SPANISH PRESENT CONJUGATION MADE EASY

Let´s start with the basics: When verbs are not conjugated, they are called infinitive verbs.

All infinitive verbs end in either -AR, -ER or -IR.

For example: cantar, comer, vivir.

• For the present tense (and some other tenses) we need to remove the infinitive ending (ar, er, ir) or part of it.

Comer – er= com

• Then, we need to a specific ending to match the subject and the tense. For example:

To eat:

Comer – er = com + o= yo como (I eat)

1. 1. 1. Now, let´s examine the endings pattern for present tense. Notice that the pattern is true even for irregular verbs, but we will just use regular verbs for now.

1. YO verbs end in -O

Yo como, yo estudio, yo uso

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2. TÚ verbs end in either -AS or -ES

If the infinitive is an AR verb, then the ending for the present will be -AS (bailar= tu bailas)

If the infinitive is an ER/IR verb, then the ending for the present will be -ES (comer=comes/ vivir=vives)

The conjugation for TÚ is the most important one because it will be your guide for everything.

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3. ÉL, ELLA, USTED, “IT” verbs just remove the -S from the TÚ form.

As long as you know the TÚ verb, you just remove the final -S and you have the conjugation for he, she, you formal and it*.

Tú bailas = él baila, ella baila, usted baila, (it) baila.

Tú comes= él come, ella come, usted come, (it) come.

Tú vives= él vive, ella vive, usted vive, (it) vive.

*When you want to say something like “it eats”, in Spanish you use this conjugation, but without mentioning the pronoun. Just go directly to the verb. It eats= come

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4. ELLOS, ELLAS, USTEDES are the plural forms of él, ella, usted.

All you need to do is add an -n to the singular form. Conjugated verbs that end in -N usually imply plural in Spanish.

Él baila= ellos bailan

Ella come= ellas comen

Usted usa= ustedes usan

Another form to look at this pattern is to think that you need to change the final -S of the tú form for an -N

Tú comes= ellos comen, ellas comen, ustedes comen.

However, the first option is easier to remember because él directly corresponds to ellos, etc.

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5. NOSOTROS verbs end in -MOS

Take the infinitive verb and remove just the final -R, then add -MOS

Bailar – r = baila + mos = nosotros bailamos

Comer – r = come + mos = nosotros comemos

Vivir – r = vivi + mos = nosotros vivimos

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Here is a chart with some conjugated verbs. Look at it and see the pattern for yourself:

	VIAJAR (to travel)	BEBER (to drink)	ASISTIR (to attend/ to help)
YO	Viajo	Bebo	Asisto
TÚ	Viajas	Bebes	Asistes
ÉL – ELLA – USTED	Viaja	Bebe	Asiste
ELLOS – ELLAS – USTEDES	Viajan	Beben	Asisten
NOSOTROS	Viajamos	Bebemos	Asistimos