Regular Present Tense ER and IR Verbs

The infinitive: The basic, unconjugated
form of the verb. hablar

The fundamental parts of the

verb

The ending: The last two letters of the
infinitive.

The stem: What is left after taking the ending
from the infinitive.

ar

habl

There are three types of regular verbs in
Spanish: verbs that end in –ar, verbs that
end in –er, and verbs that end in –ir.

You’ve already learned –ar verbs:

yo hablo

nosotros hablamos

tú hablas

vosotros habláis

él, ella habla

ellos hablan

Common Regular AR Verbs:

•Hablar To speak, to talk
•Levantar To raise
•Tomar To take

•Escuchar To listen to

•Usar

To use

•Llegar To arrive

•EntrarTo enter

•Estudiar

To study

•ConversarTo converse, to talk
•Llevar To carry, to wear

•Bailar Dance

•Cantar

To sing

•Tocar To touch, to play an instrument

•Mirar To look at, to watch
•Preparar To prepare
•Comprar

To buy

•Ayudar

To help

•Caminar

To walk

•Cocinar

To cook

•pasar To pass, to spend (time), to happen

Now for –er verbs:

To form –er verbs, take off the –er and then add

the following endings:

comer (to eat)

-o

-emos

como

comemos

-es

-éis

comes

coméis

-e

-en

come

comen

Notice that the only difference between –er

verbs and –ar verbs is that you use e’s instead
of a’s:

-ar -er

-o

-amos

-o

-emos

-as

-áis

-es

-éis

-a

-an

-e

-en

-ER Verbs

The following verbs are regular -er
verbs and are conjugated according to
the pattern in the previous slide.

aprender

to learn

beber

to drink

comer

to eat

creer

to believe

leer

to read

correr

to run

(+ a + infinitive) (to do something)

Now for –ir verbs. Drop the –ir and add the
following endings:

abrir (to open)

-o

-imos

abro

abrimos

-es

-ís

abres

abrís

-e

-en

abre

abren

Do you see what the difference is between –er
and –ir verbs? They’re just alike except for the
nosotros and vosotros forms:

-er
-ir

-o

-emos

-o

-imos

-es

-éis

-es

-ís

-e

-en

-e

-en

-IR Verbs

The following verbs are regular -ir verbs and
are conjugated according to the pattern in the
previous slides.

abrir

to open

compartir to share

decidir

to decide

escribir to write

recibir

to receive

vivir

to live

In conclusion:

The only difference between –ar verbs
and –er verbs is that you use e’s
instead of a’s in the –er verbs. And the
only difference between –er verbs and
–ir verbs is the nosotros and vosotros
forms.

So when you’re conjugating verbs, be sure

you know if the infinitive (the form ending in
–ar or –er or -ir; e.g., hablar and comer and
abrir are infinitives) ends with an –ar, –er, or
–ir so you’ll know what ending to put on it:

You talk: hablas HABLAR we talk: hablamos
You eat: comes COMER we eat: comemos
You open: abres ABRIR we open: abrimos