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Spanish verb conjugation can be very difficult to learn, especially when starting to learn  irregular Spanish verbs. This post provides the obvious place to start learning Spanish conjugation, which is to initially explain the structure of Spanish verbs and then move onto the simplest of conjugations; the regular verb in the present tense.

What tells us if a Spanish word is a verb or not? Seems a bizarre question to ask but in English we are provided with a tip off as to the answer because all English verbs are preceded by the word ‘to‘. Spanish is completely different. Each Spanish verb is recognized by its ending, which could be any one of three variations,  just to make the job a bit more of a challenge.

Each verb in Spanish is made up of two specific parts, the ending and the stem. The stem is thought of as the verb whilst many refer to the ending, which would be either, -er,-ar, or -ir  as the equivalent to the English ‘to‘ as it is also almost always dropped when the verb is conjugated, as it is in English. Please note that verbs in Spanish are often referred to as being part of a specific verb group and it is their ending that dictates the group they are in.

Now that we know how to recognize a Spanish verb and are able to place it into its correct verb group we will move our attention to the conjugation of a verb.

There are 4 main verb types in Spanish, the most basic to undertstand is the regular verb, the other verb types being auxiliary, reflexive and irregular.  But it is the conjugation of the regular verb that is most important as it is the framework for all other verb structures and because of this should be embedded into ones mind before moving on to learn more complex verbs.

Regular Spanish Verb Conjugation in the Present Tense

Compared to how English verbs are conjugated, Spanish verbs can seem, unsurprisingly, complex. In English the verb changes very little, often only adding an s or an es onto the end of the verb in the 3rd person singular, he speaks or she teaches for example.

However, in Spanish there are different endings for each different person. Although this does sound daunting it does actually make it much clearer as to who or what is performing an action although there are times when ambiguity arises, although there are certain grammatical steps that eliminate this.

There is no simpler way to show how basic regular verbs are conjugated other than to provide examples and below you will find a verb from each of the three verb groups.

Andar – to walk

• ando - I walk;
• andas – you walk (familiar);
• anda - he, she or it walks;
• anda - you walk (polite);
• andamos - we walk;
• andáis - you all walk (familiar);
• andan - they walk;
• andan - you all walk (polite)

Comprender - to understand

• comprendo - I understand;
• comprendes - you understand (familiar);
• comprende - he, she or it understands;
• comprende - you understand (polite);
• comprendemos - we understand;
• comprendéis - you all understand (familiar);
• comprenden - they understand;
• comprenden - you all understand (polite)

Compartir - to share

• comparto - I share;
• compartes - you share (familiar);
• comparte - he, she or it shares;
• comparte - you share (polite);
• compartimos - we share;
• compartís - you all share (familiar);
• comparten - they share;
• comparten - you all share (polite)

When you look more closely at these examples you will see that there are certain similarities that will make learning them a little easier:

1. All forms of the first person singular are formed in the same way, irrespective of the verb group, as they all end with ‘o’.
2. The -er and -ir verb groups are practically the same apart from the first and second person plural.

You may also like to take note of the difference between you familiar and you polite. Although, the polite version of you is not used as often as it once used to be, it is still used in certain situations such as when addressing strangers, important people, professional people such as doctors and teachers and elders. The familiar form is normally used at all other times.

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