Spanish Reference Grammar - Verbs
The present tense of verbs
In Spanish there are three forms of the infinite of the verb. They have one of the following endings:
- -ar
- -er
- -ir
The infinitive form of a verb is that which appears in a dictionary, and which is indicated in English by the use of the word 'to' in front. Thus, 'to look' is an infinitive in English. The infinitive is the starting point from which all tenses are formed.
To form the present tense of a Spanish regular verb ending in '-ar-, for example 'hablar' (to speak), take away the '-ar', (the ending), and to what is left (the stem), add, '-o', '-as', '-a', '-amos', '-áis', '-an'. So for the present tense of hablar, we have:
hablar: to speak
| Pronoun | Verb form | English translation |
| yo | hablo | I have |
| tú | hablas | You (singular, informal) have |
| usted | habla | You (singular, formal) have |
| él/ella | habla | He/she/it has |
| nosotros/as | hablamos | We have |
| vosotros/as | habláis | You (plural, informal) have |
| ustedes | hablan | You (plural, formal) have |
| ellos/ellas | hablan | They have |
The endings of a verb ending in '-er', such as 'beber', are '-o', '-es', '-e', '-emos', '-éis', '-en'.
For a verb ending in '-ir', such as 'vivir', the endings are '-o', '-es', '-e', '-imos', '-ís', 'en'.
beber: to drink
| Pronoun | Verb form | English translation |
| yo | bebo | I drink |
| tú | bebes | You (singular, informal) drink |
| usted | bebe | You (singular, formal) drink |
| él/ella | bebe | He/she/it drinks |
| nosotros/as | bebemos | We drink |
| vosotros/as | bebéis | You (plural, informal) drink |
| ustedes | beben | You (plural, formal) drink |
| ellos/ellas | beben | They drink |
vivir: to live
| Pronoun (singular) | Verb form | English translation |
| yo | vivo | I live |
| tú | vives | You (singular, informal) live |
| usted | vive | You (singular, formal) live |
| él/ella | vive | He/she/it lives |
| nosotros/as | vivimos | We live |
| vosotros/as | vivís | You (plural, informal) live |
| ustedes | viven | You (plural, formal) live |
| ellos/ellas | viven | They live |
Because the subject pronoun is not always used, the ending of the verb is very important; otherwise the subject of the sentence could be unclear.
Affirmative
As it is not always necessary to use subject pronouns, to say 'I speak...' (a language), 'hablo' could be sufficient. However, in the third person it is not always clear who the subject is, so it might be necessary for clarity to say 'él habla', or 'ustedes hablan', for example.
Negative
If you want to say 'I don’t speak', simply put 'no' in front of the verb. For example: 'No hablo español' - 'I don't speak Spanish'.
Interrogative
To ask a question you can change the order of the subject and verb, eg '¿hablas tú?' However, since the subject pronoun is not always used, you could simply say '¿hablas?' and the rising intonation would indicate a question. Note the inverted question mark at the beginning; this warns you that a question is coming. See Interrogative verbs and Spanish alphabet for more information.