er Verbs in the present I

-er and -ir Verbs in the present I

Review

Make sure that you are familiar with the subject pronouns, the idea of conjugation, and the conjugations of regular -ar verbs in the present tense.

This section will focus on the conjugations of the other two types of infinitives in Spanish: -er and -ir verbs. Like -ar verbs, these verbs have their own set of conjugation endings to match the subject pronouns.

-er Verbs

There are many similarities between the conjugations for -er verbs and -ar verbs. See if you can spot them:

Now take a look at this sample verb, comer (to eat). The process for conjugating -er and -ir verbs is exactly the same as that for conjugating -ar verbs.

Examples

1. yo (beber) [beber = to drink]

Subject and subject pronoun: yo

Verb and stem: beber → beb-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -o

Final sentence: yo bebo

2. ellos (aprender) [aprender = to learn]

Subject and subject pronoun: ellos

Verb and stem: aprender → aprend-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -en

Final sentence: ellos aprenden

3. Juan (vender) [vender = to sell]

Subject and subject pronoun: Juan → él

Verb and stem: vender → vend-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -e

Final sentence: Juan vende

4. Marta y Elena (correr) [correr = to run]

Subject and subject pronoun: Marta y Elena → ellas

Verb and stem: correr → corr-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -en

Final sentence: Marta y Elena corren

5. nosotros (prometer) [prometer = to promise]

Subject and subject pronoun: nosotros

Verb and stem: prometer → promet-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -emos

Final sentence: nosotros prometemos

6. tú (comer) [comer = to eat]

Subject and subject pronoun: tú

Verb and stem: comer → com-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -es

Final sentence: tú comes

-ir Verbs

There are even more similarities between -er and -ir verbs than there are between -er and -ar verbs. In fact, -er and -ir verbs have the same conjugation endings in all forms except nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras.

Here is a sample verb: vivir, which means “to live.”

And examples:

1. yo (escribir) [escribir = to write]

Subject and subject pronoun: yo

Verb and stem: escribir → escrib-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -o

Final sentence: yo escribo

2, ellos (decidir) [decidir = to decide]

Subject and subject pronoun: ellos

Verb and stem: decidir → decid-

Conjugation ending that matches subject: -en

Final sentence: ellos deciden