If you’re planning to start learning Spanish grammar, we recommend you start with the present tenses! There are several present tenses, and in this lesson we’ll start by explaining the Simple Present Tense (or in Spanish “el presente simple” or “el presente del indicativo”).
When do we use it?
In general we use it:
- To talk about habits and routine.
- To talk about universal truths and facts.
- To talk about permanent things.
For example:
- Los lunes voy a clases de piano. On Mondays I go to piano lessons.
- El sol nace en el este. The sun rises in the East.
- Yo soy uruguaya. I’m Uruguayan.
How do we form the verbs in the present simple tense?
Let’s start by taking a look at the regular ones. There are three types of regular verbs, according to their endings: ar, er and ir.
This chart will help you to form the AR verbs:
Subject Pronoun | Verb in the infinitive HABLAR – to speak (The stem is “habl” and the ending is “ar” – What we modify is the ending, but we keep the stem). |
| Yo (I) | Hablo |
| Tú (you-singular, informal) | Hablas |
| Él (he) , Ella (she), Usted (you-formal) | Habla |
| Nosotros/as (we) | Hablamos |
| Vosotros/as (you-plural, informal – Only used in Spain) | Habláis |
| Ellos/as (They), Ustedes (You-plural, formal in Spain and both formal and informal in Latin America). | Hablan |
Now let’s see the “ER” verbs:
Subject Pronoun | Verb in the infinitive COMER – to eat (The stem is “com” and the ending is “er” – What we modify is the ending, but we keep the stem). |
| Yo (I) | Como |
| Tú (you-singular, informal) | Comes |
| Él (he) , Ella (she), Usted (you-formal) | Come |
| Nosotros/as (we) | Comemos |
| Vosotros/as (you-plural, informal – Only used in Spain) | Coméis |
| Ellos/as (They), Ustedes (You-plural, formal in Spain and both formal and informal in Latin America). | Comen |
and finally, the “IR” verbs:
Subject Pronoun | Verb in the infinitive VIVIR – to live (The stem is “viv” and the ending is “ir” – What we modify is the ending, but we keep the stem). |
| Yo (I) | Vivo |
| Tú (you-singular, informal) | Vives |
| Él (he) , Ella (she), Usted (you-formal) | Vive |
| Nosotros/as (we) | Vivimos |
| Vosotros/as (you-plural, informal – Only used in Spain) | Vivís |
| Ellos/as (They), Ustedes (You-plural, formal in Spain and both formal and informal in Latin America). | Viven |
Take a look at these examples:
AR verbs:
- Juan llora cuando mira un drama. Juan cries when he watches a drama.
- The infinitive form of “to cry” is “llorar”. The stem is “llor” and the ending “ar”. Can you see the rule being applied in this example? The same happens with “mirar” (to look/watch). The stem is “mir” and the ending “ar”. The right ending for “He” is “a” = llora, mira.
ER verbs:
- Nosotras siempre entendemos la clase. We always understand the lesson.
- The infinitive form of “to understand” is “entender”. The stem is “entend” and the ending “er”. The right ending for “we” (nosotros) is “emos” = entendemos.
IR verbs:
- Nosotros partimos al trabajo todas las mañanas a las ocho. We leave to work every morning at eight.
- As you’ve noticed, most of the “er” forms are the same as the “ir” forms, except for “nosotros” and “vosotros”. The infinitive verb “to leave” in Spanish is “partir”. The stem is “part” and the ending “ir”. So the right ending for “we” (nosotros) is “imos” = partimos.
We hope this first introduction to the Present Simple Tense has been helpful for you, stay tuned for the next lesson, in which we’ll introduce the irregular “yo” forms of present simple verbs.