Learn Spanish Verb Conjugations

The six persons

Every Spanish tense has one form per person. The ending of the verb already tells you who is doing the action, so the pronoun is often dropped in speech.

• yo — I
• tú — you (informal)
• él / ella / usted — he / she / you (formal)
• nosotros — we
• vosotros — you all (Spain; optional in the practice settings)
• ellos / ellas / ustedes — they / you all

In Latin America vosotros is replaced by ustedes, which is why it is a toggle you can switch off when practicing.

Regular patterns: -ar / -er / -ir

Spanish infinitives end in -ar, -er or -ir. Drop that ending to get the stem, then add the ending for the person and tense. In the present indicative the endings are:

• -ar (hablar → habl-): -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an → hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan
• -er (comer → com-): -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en → como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen
• -ir (vivir → viv-): -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en → vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven

Notice that -er and -ir verbs share the same endings except for nosotros and vosotros.

The tenses you practice

The practice settings let you mix and match these tenses. A quick map of what each one is for (examples shown with hablar, comer, vivir):

• Present — happening now / habits: hablo, como, vivo.
• Preterite (simple past) — a finished action: hablé, comí, viví.
• Imperfect — ongoing / repeated past ("used to"): hablaba, comía, vivía.
• Future — will happen; built on the full infinitive: hablaré, comeré, viviré.
• Conditional — would happen; also on the infinitive: hablaría, comería, viviría.
• Present perfect — haber + past participle: he hablado, he comido, he vivido.
• Past perfect — imperfect haber + participle: había hablado….
• Present subjunctive — wishes, doubt, emotion: (que) hable, coma, viva.
• Imperfect subjunctive — past subjunctive / polite: hablara, comiera, viviera.
• Imperative (affirmative) — commands: ¡habla!, ¡come!, ¡vive!.

The future and conditional are the easiest tenses: the same endings are bolted onto the whole infinitive for every verb group.

Stem-changing verbs

Many common verbs keep their regular endings but change a vowel in the stem when it is stressed. The change happens in all persons except nosotros and vosotros (the "boot").

• e → ie: querer → quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren
• o → ue: poder → puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden
• e → i: pedir → pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden

Irregular verbs

The most frequent Spanish verbs are also the most irregular — worth memorizing first because they appear everywhere.

• ser (to be): soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son
• estar (to be): estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están
• ir (to go): voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van
• tener (to have): tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen
• hacer (to do/make): hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen

Watch for the irregular "yo" form: many verbs are regular everywhere except first person — tener → tengo, hacer → hago, poner → pongo, salir → salgo, conocer → conozco.

A few verbs have irregular preterite stems with no accents: tener → tuve, estar → estuve, hacer → hice, ir / ser → fui (identical in the preterite).

Common mistakes

1. -er vs. -ir: they differ only in nosotros/vosotros (comemos vs. vivimos).
2. Missing accents: the accent is the only difference between hablo (I speak) and habló (he spoke).
3. Future/conditional on the infinitive: it is comeré, never "comé".
4. Irregular yo forms: tengo, not "teno"; conozco, not "conoco".
5. ser vs. estar: both mean "to be" but never share forms — learn them as separate verbs.