Regular Spanish -ER and -IR Verbs in the Present Tense

Regular Spanish -ER and -IR verbs in the present tense

You already know how regular -AR verbs change in the present tense. Spanish also has two other major regular verb groups: verbs ending in -er and verbs ending in -ir.

In this lesson, you will learn the regular present-tense endings for both groups, compare them with the -AR pattern, and choose the correct conjugation from the infinitive.

Recognizing the three regular verb groups

The infinitive tells you which regular conjugation pattern a verb belongs to.

• hablar — to speak: an -AR verb
• comer — to eat: an -ER verb
• vivir — to live: an -IR verb

Before you conjugate a regular verb, look at its infinitive ending: -ar, -er, or -ir.

Finding the stem of an -ER verb

For a regular -ER verb, remove -er from the infinitive to find the stem.

• comer — to eat → com-
• beber — to drink → beb-

Then add the present-tense ending that matches the subject.

The regular -ER present-tense endings

Subject	Ending	Comer — to eat
yo — I	-o	como — I eat
tú — you	-es	comes — you eat
él / ella / usted — he / she / you	-e	come — he / she eats; you eat
nosotros / nosotras — we	-emos	comemos — we eat
vosotros / vosotras — you	-éis	coméis — you eat
ellos / ellas / ustedes — they / you	-en	comen — they eat; you eat

The regular -ER pattern is -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en.

Conjugating comer

Comer — to eat follows the regular -ER pattern.

• Yo como. — I eat.
• Tú comes. — You eat.
• Él come. — He eats.
• Ella come. — She eats.
• Usted come. — You eat.
• Nosotros comemos. — We eat.
• Vosotros coméis. — You eat.
• Ellos comen. — They eat.
• Ustedes comen. — You eat.

The stem com- stays the same. The ending changes with the subject.

Conjugating beber

Beber — to drink uses the same -ER endings.

• Yo bebo agua. — I drink water.
• Tú bebes café. — You drink coffee.
• Ella bebe agua. — She drinks water.
• Nosotros bebemos café. — We drink coffee.
• Vosotros bebéis agua. — You drink water.
• Ellos beben café. — They drink coffee.

Once you know the -ER endings, you can apply them to other regular -ER verbs.

Finding the stem of an -IR verb

For a regular -IR verb, remove -ir from the infinitive.

• vivir — to live → viv-

Then add the regular -IR ending that matches the subject.

The regular -IR present-tense endings

Subject	Ending	Vivir — to live
yo — I	-o	vivo — I live
tú — you	-es	vives — you live
él / ella / usted — he / she / you	-e	vive — he / she lives; you live
nosotros / nosotras — we	-imos	vivimos — we live
vosotros / vosotras — you	-ís	vivís — you live
ellos / ellas / ustedes — they / you	-en	viven — they live; you live

The regular -IR pattern is -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en.

Conjugating vivir

Vivir — to live follows the regular -IR pattern.

• Yo vivo aquí. — I live here.
• Tú vives aquí. — You live here.
• Él vive en Madrid. — He lives in Madrid.
• Ella vive en México. — She lives in Mexico.
• Usted vive aquí. — You live here.
• Nosotros vivimos en España. — We live in Spain.
• Vosotros vivís en Madrid. — You live in Madrid.
• Ellos viven en Canadá. — They live in Canada.
• Ustedes viven aquí. — You live here.

Comparing -ER and -IR endings

The -ER and -IR patterns are very similar. Most of their present-tense endings are identical.

Subject	-ER	-IR
yo	-o	-o
tú	-es	-es
él / ella / usted	-e	-e
nosotros / nosotras	-emos	-imos
vosotros / vosotras	-éis	-ís
ellos / ellas / ustedes	-en	-en

The two important differences are nosotros and vosotros: -ER uses -emos and -éis, while -IR uses -imos and -ís.

Comparing -AR, -ER, and -IR

Now compare all three regular present-tense systems.

Subject	Hablar — to speak	Comer — to eat	Vivir — to live
yo	hablo — I speak	como — I eat	vivo — I live
tú	hablas — you speak	comes — you eat	vives — you live
él / ella / usted	habla — he / she speaks; you speak	come — he / she eats; you eat	vive — he / she lives; you live
nosotros / nosotras	hablamos — we speak	comemos — we eat	vivimos — we live
vosotros / vosotras	habláis — you speak	coméis — you eat	vivís — you live
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablan — they / you speak	comen — they / you eat	viven — they / you live

All three groups use -o for yo. The other endings depend on the infinitive group.

Do not choose endings from the English meaning

The English meaning does not tell you which Spanish ending to use. The Spanish infinitive does.

• hablar — to speak → regular -AR pattern
• comer — to eat → regular -ER pattern
• vivir — to live → regular -IR pattern

Identify the infinitive group first, then choose the ending for the subject.

Pay special attention to nosotros

Nosotros clearly separates the three regular groups.

• hablamos — we speak
• comemos — we eat
• vivimos — we live

The endings are -amos, -emos, and -imos. Hearing or seeing this ending can help you identify the verb group.

Pay special attention to vosotros

The vosotros forms also clearly distinguish the three groups.

• habláis — you speak
• coméis — you eat
• vivís — you live

The endings are -áis, -éis, and -ís. If your main variety of Spanish uses ustedes instead of vosotros, you should still recognize these forms when you encounter Spanish from Spain.

Subject pronouns can still be omitted

As with regular -AR verbs, Spanish often leaves out the subject pronoun when the verb form or context makes the subject clear.

• Yo como. — I eat.
• Como. — I eat.
• Nosotros vivimos aquí. — We live here.
• Vivimos aquí. — We live here.

The verb ending carries important information about the subject.

Making negative statements

Place no directly before the conjugated verb.

• Como aquí. — I eat here.
• No como aquí. — I do not eat here.
• Vive en Madrid. — He / She lives in Madrid.
• No vive en Madrid. — He / She does not live in Madrid.
• Beben café. — They drink coffee.
• No beben café. — They do not drink coffee.

The regular verb ending stays the same in the negative sentence.

Asking simple questions

You can also use the regular forms in yes-or-no questions.

• ¿Comes aquí? — Do you eat here?
• ¿Bebes café? — Do you drink coffee?
• ¿Vives en Madrid? — Do you live in Madrid?
• ¿Comen aquí? — Do they / you eat here?

Spanish does not add an English-style helping verb equivalent to “do.”

Using regular verbs in short everyday exchanges

Person A: ¿Comes aquí? — Do you eat here?

Person B: Sí. Como aquí. — Yes. I eat here.

Person A: ¿Bebes café? — Do you drink coffee?

Person B: No. Bebo agua. — No. I drink water.

Person A: ¿Vives en Madrid? — Do you live in Madrid?

Person B: Sí. Vivo en Madrid. — Yes. I live in Madrid.

Combining the three regular verb groups

You can now use regular verbs from all three groups in one short description.

Trabajo por la mañana. Como por la tarde. Vivo en Madrid. — I work in the morning. I eat in the afternoon. I live in Madrid.

Another example:

Estudiamos español. Comemos aquí. Vivimos en México. — We study Spanish. We eat here. We live in Mexico.

The verbs belong to different groups, but each follows its own regular pattern.

A reliable conjugation method

When you conjugate a regular present-tense verb, use this process:

1. Identify the infinitive: -ar, -er, or -ir.
2. Remove the infinitive ending.
3. Identify the subject.
4. Add the ending for that verb group and subject.
5. Check especially the nosotros and vosotros forms.

For example, with vivir — to live and nosotros — we, remove -ir to get viv-, then add -imos. The result is vivimos — we live.

Keeping irregular verbs for later

The patterns in this lesson apply to regular verbs. Spanish also has irregular verbs and verbs with stem changes, but those patterns have their own lessons.

For now, do not change the stem of a regular verb such as comer — to eat or vivir — to live. Choose the correct regular ending from the infinitive group.

From regular verb groups to connecting ideas

You can now conjugate regular -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs in the present tense according to the subject and distinguish the important nosotros and vosotros endings. The next lesson shows how to connect simple Spanish ideas with y, o, pero, and porque.