Present Indicative
The Present Indicative is the most basic (though not the easiest) and essential tense in Spanish. There are more than few dozen irregular verbs with varying degrees of irregularities. It should be noted that all the second person informal conjugations end with s.
Regular Verbs
-AR Verbs
-AR verbs are conjugated by removing the "-ar" from the infinitive and adding the endings.
Yo -o Nosotros -amos Tú -as Vosotros -áis Usted,él,ella -a Ustedes,ellos,ellas -an
Hablar (to speak)
hablo hablamos hablas habláis habla hablan
-ER Verbs
Like the -AR verbs, -ER verbs are conjugated by removing the infinitive ending "-er" and adding the endings.
-o -emos -es -éis -e -en
Beber (to drink)
bebo bebemos bebes bebéis bebe beben
Hacer (to make)
hago hacemos haces haceis hace hacen
-IR Verbs
-IR verbs are conjugated by removing the infinitive ending "-ir" and adding the endings.
-o -imos -es -ís -e -en
Vivir (to live)
vivo vivimos vives vivís vive viven
Irregular Verbs
Complete Irregularity
Ser (to be)
soy somos eres sois es son
Estar (to be)
estoy estamos estás estáis está están
Ir (to go)
voy vamos vas vais va van
Haber (to have)
he hemos has habéis ha/hay han/hay
First Person Singular Irregularity
Some verbs only have irregularity in the first person singular forms.
Verbs with a -cir and -cer endings also replace the c in -cir and -cer with 'zc' in the first person singular form.
- conocer (to know) - conozco
- traducir (to translate) - traduzco
- conducir (to drive) - conduzco
Some verbs end in -go instead of the regular -o for the first person singular form, these are completely irregular.
- poner (to put) - pongo
- salir (to leave) - salgo
Also, some verbs end in -jo instead of -o for the first person singular.
- escoger (to choose) - escojo
- corregir (to correct) - correjo
Four verbs are uniquely irregular only in the first person singular forms:
- saber (to know) - sé
- caber (to fit) - quepo
- dar (to give) - doy
- ver (to see) - veo
Stem Changes
Some verbs change their stems when conjugated in these forms: yo, tú, él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes. There are four stem changes in the present tense o to ue, u to ue, e to ie, and e to i. The e to i change only occurs in -IR verbs. The easy way to memorize the change in which forms is called "The Boot." It must be pointed out, however, that using memory techniques to learn a language can prevent one from ever learning the language fluently. Children don't use "tricks" to learn a language (did you?). The way to learn a language is to socially interact with those who speak the language you wish to learn. And remember, never, ever, translate, as it will irreparably impair your ability to learn a new language.
O to Ue - Dormir (to sleep)
duermo dormimos duermes dormís duerme duermen
U to Ue - Jugar (to play)
juego jugamos juegas jugáis juega juegan
E to Ie - Empezar (to begin)
empiezo empezamos empiezas empezáis empieza empiezan
E to I - Pedir (to ask/TO ORDER)
pido pedimos pides pedís pide piden
Imperfect
The Imperfect is the easiest tense to learn in Spanish because the conjugations are almost completely regular: there are 3 irregular verbs! In all conjugations of the Imperfect, the first person singular forms (yo) and the third person singular/second person polite forms are same. For example, "caminaba" can mean "he used to walk" or "I was walking."
Regular Verbs
-AR Verbs
-AR verbs are conjugated by removing the "-ar" and adding the following endings (note accent on nosotros form!):
-aba -ábamos -abas -abais -aba -aban
Estudiar (to study)
estudiaba estudiábamos estudiabas estudiabais estudiaba estudiaban
-ER Verbs
-ER and -IR Verbs are conjugated identically by removing the "-er" or "-ir" and adding the following endings (note accents on all forms!):
-ía -íamos -ías -íais -ía -ían
Beber (to drink)
bebía bebíamos bebías bebíais bebía bebían
Salir (to leave)
salía salíamos salías salíais salía salían
Irregular Verbs
There are only 3 irregular verbs in the Imperfect tense: Ser, Ir, and Ver.
Ser (to be)
era éramos eras erais era eran
Ir (to go)
iba íbamos ibas ibais iba iban
Ver (to see)
veía veíamos veías veíais veía veían
Preterite
Regular Verbs
-AR Verbs
-AR verbs are conjugated by removing the "-ar" from the infinitive and adding the endings.
-é -amos -aste -asteis -ó -aron
Comprar (to buy)
compré compramos compraste comprasteis compró compraron
-ER & IR Verbs
Like the -AR verbs, -ER & -IR verbs are conjugated by removing the infinitive ending "-er" or "-ir" and adding the endings.
-í -imos -iste -isteis -ió -ieron
Comer (to eat)
comí comimos comiste comisteis comió comieron
Vivir (to live)
viví vivimos viviste vivisteis vivío vivieron
Irregular Verbs
Note: Ir and Ser are identical in the Preterite
Ir (to go) and Ser (to be)
fui fuimos fuiste fuisteis fue fueron
Tener (to have)
tuve tuvimos tuviste tuvisteis tuvo tuvieron
Haber (to have auxiliary)
hube hubimos hubiste hubisteis hubo hubieron
Future
In Spanish, especially in Latin American countries, it is more usual to utilise the ir + infinitive verb form (like going to) than the future conjugation.
Example
Yo "Voy a comer" instead of "Comeré" Tu "Vas a comer" instead of "Comerás" El "Va a comer" instead of "Comerá" Nosotros "Vamos a comer" instead of "Comeremos" Vosotros "Vais a comer" instead of "Comeréis" Ellos "Van a comer" instead of "Comerán"
Still it is easy: Remember the present tense of verb "Haber" minus "h" and add to the infinitive form of the verb
The verb "Haber": he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han
For future = é, ás, á, emos, éis, án
Example:Amar
Yo amaré Tu amarás El amará Nosotros amaremos Vosotros amaréis Ellos amarán
Temer
Yo temeré Tú temerás Él temerá Nosotros temeremos Vosotros temeréis Ellos temerán
Partir
Yo partiré .. partirás, partirá, partiremos, partiréis, partirán
An so on in many many verbs. There are exceptions but easy ones
Salir (exception it changes to saldr) Yo saldré, saldrás, saldrá, saldremos, saldréis, saldrán
Venir (exception it changes to vendr) Yo vendré, vendrás, vendrá, vendremos, vendréis, vendrán
Conditional
In this tense, the action is conditioned to something to happen. Use conditional for asking in polite form like in English with would. Or use it to form conditional expressions.
¿Vendrías a casa? = Would you like to come home? ¿Tomarías café? = Would you like to drink coffee? Comería si tubiera hambre = I would eat if I was hungry.
-ar, -er and -ir verbs
ía iamos ías íais ía ían
Amar
amaría amaríamos amarías amaríais amaría amarían
Temer
temería temeríamos temerías temeríais temería temerían
Partir
partiría partiríamos partirías partiríais partiría partirían
These changes in the conditional tense apply even to the verbs Ser, Estar and Ir!
Exceptions
Tener (changes to tendr): tendría, tendrías, tendríamos, tendríais, tendrían Salir (changes to sald): saldría, saldrías, saldríamos, saldríais, saldrían and so on
Present Subjunctive
Imperfect Subjunctive
Pluperfect
Preterite Perfect
The meaning is not the same as in English: Something that has been done in the past but still important in the present or continue by the moment.
Format
Haber verb + past participle of the verb
Examples that home (and still living today)
Viví en esa casa = I lived in that home (not now) He tomado mucho = I had drunk a lot (now I'm full) Tomé mucho = I drank a lot (may be yesterday) Viví mucho tiempo = wrong tense unless it was a ghost talking
Well usually in Latin America they almost never use this tense and mix the past perfect and simple past you have to adapt the meaning. Usually people from Spain use the tense properly but in Latin American to use this tense could show some fancy - elevated studies language that is not the normal rule or can be comic to some one from there.
Amar (to love)
he amado hemos amado has amado habéis amado ha amado han amado
Tomar (to drink)
he tomado hemos tomado has tomado habéis tomado ha tomado han tomado
and so on. There are no exceptions.
Future Perfect
Conditional Perfect
same as formal commands
Perfect Subjunctive
Commands
Commands are one of the easiest tenses to learn in Spanish because it has only few irregularities and there are only four forms (tú, usted, vosotros, and ustedes) instead of the regular six and relies on other conjugated forms.
Regular Verbs (tú and vosotros forms)
-AR, -ER, and -IR verbs
For any type of verb, simply change the form of the verb to the él/ella/Ud. form. For vosotros commands, add a "d".
Cerrar (to close)
cierra cerrad
Traer (to bring)
trae traed
Irregular Tú Commands
There are eight irregular commands. They are as follows:
Ir (to go) - ve Venir (to come) - ven Ser (to be) - sé Tener (to have) - ten Hacer (to do/make) - haz Decir (to say/tell) - di Poner (to put/place) - pon Salir (to get out) - sal
Regular Verbs (Ud. and Uds. forms)
-AR verbs
For the -AR verbs, take the first person singular form (yo) and take off the -o and add the command endings to the stem.
-e -en
Nadar (to swim)
I swim - Nado // You swim - Nades // He/she swims - Nade // we swim - nademos // they swim - naden //
-ER & -IR verbs
For the -ER and -IR verbs, take the first person singular form (yo) and take off the -o and add the command endings to the stem.
-a -an
caber (to fit) - Irregular yo form quepo
quepa quepan
pedir (to ask for) - Stem change e to i
pida pidan
Double Changes
Verbs that end in -car, -gar, and -zar which changes their endings to -que, -gue, and -ce, respectively
secar (to dry)
Seque Sequen
jugar (to play) - Stem change u to ue
Juegue Jueguen
Irregular Verbs
Ser (to be)
Sea Sean
Estar (to be)
Esté Estén
Ir (to go)
Vaya Vayan
Dar (to give)
Dé Den
Saber (to know)
Sepa Sepan