Current Actions
We use the present tense to talk about actions or situations that happen now.
Ahora estudio español.
Learn how to form the present indicative and practice the conjugation of regular verbs ending in -ar, -er and -ir. Complete the activities and check your answers.
Yo _____ español todos los días.
Correct! Yo hablo español todos los días.We use the present indicative to talk about current actions, habits, and general facts.To conjugate a regular verb, we change its ending.
We use the present tense to talk about actions or situations that happen now.
We also use it to talk about activities that we do on a regular basis.
The present tense is used to express facts, characteristics, or information considered general.
First, we remove the infinitive ending: -ar, -er or -ir. We then add the ending that corresponds to the subject.
The endings change according to the verb's infinitive. Observe the conjugation of hablar, comer and vivir.
| yo | hablo |
|---|---|
| tú | hablas |
| él / ella / usted | habla |
| nosotros/as | hablamos |
| vosotros/as | habláis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablan |
Yo hablo español.
| yo | como |
|---|---|
| tú | comes |
| él / ella / usted | come |
| nosotros/as | comemos |
| vosotros/as | coméis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | comen |
Nosotros comemos en casa.
| yo | vivo |
|---|---|
| tú | vives |
| él / ella / usted | vive |
| nosotros/as | vivimos |
| vosotros/as | vivís |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | viven |
Ellos viven en Madrid.
| Person | -AR | -ER | -IR |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | -o | -o |
| tú | -as | -es | -es |
| él / ella / usted | -a | -e | -e |
| nosotros/as | -amos | -emos | -imos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | -éis | -ís |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -an | -en | -en |
Visually review the present tense in Spanish. Check the endings of regular verbs in -AR, -ER, and -IR, the most frequent irregular verbs and some examples to learn how to use them correctly.
Download the PDF ↓ Free PDF · No registration requiredComplete the following exercises and choose the correct form of the present indicative depending on the subject and the verb ending.
Memorising the endings is a good start, but to use verbs naturally, you need to practise them in complete sentences, conversations and real-life situations.
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Complete the sentence:
“Nosotros _____ en Madrid”.
These are some of the most common mistakes when conjugating regular verbs in the present tense.
The verb must change according to the person performing the action. We cannot use the infinitive on its own.
Verbs ending in -ar do not use the same endings as verbs ending in -er or -ir.
The verb ending must correspond to the grammatical person of the subject.
With us, -er verbs end in -emos and verbs ending in -ir end in -imos.
Find answers to the most common questions about how the Spanish present indicative is formed and used.
The present indicative is used to talk about habitual actions, current situations, general facts and routines. For example: "Estudio español todos los días" or "Vivo en Madrid".
First, we remove the infinitive ending: -ar, -er or -ir. We then add the ending that corresponds to the subject.
For example: hablar → habl- → yo hablo; comer → com- → tú comes; and vivir → viv- → nosotros vivimos.
No. The endings change depending on whether the verb ends in -ar, -er or -ir. Furthermore, irregular verbs can change their root or use different forms, such as tener → tengo or ir → voy.
Not always. In Spanish, the verb ending usually tells us who performs the action. We can say "Yo estudio español" or simply "Estudio español".
The pronoun is used when we want clarify, contrast or emphasize who performs the action.
It is useful to learn the endings in groups and practise the verbs in complete sentences and real-life situations. It is also helpful to repeat the forms with different subjects: "yo hablo", "tú hablas" and "nosotros hablamos".
