How to Conjugate Regular and Irregular Verbs in Spanish: A Simple Guide for All Learners

Learning Spanish verbs can feel intimidating at first—but once you understand the patterns, everything becomes much more predictable. In this blog, we’ll break down regular and irregular verb conjugations in the present tense, with easy examples and tips to help you build confidence.

⭐ What Are Regular and Irregular Verbs?

Regular verbs follow consistent patterns when you conjugate them.Irregular verbs break the rules—some a little, some a lot.

Spanish verbs end in -ar, -er, or -ir, and these endings determine how the verb is conjugated.

Conjugating Regular Verbs

Regular verbs are the easiest place to start. To conjugate them in the present tense:

1. Remove the ending (-ar, -er, -ir)

2. Add the appropriate ending based on the subject.

🔹 Regular -AR Verbs (Ex: hablar – to speak)

Subject	Ending	Example
yo	-o	hablo
tú	-as	hablas
él/ella/usted	-a	habla
nosotros	-amos	hablamos
vosotros	-áis	habláis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	-an	hablan

🔹 Regular -ER Verbs (Ex: comer – to eat)

Subject	Ending	Example
yo	-o	como
tú	-es	comes
él/ella/usted	-e	come
nosotros	-emos	comemos
vosotros	-éis	coméis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	-en	comen

🔹 Regular -IR Verbs (Ex: vivir – to live)

Subject	Ending	Example
yo	-o	vivo
tú	-es	vives
él/ella/usted	-e	vive
nosotros	-imos	vivimos
vosotros	-ís	vivís
ellos/ellas/ustedes	-en	viven

Conjugating Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs don’t follow the regular pattern, so you must learn their forms. There are several types of irregularities:

⭐ 1. Stem-Changing Verbs

These verbs change the vowel in the stem. The endings follow regular patterns, but the stem changes for all forms except nosotros & vosotros.

Common Patterns:

• e → ie (e.g., pensar → pienso)

• o → ue (e.g., dormir → duermo)

• e → i (e.g., pedir → pido)

Example: pensar (to think)

| yo | pienso || tú | piensas || él/ella/usted | piensa || nosotros | pensamos || vosotros | pensáis || ellos/ellas/ustedes | piensan |

⭐ 2. “Go” Verbs

These verbs have a “go” ending in the yo form.

Examples:

• hacer → hago

• poner → pongo

• salir → salgo

• traer → traigo

• tener → tengo (also stem-changing)

⭐ 3. Irregular in All Forms

Some verbs are irregular across the board—they simply must be memorized.

Examples:

ser (to be)soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son

ir (to go)voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van

estar (to be – temporary/state)estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están

Tips for Mastering Verb Conjugations

✔ Practice with high-frequency verbs first

✔ Use flashcards or verb apps

✔ Speak out loud—muscle memory matters

✔ Look for patterns (especially in irregulars)

✔ Create sentences with new verbs daily