Spanish Verb Conjugation and How to Use Them

They say actions speak louder than words, so learning how to say and use verbs should be twice as loud!

This article reviews the basics when it comes to Spanish verb conjugation and teaches you how to conjugate in different tenses like the past, present, and future.

Table of Contents

How Does Spanish Verb Conjugation Work?

Conjugation is simply when you make the verb match the person doing the action. English tends to rely on pronouns for this, whereas Spanish changes the verb itself therefore making the pronoun optional.

For example, here is the verb “to talk” conjugated in the present tense in English:

I talk	We talk
You talk	You all talk
He talks/She talks/It talks	They talk

In order to use verbs, you’ll have to know Spanish pronouns. The pronouns that share a square have the same conjugation, much like how in English “he, she, it” are in the same box.

Yo – I

Nosotros – We (men, mixed men and women)

Nosotras – We (women only)

Tú – You (informal)

Vosotros – You all (men, mixed men and women)

Vosotras – You all (women only)

Él – He

Ella – She

Usted – You (formal)

Ellos – They (men, mixed men and women)

Ellas – They (women only)

Ustedes – You all (formal, latin american)

🚩Note that in Spanish, “it” is not really a pronoun so “he” or “she” is used. Now, let’s learn some verbs!

Spanish Verb Types And The Infinitive

In the Spanish language, all verbs end in -ar, -er, or -ir. These are the three verb types that you will encounter and will determine how the verb is conjugated.

To exemplify each verb type, we will be using hablar – to talk, comer – to eat, and vivir – to live.

These verbs are currently in the infinitive form, which is a fancy way of saying that it is the “pure” version of the verb that hasn’t been changed to match a pronoun or verb tense.

What Are The Basic Steps to Conjugate Spanish Verbs?

Once you know the Spanish pronouns, the second thing to learn is the verb endings. Each box in that pronoun table from earlier has its own unique verb ending, plus each verb type has its own set of endings.

Basic Spanish Verb Conjugation

To learn the basic steps to verb conjugation, we will be looking at the present tense.

Select your verb.
Select the pronoun. Do you want to say that he speaks, we speak etc.
Take off the ending, either – ar, -er, or -ir.
Attach the ending that matches the tense, pronoun, and verb type.

In summary, take off the verb’s last two letters then stick on the appropriate ending to make it match the pronoun. Here are all of the verb endings along with examples.

Present Tense -AR Verb Endings

Yo – o
Tú – as
Él, Ella, Usted – a
Nosotros/as – amos
Vosotros/as- áis
Él, Ella, Usted -a
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – an

Present Tense Hablar – To Speak

Yo hablo	Nosotros/as hablamos
Tú hablas	Vosotros/as habláis
Él, Ella, Usted habla	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes hablan

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “we” – nosotros.

Present Tense -ER Verb Endings

Yo – o
Nosotros/as – emos
Tú – es
Él, Ella, Usted – e
Vosotros/as – éis
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – en

Present Tense Comer– To Eat

Yo como	Nosotros/as comemos
Tú comes	Vosotros/as coméis
Él, Ella, Usted come	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes comen

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “I” – yo.

Present Tense -IR Verb Endings

Yo – o
Tú – es
Él, Ella, Usted – e
Nosotros/as – imos
Vosotros/as – ís
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – en

Present Tense Vivir – To Live

Yo vivo	Nosotros/as vivimos
Tú vives	Vosotros/as vivís
Él, Ella, Usted vive	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes viven

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “she” – ella.

Irregular Spanish Verbs

All verbs use these predetermined endings, however, some verbs are irregular and have an extra step. For example, some verbs are called stem changers because the middle part of the verb changes. Querer – to want, is an E→ IE verb because it becomes quier- + verb ending. Other verbs are totally irregular and don’t follow a pattern. Ser – to be, is a great example of this.

Present Tense Ser – To Be

Yo soy	Nosotros/as somos
Tú eres	Vosotros/as sois
Él, Ella, Usted es	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes son

As you can see, this one is totally weird. Not many verbs act as oddly as this one, but they are out there! Many common verbs like ser are irregular and can be picked up easily with some practice. If you aren’t sure if a verb is regular or irregular, don’t sweat it. If you treat these unknowns as regular verbs, people will still likely understand you and can even teach you.

Reflexive Spanish Verbs

A reflexive verb describes an action that is done to oneself. Any verb that has “se” after it is a reflexive verb, like levantarse and dormirse. Basically, these verbs are conjugated normally then have an additional piece tied to them. This piece is called a reflexive pronoun and also must match with the subject. For example, to say “I get myself up” you would say me levanto.

Reflexive verbs are not limited to the present tense. You can use the past tenses, the future, or any other verb conjugation with the reflexive pronouns.

Here is a basic formula for reflexive verb conjugation:

(Pronoun) + Reflexive verb pronoun + conjugated verb

Reflexive Verb Pronouns

Yo – me	Nosotros/as – nos
Tú – te	Vosotros/as – os
Él, Ella, Usted – se	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – se

Here is an example using the pronoun “you” – tú with the verb levantarse.

How to Conjugate Spanish Verbs in Different Tenses

How to form present progressive verbs in Spanish

The present progressive is used to talk about things that are happening right now in this very moment. In English, we use the verb “to be” plus the gerund “-ing,” such as “she is talking” or “we are watching.” Spanish acts the same way!

Simply conjugate the verb estar – to be, then add the Spanish version of “-ing.”

–ar verbs use the ending -ando
-er and –ir verbs use the ending -iendo.

Bailar becomes bailando, comer becomes comiendo, and so on.

Yo estoy+v +ando/iendo
Tú estás+v +ando/iendo
Él, Ella, Usted está+v +ando/iendo
Nosotros/as estamos+v +ando/iendo
Vosotros/as estáis+v +ando/iendo
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes están+v +ando/iendo

For example:

I am eating
- Estoy comiendo
They are dancing
- Ellos están bailando
We are living
- Estamos viviendo

How to Conjugate Spanish Verbs in The Past Tenses

The past tense uses the exact same steps as the present tense! Take off the ending and add the one that matches the pronoun you want to use. Spanish has two forms of the past, and there is a short description on what each is used for.

The Preterite tense

The preterite tense is for single, completed actions. Think of the major plot points to a story, all of the action that moves the plot forward.

Preterite Tense -AR Verb Endings

Yo – é
Tú – aste
Él, Ella, Usted – ó
Nosotros/as – amos
Vosotros/as – asteis
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – aron

Preterite Tense Hablar – To Speak

Yo hablé	Nosotros/as hablamos
Tú hablaste	Vosotros/as hablasteis
Él, Ella, Usted habló	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes hablaron

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “you” – usted.

Preterite Tense -ER/-IR Verb Endings

Yo – í
Tú – iste
Él, Ella, Usted – ió
Nosotros/as – imos
Vosotros/as – isteis
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – ieron

Preterite Tense Comer – To Eat

Yo comí	Nosotros/as comimos
Tú comiste	Vosotros/as comisteis
Él, Ella, Usted comió	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes comieron

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “I” – yo.

The imperfect tense

The imperfect is for the continuous past. It’s the description that sets the scene of a story, the little details that are hard to contain with definitive start and endpoints.

Imperfect Tense -AR Verb Endings

Yo – aba
Tú – abas
Él, Ella, Usted – aba
Nosotros/as – ábamos
Vosotros/as – abais
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – aban

Imperfect Tense Hablar – To Speak

Yo hablaba	Nosotros/as hablábamos
Tú hablabas	Vosotros/as hablabais
Él, Ella, Usted hablaba	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes hablaban

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “they” – ellos.

Imperfect Tense -ER/-IR Verb Endings

Yo – ía
Tú – ías
Él, Ella, Usted – ía
Nosotros/as – íamos
Vosotros/as – íais
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – ían

Imperfect Tense Vivir – To Live

Yo vivía	Nosotros/as vivíamos
Tú vivías	Vosotros/as vivíais
Él, Ella, Usted vivía	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes vivían

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “she” – ella.

How to Conjugate Spanish Verbs in The Future Tenses

Talking about the future can be hard, but conjugating in the future tense won’t make it harder. That’s because the future tense uses the same endings for all verb types, and you don’t even have to remove the -ar, -er, or –ir part of the verb.

Future Verb Endings (All Verb Types, Attached to the Infinitive)

Yo – é
Tú – ás
Él, Ella, Usted – á
Nosotros/as – emos
Vosotros/as – éis
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – án

Future Tense Hablar – To Speak

Yo hablaré	Nosotros/as hablaremos
Tú hablarás	Vosotros/as hablaréis
Él, Ella, Usted hablará	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes hablarán

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “yo” – I.

Conditional

The conditional is the “would” tense. Would you like to know how to conjugate with it?

Just like the future tense, it’s actually even easier than normal conjugation because you don’t have to take off the verb ending! All you do is attach the following endings to the back of the infinitive form of the verb.

Conditional Verb Endings (All Verb Types, Attached to the Infinitive)

Yo – ía
Tú – ías
Él, Ella, Usted – ía
Nosotros/as – íamos
Vosotros/as – íais
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes – ían

Conditional Tense Comer – To Eat

Yo comería	Nosotros/as comeríamos
Tú comerías	Vosotros/as comeríais
Él, Ella, Usted comería	Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes comerían

Here are the steps in action using the pronoun “he” – él.

Summary of Spanish Verb Conjugation

All Spanish verb conjugation can be done using tables and formulas. It’s a lot like math because it’s logical, there are rules, and once things click with one tense then you will easily understand the other tenses. Take it one tense at a time, practice a lot, and before you know it you will be an expert!