How Spanish verb conjugation actually works
Every Spanish verb in the dictionary ends in -ar, -er, or -ir. That ending tells you which pattern of conjugation the verb follows. Drop the ending, attach a new one for each person — yo, tú, él, nosotros, vosotros, ellos — and you have the present tense.
If you learn the three sets of endings on this page, you can conjugate hundreds of regular verbs from day one.
The -AR endings (hablar — to speak)
- yo hablo
- tú hablas
- él / ella / usted habla
- nosotros hablamos
- vosotros habláis
- ellos / ellas / ustedes hablan
The -ER endings (comer — to eat)
- yo como
- tú comes
- él / ella / usted come
- nosotros comemos
- vosotros coméis
- ellos / ellas / ustedes comen
The -IR endings (vivir — to live)
-IR follows the same shape as -ER except in the nosotros and vosotros forms.
- yo vivo
- tú vives
- él / ella / usted vive
- nosotros vivimos
- vosotros vivís
- ellos / ellas / ustedes viven
A 5-minute daily drill
Pick one verb from each family — for example: trabajar, aprender, escribir. Conjugate all three in writing every morning before your coffee. After two weeks, the pattern becomes automatic and you stop thinking ending-by-ending.