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Spanish 1 Unit 3: Present tense regular verbs

Regular verbs follow patterns. Drop the -ar, -er or -ir and add the ending that matches the subject.

Covers: Subject pronouns, -ar, -er, -ir verb endings, negation with no, asking questions

Study guide

Subject pronouns are yo (I), tú (you, informal), él (he), ella (she), usted (you, formal), nosotros/nosotras (we), vosotros (you all, informal, used in Spain), ellos/ellas (they) and ustedes (you all). Because Spanish verb endings show who is acting, subject pronouns are often left out: Hablo español means "I speak Spanish."

Spanish verbs are grouped by their infinitive endings: -ar, -er and -ir. To conjugate a regular verb in the present tense, drop the ending to get the stem and add the ending for the subject. For -ar verbs like hablar: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan. For -er verbs like comer: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. For -ir verbs like vivir: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven. The -er and -ir endings are identical except in the nosotros and vosotros forms. The present tense covers "I speak," "I am speaking" and "I do speak."

To make a sentence negative, put no directly before the verb: No hablo francés (I don't speak French). Double negatives are correct in Spanish: No tengo nada (I don't have anything).

To ask a yes/no question, raise your voice at the end or put the verb before the subject: ¿Hablas inglés? Written questions use an upside-down question mark at the start. Question words carry accents: ¿qué? (what), ¿quién? (who), ¿dónde? (where), ¿cuándo? (when), ¿por qué? (why), ¿cómo? (how), ¿cuánto? (how much) and ¿cuál? (which).

Direct-object pronouns replace the noun that receives the action: me, te, lo, la, nos, los, las. They go before a conjugated verb: ¿El libro? Lo leo. With an infinitive, they can attach to the end: Voy a leerlo. An affirmative tú command uses the él/ella form of the present tense: ¡Habla!, ¡Come!, ¡Escribe! A formal usted command switches the vowel: -ar verbs end in -e (hable) and -er/-ir verbs end in -a (coma, escriba). The ustedes form adds -n (hablen).

Spanish doesn't capitalize days, months, languages or nationalities (el lunes, en enero, hablo inglés, es mexicana). Exclamations and questions use opening and closing marks: ¡Hola! and ¿Qué tal?

Key ideas

• Subject pronouns: yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, ellos/ellas/ustedes.
• -ar endings: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -an (hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablan).
• -er endings: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -en (como, comes, come…).
• -ir endings: -o, -es, -e, -imos, -en (vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven).
• Make a sentence negative by putting no before the verb.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Keeping the -ar ending (yo hablaro).
• Using -emos with -ir verbs (vivemos instead of vivimos).

Words to know

yo

I

tú

you (informal)

él

he

ella

she

nosotros

we

ellos / ellas

they

ustedes

you all

hablar

to speak / to talk

estudiar

to study

trabajar

to work

caminar

to walk

cantar

to sing

bailar

to dance

mirar

to watch / to look at

escuchar

to listen

comprar

to buy

nadar

to swim

cocinar

to cook

preparar

to prepare

tomar

to take / to drink

viajar

to travel

dibujar

to draw

patinar

to skate

necesitar

to need

enseñar

to teach

usar

to use

comer

to eat

beber

to drink

leer

to read

aprender

to learn

correr

to run

vender

to sell

comprender

to understand

responder

to answer

vivir

to live

escribir

to write

abrir

to open

recibir

to receive

decidir

to decide

compartir

to share

Sample practice questions

35 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.