb Conjugation
In order to conjugate a verb, you first need to identify the verb “stem.” The stem is the part of the verb that, in most cases, remains constant.
Find the stem by taking the infinitive of the verb and removing the –ar, -er, or –ir ending.
Por ejemplo:
| Verb | Stem |
|---|---|
| dibujar | dibuj- |
| preguntar | pregunt- |
| leer | le- |
| compartir | compart- |
Now that you have the stem by itself, consult the table of verb endings and add the appropriate one, according to who is performing the action.
Using Two Verbs in a Row
When two verbs are used consecutively without changing the subject, the second verb is usually written in the infinitive form.
Por ejemplo:
When Something Isn’t Happening: Negative Sentences
To convert a sentence into a negative form in Spanish, all you need to do is add the word no immediately before the conjugated verb.
Por ejemplo:
Be careful that you add the no before the conjugated verb—not the infinitive or subject.
In this section you’ve begun to learn about verbs, their endings, and use in the present tense.
Check out more Spanish Verbs for useful info!
See you soon! ¡Hasta pronto!
Mauricio Evlampieff: Rocket Spanish