Welcome to Spanish conjugations! Verb conjugation means changing a verb's ending to match who performs the action. In Spanish, this is essential for clear communication. Unlike English, where verbs change very little, Spanish verbs have different endings for each subject. Let's start with the verb 'hablar', which means 'to speak'.
Spanish has six subject pronouns that determine conjugation patterns. These are organized by person and number. First person refers to the speaker: 'yo' for I, and 'nosotros' or 'nosotras' for we. Second person refers to the listener: 'tú' for informal you, and 'vosotros' or 'vosotras' for you all. Third person refers to others: 'él', 'ella', or 'usted' for he, she, or formal you, and 'ellos', 'ellas', or 'ustedes' for they or you all. Note that 'vosotros' is primarily used in Spain, while Latin America uses 'ustedes' for both formal and informal plural you.
Regular AR verbs are the most common verb group in Spanish. Let's use 'hablar', meaning 'to speak', as our example. The conjugation pattern is simple: remove the -ar ending and add the appropriate new ending. The stem 'habl' stays the same for all forms. For 'yo' we add -o to get 'hablo'. For 'tú' we add -as to get 'hablas'. For 'él', 'ella', or 'usted' we add -a to get 'habla'. For 'nosotros' we add -amos to get 'hablamos'. For 'vosotros' we add -áis to get 'habláis'. And for 'ellos', 'ellas', or 'ustedes' we add -an to get 'hablan'. This same pattern works for thousands of regular AR verbs like 'caminar' and 'estudiar'.
Now let's explore regular ER and IR verbs. These two groups share most of their endings, making them easier to learn together. Let's compare 'comer', meaning 'to eat', with 'vivir', meaning 'to live'. For most forms, the endings are identical: yo como and yo vivo both end in -o. Tú comes and tú vives both end in -es. The third person forms come and vive both end in -e. And the plural third person forms comen and viven both end in -en. The key differences appear in just two forms: nosotros and vosotros. For ER verbs like comer, we say 'comemos' and 'coméis'. For IR verbs like vivir, we say 'vivimos' and 'vivís'. Remember: ER uses -emos and -éis, while IR uses -imos and -ís.
Some Spanish verbs don't follow regular patterns and must be memorized individually. These irregular verbs are among the most frequently used in Spanish. Let's look at four essential ones. First, 'ser', meaning 'to be' for permanent characteristics: yo soy, tú eres, él es, nosotros somos, vosotros sois, ellos son. Second, 'estar', also meaning 'to be' but for temporary states: yo estoy, tú estás, él está, nosotros estamos, vosotros estáis, ellos están. Third, 'tener', meaning 'to have': yo tengo, tú tienes, él tiene, nosotros tenemos, vosotros tenéis, ellos tienen. Finally, 'ir', meaning 'to go': yo voy, tú vas, él va, nosotros vamos, vosotros vais, ellos van. These verbs appear in most Spanish conversations, so practice them daily until they become automatic.