In English, we have verbs that conjugate, or change form, according to who says them. For both Spanish and English, we organize conjugations in a "verb chart" (as seen on the left). Whatever conjugation appears in that area is for that specific subject. For example, "to eat" is conjugated as follows:
| I | We |
| You (Informal) | You all |
| He, she, You (formal) | They |
| I eat | We eat |
| You eat | You all eat |
| He/she/it eats | They eat |
What's the difference between Tú and Usted?
Tú is the informal "You", meaning you use it with friends, family, or people you are comfortable with. Usted,
on the other hand, is the formal "You" - it's used to show respect. This is used with grandparents, bosses, teachers,
and people you generally want to show more respect to.
While "to eat" is basically the same conjugation for most forms except the third, as we see, the conjugation is dependent on the subject. Same goes for Spanish! We can also create a Spanish verb chart based on the subjects.
| I = Yo | We = Nosotros/as |
| You = Tú | You all = Vosotros |
| He/she/it = Él/Ella | They = Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas |
Unlike English verbs, ALL spanish verbs end with one of three phrases: "ar", "er", or "ir". We call them AR verbs, ER verbs, and IR verbs, respectively. These phrases are considered the "ending" (since they appear at the end). Thus, the letters before the ending are considered the "stem".
Example with ER verb: Comer ("To eat") - Com = Stem, er = Ending
When conjugating in Spanish, we remove the verb's ending and replace it with a phrase that is dependent on who is doing the action (the subject).
Each type of verb (AR, ER, IR) has its own type of phrases that we use to replace the ending. We use the verb chart to showcase these endings to clarify for which subject each ending is for.
| o | amos |
| as | áis |
| a | an |
Yo hablo con mis amigos.
Tú hablas con sus padres.
Ella habla conmigo.
Nosotros hablamos contigo.
Vosotros habláis con el profesor.
Ustedes hablan por mensajes.
| o | emos |
| es | éis |
| e | en |
Yo como la hamburguesa.
Tú comes en la clase.
Ella come cada día
Nosotros comemos antes de clase.
Vosotros coméis con el profesor.
Ustedes comen en su habitación.
| o | imos |
| es | ís |
| e | en |
Yo escribo en un papel
Tú escribes en la clase de íngles.
Ella escribe con su lapíz.
Nosotros escribimos muchas cartas
Vosotros escribís a sus amigos en España.
Ustedes escribenlibros.
Sometimes in Spanish (as well as English), verbs don't follow the normal rules of conjugation shown above. In other words, they conjugate irregularly - hence why we call them irregulars. Unfortunately, for the present tense, there isn't a clear-cut way to know instantly if a verb is regular or irregular. For this reason, when you are studying verbs for a quiz, always -- ALWAYS -- look up a verb on www.wordreference.org or www.spanishdict.com.
The first type of irregular verbs are called "Stem Changers", meaning a verb's stem (all letters before ending) change depending on the subject. There are three different types of stem changers -- let's explore them!
The 'e' in the stem (if more than one, choose last one) changes to "ie".
| Cierro | Cerramos |
| Cierras | cerraráis |
| Cierra | Cierran |
Other verbs: Pensar, Empezar, Entender, etc...
The 'e' in stem (if more than one, choose last one) changes to 'i'.
| Repito | Repetimos |
| Repites | Repetís |
| Repite | Repiten |
Other verbs: Decir, Servir, Pedir, etc...
The 'o' in stem (if more than one, choose last one) changes to "ue".
| Duermo | Dormimos |
| Duermes | Dormís |
| Duerme | Duermen |
Other verbs: Almorzar, Recordar, Morir, etc...
Wait...We don't stem change in the 4th and 5th form/Nosotros and Vosotros form?
NOPE! We do NOT stem change in those two areas. You can just conjugate as normal!
These words have some funky-looking YO forms. These are only a few - ALWAYS LOOK A VERB UP!
*Note*: The verbs above are ONLY irregular in the YO form.
Dar and Ver have weird YO forms, but also have weird vosotros forms.
Oír is also irregular in all forms.
| Oigo | Oímos |
| Oyes | Oís |
| Oye | Oyen |
Can a verb have two irregular properties?
Yes! For example: Decir ("To Say") - It is irregular as it has a weird YO form and it stem changes from E:I.
| Digo | Decimos |
| Dices | Decís |
| Dice | Dicen |
These verbs are also irregular, but they are the most common, so it's best to include them here.
("To Be")
| Soy | somos |
| eres | sois |
| es | son |
("To Be")
| Estoy | Estamos |
| Estás | Estáis |
| Está | Están |
("To Go")
| Voy | Vamos |
| Vas | Vais |
| Va | Van |
("To Play")
| Juega | Jugamos |
| Juegas | jugáis |
| Juega | Juegan |