Simple Present Tense

Regular Verbs in Spanish

Master -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs — your first step to speaking Spanish!

1. When to Use the Present Tense

The present tense in Spanish is used to express:

Actions happening at the moment of speaking — e.g., "I am listening right now."
Habits, routines, and repeated actions — e.g., "Every day I wake up at 7 am."
General statements of fact — e.g., "Water boils at 100°C."

2. Spanish vs. English: Key Differences

English	Spanish
Verb endings rarely change Only adds "-s" for he/she/it. He speaks · She eats	Unique ending for every subject Each pronoun gets its own form. hablo · hablas · habla
Subject pronoun is mandatory You MUST say "I", "you", "he", etc. "I speak" — you can't drop "I".	Subject pronoun is optional The verb ending tells you who acts. "Hablo" = "I speak" — no pronoun needed!

3. Conjugation of Regular Verbs

How to conjugate: ① Find the infinitive → ② Drop the -AR/-ER/-IR ending → ③ Add the new ending

EL PRESENTE REGULAR

Español con Alas Propias · Nivel A1

Table A: -AR verbs (Example: hablar — to speak) Stem = habl-

Subject (English)	Sujeto (Español)	Ending	Conjugated Verb
I	Yo	-o	Hablo
You (informal)	Tú	-as	Hablas
He / She / You (formal)	Él / Ella / Ud.	-a	Habla
We	Nosotros	-amos	Hablamos
You (Spain, plural)	Vosotros	-áis	Habláis
They / You (plural)	Ellos / Uds.	-an	Hablan

Table B: -ER verbs (Example: comer — to eat) Stem = com-

Subject (English)	Sujeto (Español)	Ending	Conjugated Verb
I	Yo	-o	Como
You (informal)	Tú	-es	Comes
He / She / You (formal)	Él / Ella / Ud.	-e	Come
We	Nosotros	-emos	Comemos
You (Spain, plural)	Vosotros	-éis	Coméis
They / You (plural)	Ellos / Uds.	-en	Comen

Table C: -IR verbs (Example: vivir — to live) Stem = viv-

Subject (English)	Sujeto (Español)	Ending	Conjugated Verb
I	Yo	-o	Vivo
You (informal)	Tú	-es	Vives
He / She / You (formal)	Él / Ella / Ud.	-e	Vive
We	Nosotros	-imos	Vivimos
You (Spain, plural)	Vosotros	-ís	Vivís
They / You (plural)	Ellos / Uds.	-en	Viven

4. Examples & Sentence Structure

Basic sentence structure in Spanish: Subject + Verb + Object

Spanish	English
Yo leo un libro hoy.	I read a book today.
Tú comes una manzana dulce.	You eat a sweet apple.
Él compra una camisa nueva.	He buys a new shirt.
Nosotros vemos una película bonita.	We watch a beautiful movie.
¿Hablas español?	Do you speak Spanish?

EL PRESENTE REGULAR

Español con Alas Propias · Nivel A1

Practice makes perfect — try every sentence from scratch!

Exercise A: Conjugation — Fill in the blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct conjugation of the verb in parentheses.

Exercise B: Sentence Creation

Using the Subject + Verb + Object structure, write 3 sentences in Spanish using the verbs below. Then translate them into English.

1. Verb: comprar (to buy)
ES: EN:
2. Verb: beber (to drink)
ES: EN:
3. Verb: aprender (to learn)
ES: EN:

EL PRESENTE REGULAR

Español con Alas Propias · Nivel A1

Exercise C: Write a Short Paragraph About Yourself

Write 3–4 sentences introducing yourself. Include:

Remember: you can drop "yo" if you want!

Bonus: Common Errors to Avoid

Wrong	Correct	Why?
Yo hablos	Yo hablo	Spanish doesn't add -s for 1st person
Ellos come	Ellos comen	-ER verbs use -en, not -e for ellos
Nosotros vive	Nosotros vivimos	-IR verbs: nosotros ending is -imos
Yo siempre I eat fish	Yo siempre como pescado	Don't mix English & Spanish in one sentence!