
While you’re studying about Spanish verbs, one of many first stuff you’ll discover out is that they’re organized based mostly on their endings. There are -ER, -AR, and -IR verbs, and also you’ll must know the variations between the three if you wish to talk clearly in Spanish.
A few of the most vital verbs you possibly can study are -ER verbs, so let’s take a more in-depth have a look at them. Under, we checklist numerous widespread -ER verbs which can be useful to know, break down what an -ER verb is, and highlight 5 necessary Spanish -ER verbs it is best to study.
What’s an -ER verb in Spanish?
An -ER verb is precisely what it appears like: a verb ending within the letters “er.” Spanish verb endings are vital—these last two letters sign how a verb must be conjugated.
By conjugating a verb, it is possible for you to to specific that an motion has been carried out by a special topic (you, he, they, and so forth.) or in a special tense (current, previous, future, and so forth.)
In Spanish, the vast majority of verbs have considered one of these three endings:
- -AR endings, e.g., hablar and usar
- -ER endings, e.g., beber and leer
- -IR endings, e.g., escribir and vivir
Word that every of the verbs listed above is in its infinitive type, which suggests they haven’t been conjugated. While you’re able to conjugate a verb, you’ll discover that verbs ending in -ER are conjugated in another way than -AR and -IR verbs.
Conjugate Spanish -ER verbs in current tense
Tense lets you categorical when one thing occurred. The current tense is probably the most primary tense you’ll study in Spanish, and you’ll apply it to verbs while you wish to speak about issues occurring now or recurrently.
To conjugate an -ER verb within the current tense, you take away the ending from the infinitive (i.e. unconjugated) type and add the conjugated ending for the tense you want. Check out some examples of -ER verbs conjugated within the current tense right here:
beber (to drink) | leer (to learn) | vender (to promote) | |
yo |
bebo | leo | vendo |
tú you, singular casual |
beba | lees | vendes |
él, ella he, she |
bebe | lee | vende |
usted you, singular formal |
bebe | lee | vende |
nosotros / nosotras* we |
bebemos | leemos | vendemos |
vosotros / vosotras* you, plural, casual, used solely in Spain |
bebéis | leéis | vendéis |
ellos / ellas* they |
beben | leen | venden |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
beben | leen | venden |
Conjugate Spanish -ER verbs within the 5 commonest tenses
If you happen to use an -ER verb to speak about one thing occurring up to now, you’d conjugate it in another way than an -ER verb used to speak concerning the current. Every verb has its personal conjugation patterns for various tenses.
There are roughly 15 Spanish tenses, however figuring out these 5 will provide help to really feel comfy in any dialog. You should use every tense to speak about:
- Current tense: issues occurring now or recurrently (“I stroll to the shop.”)
- Preterite tense: occasions which were accomplished, much like previous tense (“I walked to the shop.”)
- Imperfect tense: actions that occurred repeatedly or over an prolonged time frame (“I used to be strolling to the shop when…”)
- Future tense: issues that may occur sooner or later (“I’ll stroll to the shop.”)
- Conditional tense: hypothetical actions (“You’ll get moist if it rained.”)
And right here’s how you’d conjugate -ER verbs in these tenses, utilizing the widespread Spanish verb comer (to eat) for example:
stem + ending |
infinitive + ending |
||||
Current |
Preterite |
Imperfect |
Future |
Conditional |
|
yo |
como |
comí |
comía |
comeré |
comería |
tú you, singular casual |
comes |
comiste |
comías |
comerás |
comerías |
él, ella he, she |
come |
comió |
comía |
comerá |
comería |
usted |
come |
comió |
comía |
comerá |
comería |
nosotros / nosotras |
comemos |
comimos |
comíamos |
comeremos |
comeríamos |
vosotros / vosotras |
coméis |
comisteis |
comíais |
comeréis |
comeríais |
ellos / ellas |
comen |
comieron |
comían |
comerán |
comerían |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
comen |
comieron |
comían |
comerán |
comerían |
Frequent Spanish -ER verbs
These -ER verbs — together with their conjugated kinds — are famous by the Real Academia Española as a number of the most continuously used phrases within the Spanish language, so that they’re useful to study.
Many of those verbs are irregular, and a few are stem-changing or bear spelling changes when conjugated. This implies they don’t observe regular Spanish conjugation guidelines. We’ve marked the irregular verbs on this checklist with an asterisk (*). To see the way to conjugate these verbs, you possibly can look them up in a dependable conjugation dictionary, similar to SpanishDict.
- aprender = to study
- beber = to drink
- caber* = to suit
- caer* = to fall
- comer = to eat
- conocer* = to know
- correr = to run
- crecer* = to develop
- creer* = to consider
- deber = ought to/to owe
- depender = to rely
- desaparecer* = to vanish
- entender* = to grasp
- leer* = to learn
- parecer* = to look
- perder* = to lose
- poner* = to place
- querer* = to need/to like
- recoger* = to select up/to assemble
- romper* = to interrupt
- saber* = to know/to style
- suponer* = to suppose
- traer* = to carry
- valer* = to price/to be price
- vender = to promote
- ver* = to see
- volver* = to return/to return again
5 important irregular Spanish -ER verbs
Many -ER verbs will observe the conjugation patterns above. You also needs to know, although, that fairly just a few -ER verbs are irregular, which suggests they’ve a number of exceptions to typical conjugation guidelines.
English has irregular verbs, too. For example, take into consideration the phrases “prepare dinner” and “eat.” While you conjugate “prepare dinner” into different tenses, like “cooked”, “cooks”, or “cooking”, you observe constant guidelines that apply to many different verbs. This makes it a daily verb. Nonetheless, while you conjugate “eat” into the previous tense, you employ “ate” as a substitute of “eated.” It doesn’t observe these constant guidelines, which makes it an irregular verb.
These 5 Spanish -ER verbs are so widespread that it is best to think about them important. They arrive up usually in primary conversations, and also you’ll have hassle getting by with out being aware of them. All of those verbs are irregular.
Ser
Ser means “to be”. This verb has quite a lot of functions, similar to describing traits, occupations, relationships, possession, and time.
Soy arquitecto. = I am an architect.
Somos hermanas. = We are sisters.
Estas herramientas eran de mi padre. = These instruments had been my father’s.
Será julio pronto. = It will probably be July quickly.
Current | Preterite | Future | Imperfect | Conditional | |
yo I |
soy | fui | seré | period | sería |
tú you, singular casual |
eres | fuiste | serás | eras | serías |
él, ella he, she |
es | fue | será | period | sería |
usted you, singular formal |
es | fue | será | period | sería |
nosotros / nosotras we |
somos | fuimos | seremos | éramos | seríamos |
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, casual, used solely in Spain |
sois | fuisteis | seréis | erais | seríais |
ellos / ellas they |
son | fueron | serán | eran | serían |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
son | fueron | serán | eran | serían |
Haber
Haber can imply “to be” or “to have,” relying on the context by which it’s getting used.
When it’s used as an auxiliary verb, it means “to have.” It’s positioned earlier than the previous participle of one other verb to type the right tense.
Había completado su tarea. = He had accomplished his homework.
Se han mudado a una nueva ciudad. = They have moved to a brand new metropolis.
Haber has a particular type, hay, which is used when it means “to be.” It’s used to explain issues being current or in a sure place. An equal in English is “there’s” or “there are.”
Hay una mosca en la pared. = There may be a fly on the wall.
Current | Preterite | Future | Imperfect | Conditional | |
yo I |
he | hube | habré | había | habría |
tú you, singular casual |
has | hubiste | habrás | habías | habrías |
él, ella he, she |
ha, hay | hubo | habrá | había | habría |
usted you, singular formal |
ha, hay | hubo | habrá | había | habría |
nosotros / nosotras we |
hemos | hubimos | habremos | habíamos | habríamos |
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, casual, used solely in Spain |
habéis | hubisteis | habréis | habíais | habríais |
ellos / ellas they |
han | hubieron | habrán | habían | habrían |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
han | hubieron | habrán | habían | habrían |
Tener
Tener is one other verb that may imply “to be” or “to have,” relying on context. It may be used to specific possession, feelings, bodily state, tasks, and age.
Tengo hambre. = I am hungry.
Tenía 20 años el año pasado. = I was 20 years outdated final yr.
Tendrán un bebé el próximo mes. = They’ll have a child subsequent month.
Tuviste que ir a la escuela ayer. = You had to go to highschool yesterday.
Current | Preterite | Future | Imperfect | Conditional | |
yo I |
tengo | tuve | tendré | -tena | tendría |
tú you, singular casual |
tienes | tuviste | tendrás | tenías | tendrías |
él, ella he, she |
tiene | tuvo | tendrá | tenía | tendría |
usted you, singular formal |
tiene | tuvo | tendrá | tenía | tendría |
nosotros / nosotras we |
tenemos | tuvimos | tendremos | teníamos | tendríamos |
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, casual, used solely in Spain |
tenéis | tuvisteis | tendréis | teníais | tendríais |
ellos / ellas they |
tienen | tuvieron | tendrán | tenían | tendrían |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
tienen | tuvieron | tendrán | tenían | tendrían |
Poder
Poder means “to have the ability to,” and it’s used to speak a capability to do one thing. It’s an auxiliary verb, so it’s all the time adopted by one other verb.
Pude hacer malabares una vez. = I was in a position to juggle as soon as.
Ella puede llevarte a casa esta noche. = She can drive you dwelling tonight.
Current | Preterite | Future | Imperfect | Conditional | |
yo I |
puedo | pude | podré | podía | podría |
tú you, singular casual |
puedes | pudiste | podrás | podías | podrías |
él, ella he, she |
puede | pudo | podrá | podía | podría |
usted you, singular formal |
puede | pudo | podrá | podía | podría |
nosotros / nosotras we |
podemos | pudimos | podremos | podíamos | podríamos |
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, casual, used solely in Spain |
podéis | pudisteis | podréis | podíais | podríais |
ellos / ellas they |
pueden | pudieron | podrán | podían | podrían |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
pueden | pudieron | podrán | podían | podrían |
Hacer
Hacer primarily means “to do” or “to make.”
Hicimos un cartel para la venta. = We made a poster for the sale.
Lo harás mañana. = You’ll do it tomorrow.
You too can use it to specific time passing. This may be difficult for English audio system to study as a result of, while you use hacer on this manner, it doesn’t have a transparent and direct English equal.
Hace una hora que canta. = He has been singing for an hour.
Current | Preterite | Future | Imperfect | Conditional | |
yo I |
hago | hice | haré | hacía | haría |
tú you, singular casual |
haces | hiciste | harás | hacías | harías |
él, ella he, she |
hace | hizo | hará | hacía | haría |
usted you, singular formal |
hace | hizo | hará | hacía | haría |
nosotros / nosotras we |
hacemos | hicimos | haremos | hacíamos | haríamos |
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, casual, used solely in Spain |
hacéis | hicisteis | haréis | hacíais | haríais |
ellos / ellas they |
hacen | hicieron | harán | hacían | harían |
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/casual in Latin America |
hacen | hicieron | harán | hacían | harían |
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