Spanish Verb Endings by Tense & Mood

Priority Learning Order

Verb Classes

Spanish verbs fall into three classes based on their infinitive ending:

• -ar verbs (e.g., hablar — to speak)
• -er verbs (e.g., comer — to eat)
• -ir verbs (e.g., vivir — to live)

The stem is what remains after removing the infinitive ending: habl-, com-, viv-.

1. Present Indicative (Presente de Indicativo)

Use for: current facts, habits, and general truths.

Remove the infinitive ending and add:

*vosotros is used in Spain; Latin American Spanish uses *ustedes* for all plural "you."

Examples:

• Hablo con mi familia. — I speak with my family.
• Comemos en el restaurante. — We eat at the restaurant.
• Vivimos cerca de la iglesia. — We live near the church.

Present Indicative Irregularities

Yo-form irregulars (go-verbs): Many common verbs have an irregular yo form ending in -go but are otherwise regular.

Stem-changing verbs: The vowel in the stem changes in all forms except nosotros (and vosotros). This is called the "boot" or "shoe" pattern.

e → ie:

Other e→ie verbs: entender, empezar, pensar, preferir, sentir

o → ue:

Other o→ue verbs: dormir, volver, encontrar, contar, recordar

e → i (only -ir verbs):

Other e→i verbs: servir, seguir, repetir, conseguir

Fully irregular verbs:

2. Ir + a + Infinitive (Futuro Perifrástico)

Use for: talking about plans or near-future intentions.

Structure: conjugated ir + a + infinitive

• Voy a comer. — I'm going to eat.
• Vamos a estudiar la Biblia. — We're going to study the Bible.
• ¿Vas a ir a la iglesia? — Are you going to go to church?

No new endings to learn — just the present tense of ir (voy, vas, va, vamos, van).

3. Preterite (Pretérito Indefinido)

Use for: completed past actions with a clear beginning and end.

Note: nosotros -ar and -ir forms are identical to present tense; context clarifies meaning.

Examples:

• Hablé con el pastor. — I spoke with the pastor.
• Comieron en casa. — They ate at home.
• Vivimos en México por tres años. — We lived in Mexico for three years.

Preterite Irregularities

Ser and Ir share the same preterite forms (context distinguishes them):

Common irregular preterite stems: These verbs use irregular stems with a shared set of endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -ieron (no accent marks).

Stem-changing -ir verbs change e→i or o→u in third-person forms only:

• pedir: pidió, pidieron
• dormir: durmió, durmieron
• sentir: sintió, sintieron

Spelling-change verbs (-car, -gar, -zar) adjust spelling in the yo form to preserve the sound:

4. Imperfect (Pretérito Imperfecto)

Use for: ongoing or habitual past states and actions ("used to," "was doing").

Examples:

• Cuando era niño, iba a la iglesia cada domingo. — When I was a child, I went to church every Sunday.
• Comíamos juntos cada noche. — We used to eat together every night.

Imperfect Irregularities

Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect:

5. Present Progressive (Presente Progresivo)

Use for: emphasizing an action in progress right now.

Structure: estar (conjugated) + present participle (-ndo form)

Forming the present participle:

• -ar verbs: drop -ar, add -ando → hablar → hablando
• -er / -ir verbs: drop ending, add -iendo → comer → comiendo, vivir → viviendo

Examples:

• Estoy leyendo la Biblia. — I am reading the Bible.
• Están comiendo en el restaurante. — They are eating at the restaurant.

Present Participle Irregularities

Stem-changing -ir verbs apply their stem change to the participle:

• pedir → pidiendo
• dormir → durmiendo
• servir → sirviendo

-er/-ir verbs with a vowel before the ending use -yendo:

• leer → leyendo
• creer → creyendo
• oír → oyendo
• ir → yendo

6. Imperative (Imperativo)

Use for: giving commands and instructions.

Informal (tú) commands

Affirmative tú commands use the él/ella present indicative form:

Negative tú commands use the tú present subjunctive form (see section 10):

• No hables. — Don't speak.
• No comas eso. — Don't eat that.

Irregular affirmative tú commands:

Formal (usted / ustedes) commands

Use the present subjunctive form for all formal commands (affirmative and negative):

• Hable más despacio, por favor. — Please speak more slowly.
• No coman en esta área. — Don't eat in this area.

Nosotros commands ("Let's...")

Use the nosotros present subjunctive form:

• Oremos juntos. — Let's pray together.
• Comamos. — Let's eat.

7. Present Perfect (Pretérito Perfecto)

Use for: past actions that connect to or affect the present.

Structure: haber (conjugated) + past participle

Conjugating haber in present:

Forming the past participle:

• -ar verbs: drop -ar, add -ado → hablar → hablado
• -er / -ir verbs: drop ending, add -ido → comer → comido, vivir → vivido

Examples:

• He leído la Biblia esta mañana. — I have read the Bible this morning.
• Hemos comido en ese restaurante. — We have eaten at that restaurant.

Irregular Past Participles

8. Future Indicative (Futuro Simple)

Use for: future events, predictions, and formal statements.

Unlike most tenses, the future is added to the full infinitive (no stem removal):

Examples:

• Hablaré con el pastor mañana. — I will speak with the pastor tomorrow.
• Viviremos en paz. — We will live in peace.

Future Irregularities

A set of common verbs use an irregular stem but the same endings:

9. Conditional (Condicional Simple)

Use for: polite requests, hypotheticals, and "would" statements.

Like the future, the conditional is added to the full infinitive:

Examples:

• ¿Podría hablar con usted? — Could I speak with you?
• Comería más, pero estoy lleno. — I would eat more, but I'm full.

Conditional Irregularities

The conditional uses the same irregular stems as the future:

• tener → tendría, tendrías, tendría...
• hacer → haría, harías, haría...
• (Apply the same stem changes listed in the future section above)

10. Present Subjunctive (Presente de Subjuntivo)

Use for: wishes, doubt, emotion, recommendations, and hypotheticals.

Formation: Start from the yo present indicative, drop the -o, and add the "opposite" vowel endings (-ar verbs take -e endings; -er/-ir verbs take -a endings):

Examples:

• Espero que vengas a la iglesia. — I hope you come to church.
• Es importante que hablemos. — It's important that we talk.
• No creo que coman carne. — I don't think they eat meat.

Because the subjunctive starts from the yo present form, verbs with irregular yo forms (go-verbs, etc.) carry that irregularity into all subjunctive forms:

• tener (yo: tengo) → tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengan
• hacer (yo: hago) → haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagan
• salir (yo: salgo) → salga, salgas, salga, salgamos, salgan

Fully Irregular Present Subjunctives

11. Imperfect Subjunctive (Imperfecto de Subjuntivo)

Use for: hypotheticals about the present/future ("if I were..."), past-rooted wishes, and polite requests.

Formation: Take the ellos preterite form, remove -ron, and add the following endings. There are two equally valid sets; the -ra forms are far more common in Latin American Spanish.

Examples:

• Si pudiera, iría a Jerusalén. — If I could, I would go to Jerusalem.
• Quería que habláramos. — She wanted us to talk.

Because the imperfect subjunctive is based on the ellos preterite, all preterite irregularities carry over:

• tener (ellos preterite: tuvieron) → tuviera, tuvieras, tuviera...
• ser/ir (ellos preterite: fueron) → fuera, fueras, fuera...
• hacer (ellos preterite: hicieron) → hiciera, hicieras, hiciera...

Quick Reference: Tense Endings at a Glance