Conjugation of Verbs in the Present Tense

Present Tense Regular

Objective · ·conjugate regular verbs in the present tense.

Types of RegularVerbs Verbs that end in “ar” Verbs that end in “er” Verbs that end in “ir”

Here are some examples: Hablar Comer Vivir

hablar, comer,& vivir (Infinitive forms) hablar hablar =to speak comer comer=to eat vivir vivir=to live

A verb has two parts a stem & an ending Habl Habl com com viv viv ar ar er er ir ir

English When we form a sentence in English, we begin the sentence with a subject; The subject can be either a noun or…a pronoun

English Subject Pronouns I You (familiar) You (familiar) he, she, it, you (formal) he, she, it, you (formal) We We They, You (plural) They, You (plural)

Spanish Subject Pronouns Yo Yo tú tú él, ella, usted él, ella, usted Nosotros Nosotros ellos, ellas, ustedes ellos, ellas, ustedes

¿Que pasa aquí? What happened to the “it”?

Since all Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine….. there is no Spanish subject pronoun for “it”.

When the subject is a singular masculine or feminine noun, we simply use the same ending on the verb that we would use if the subject was “él” or “ella”.(That would be the third person singular verb ending) we simply use the same ending on the verb that we would use if the subject was “él” or “ella”.(That would be the third person singular verb ending)

When the subject is a plural masculine or feminine noun, we simply use the same ending on the verb that we would use if the subject was “ellos” or “ellas”.(That would be the third person plural verb ending) we simply use the same ending on the verb that we would use if the subject was “ellos” or “ellas”.(That would be the third person plural verb ending)

Enough of that confusion! Lets move on to verb conjugation

As with English verbs, Spanish verbs must be conjugated in order to make the verb agree with the subject in person and number.

In order to make a Spanish verb agree with the subject, we have to change its ending.

Present tense regular verb endings “er”verbs. o es es e emos en

The verb ending identifies the subject. o =I o =I es = you (familiar) es = you (familiar) e = he, she, you (formal) e = he, she, you (formal) emos = we emos = we en = they, you (plural) en = they, you (plural)

Correspondingly, the subject dictates the verb ending I - o I - o You (familiar) - es You (familiar) - es he, she, you (formal) -e he, she, you (formal) -e We - emos We - emos They, you (plural) -en They, you (plural) -en

The ending of a verb also tells us when the action takes place.

First, let’s look at a typical “er” verb comer (to eat)

In order to make the verb agree with the subject we must... Drop the ending from the infinitive form ….

Comer (infinitive form - to eat) Drop the “er” ending com

Remember the “er” verb endings???? o es es e emos emos en en

Stem + ending como como comes comes come come comemos comemos comen comen

…And, that means: Ieat You You (familiar) eat he he eats, she eats, you (formal) eat We eat We eat They eat, You (plural) eat They eat, You (plural) eat

Finally, let’s look at a typical “ir” verb vivir (to live)

Remember the “ir” verb endings???? o es es e imos imos en en

Stem + ending vivo vivo vives vives vive vive vivimos vivimos viven viven

…And, that means: Ilive You You (familiar) live he he lives, she lives, you (formal) live We We live They They live, You (plural) live