Present Tense

Usage

The present tense of the verbs in both English and Spanish is sometimes called the habitual present. This is because we usually use this tense to speak about things we do on a more or less frequent basis. For example, we'll say: 'I usually get up at 7:00' or 'He never comes on time'.

One difference in the use of this tense between English and Spanish is that Spanish uses this tense when referring to the near future. In English, we use the present progressive whereas Spanish uses the simple present. For example:

English: Are you coming with me tonight?
Spanish: ¿Vienes conmigo esta noche?

Form

Verb Endings

-AR Verbs

-o          -amos
-as         -áis
-a          -an

-ER Verbs

-o          -emos
-es         -éis
-e          -en

-IR Verbs

-o          -imos
-es         -ís
-e          -en

Examples:

hablar (speak)

hablo          hablamos
hablas         habláis
habla          hablan

comer (eat)

como          comemos
comes         coméis
come          comen

vivir (live)

vivo          vivimos
vives         vivís
vive          viven

Irregular First Person ( yo )

There are a few verbs where the first position - the yo form - is irregular. The rest of the forms are conjugated as they normally would be - stem-change or otherwise. Look at the following examples of hacer (non stem-changing) and tener (a stem-changing verb):

hacer - to do, make   tener - to have

hago   hacemos        tengo    tenemos
haces hacéis         tienes   tenéis
hace   hacen          tiene    tienen

Many of these verbs have a 'g' in the first person:

hacer       hago    to make, do
tener       tengo   to have
poner       pongo   to put
salir       salgo   to leave
caer        caigo   to fall
venir       vengo   to come
oír         oigo    to hear
decir       digo    to say, tell
traer       traigo to bring

Many of the verbs that end in -cer or -cir have 'zc' in the yo form.

agradecer   agradezco   to thank
aparecer    aparezco    to appear
crecer      crezco      to grow
desaparecer desaparezco to disappear
establecer establezco to establish
introducir introduzco to introduce
lucir       luzco       to shine
merecer     merezco     to deserve
obedecer    obedezco    to obey
ofrecer     ofrezco     to offer
parecer     parezco     to seem
pertenecer pertenezco to belong
permanecer permanezco to stay
producir    produzco    to produce
rerducir    reduzco     to reduce
traducir    traduzco    to translate

A few end in 'oy':

dar         doy         to give
estar       estoy       to be
ser         soy         to be
ir          voy         to go

And a few others don't follow any pattern:

saber       sé          to know
ver         veo         to see
caber       quepo       to fit

Stem Changing Verbs

It would be nice if you could simply put these endings on all the verbs and leave it at that. But many verbs change their stem. Remember that in a Spanish verb (for example, 'comer') com- is called the stem and -er is called the ending.

The change takes place in all persons except the 'nosotros' and the 'vosotros'. There are three types of stem-changes:

1. e changes to ie

Example: perder (ie) - lose

pierdo          perdemos
pierdes         perdéis
pierde          pierden

2. o changes to ue

Example: volver (ue) - return

vuelvo          volvemos
vuelves         volvéis
vuelve          vuelven

3. e changes to i

Example: pedir (i) - ask for

pido          pedimos
pides         pedís
pide          piden

Click here for a list of other stem-changing verbs.

Related Topics

General Considerations about Verbs
Contents
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