As its name indicates, the present tense is used to describe actions taking place in the present. While English can express present actions in at least three different ways, Spanish can express them all with just one word. Compare:
In Spanish all three can be expressed by one word: Estudio. If the speaker wishes to emphasize the continuous nature of the activity the present progressive may be appropriate.
There are three categories of regular verbs in the present indicative tense in Spanish, one for verbs whose infinitives end in -ar (e.g., hablar, llegar), one for those ending in -er (e.g., comer, beber), and one for those ending in -ir (e.g., vivir, partir). In order to conjugate each verb, one must add a verb ending to the stem. The stem is formed by removing the infinitive ending. The present tense endings for the three conjugations are similar in their pattern, but it is essential to observe their vocalic differences.
1. verbs like hablar (stem = habl-)
SingularPlural
- (yo) hablo — I speak
- (tú) hablas — you speak
- (usted, él, ella) habla - you, he, she speak(s)
- (nosotros/nosotras) hablamos — we speak
- (vosotros/vosotras) habláis — you speak
- (ustedes, ellos, ellas) hablan — you, they speak
2. verbs like comer (stem = com-)
SingularPlural
- (yo) como — I eat
- (tú) comes — you eat
- (usted, él, ella) come - you, he, she eat(s)
- (nosotros/nosotras) comemos — we eat
- (vosotros/vosotras) coméis — you eat
- (ustedes, ellos, ellas) comen — you, they eat
3. verbs like vivir (stem = viv-)
SingularPlural
- (yo) vivo — I live
- (tú) vives — you live
- (usted, él, ella) vive - you, he, she live(s)
- (nosotros/nosotras) vivimos — we live
- (vosotros/vosotras) vivís — you live
- (ustedes, ellos, ellas) viven — you, they live
To summarize, to conjugate -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in the
present tense in Spanish, add the following endings to the verb
stems.
-AR verbs
-ER verbs
-IR verbs