SPANISH PRESENT TENSE

In Spanish, verbs are classified into three types.

Verbs ending in AR, (HABLAR)

Verbs ending in ER, (BEBER)

Verbs ending in IR, (ESCRIBIR)

Regular Verbs
With regular verbs in Spanish, only the ending part of that verb (the -ar, er or -ir part) changes depending on who does the action. However, unlike
English, there is a different ending for each subject (pronoun).

(yo)
(t)
(usted, l,
ella)
(nosotros,
as)
(vosotros,
-as)
(ustedes,
ellos, ellas)

trabajar

comer

vivir

trabaj-o
trabaj-as
trabaj-a

com-o
com-es
com-e

viv-o
viv-es
viv-e

Trabaj-amos

com-emos

viv-imos

trabaj-is

com-is

viv-s

trabaj-an

com-en

viv-en

If you have the verb Hablar (to speak) and you want to say "I speak". You
just remove the last two letters of the verb (in this case remove the -ar) and
add the letter -O to the end to create the conjugated verb Hablo which
means "I speak".
Another example: if you want to say "They eat", we take the original verb,
in this case Comer, we remove the ending (-er) and then add -EN to the
end (because ellos = they). We now have Comen (they eat).
You will notice that certain verb endings are repeated. For example for YO
(I) we take off the ending for all regular verbs and add the -O to the root
(main part) of the verb.

Also see how the only difference between -ER verbs and -IR verb endings
is when we use nosotros (we) andvosotros (you/plural/informal).
The subject pronoun (yo, t, nosotros etc.) is often omitted before the verb
since we normally know who the subject (the person doing the action) is
because of the verb's ending.
For example: If you say "Hablamos espaol" (we speak Spanish). You don't
need to put the pronoun nosotros before the verb because we know that
when we say hablamos, it refers to nosotros (we). So often you will hear or
just read "Hablamos espaol" without the pronoun nosotros.

Irregulars in the first person (YO)

The following verbs are only irregular in the first person (singular). The rest
of the conjugations are as normal (see regular verbs above).
Estar- estoy (to be)
Venir- vengo (to return)
Salir- salgo
(to go out)
Dar- doy
(to give)
Traer- traigo (to bring)
Ir- voy
(to go)
Oir- oigo
(to hear)
Saber- s
(to know)
Hacer- hago
( to do/make)
Conocer- conozco (to know/meet)
Poner- pongo (to put)
Pertenecer- pertenezco (to belong)
Caer- caigo
(to fall)
Conducir- conduzco (to drive)

Changes
There are four types of verbs where the stem of the verb is irregular and
changes. In the present tense these are verbs that change their stem from
O to UE, from U to UE, E to IE, and E to I. Note that this stem change
does not happen when the verb is for nosotros o vosotros (these
maintain the original stem of the verb).

querer (e > dormir (o > jugar (u >

ie)
ue)
ue)

pedir (e
>i)

quiero

duermo

juego

pido

quieres

duermes

juegas

pides

quiere

duerme

juega

pide

queremos

dormimos

jugamos

pedimos

queris

dorms

jugis

peds

quieren

duermen

juegan

piden

Similar verbs:
E>IE
advertir (notice), atravesar (cross), calentar (heat), cerrar (close),
comenzar
(begin), convertir (convert), defender (defend),
despertar (awaken), divertir
(amuse), empezar(begin),
gobernar (govern), herir (injure), pensar (think),
perder (lose),
querer (want), sentir (feel, regret), tropezar (stumble).
O>UE
acordarse (remember), almorzar (eat lunch), apostar (bet),
contar (count, relate), costar (cost), encontrar (find), llover (rain),
morir (die), mover (move), oler (smell), poder(be able), probar (try,
prove) recordar (remember), rogar (beg), sonar (sound), soar (dream),
volar (fly).
U>UE
Jugar ( play)
E>I
competir (compete), conseguir (get), corregir (correct,check),
derretir (melt), despedir (fire, say goodbye), elegir (elect),
medir (measure) , rer (laugh)

servir (serve), seguir (follow,continue), sonrer (smile), repetir (repeat),

vestir (dress).

Irregular verb
Ser (to be)
Soy
Eres
Es
Somos
Sois
Son

Tener (to have)

Tengo
Tienes
Tiene
Tenemos
Tenis
Tienen

Ver (to see)

Veo
Ves
Ve
Vemos
Veis
Ven