Conjugación del indicativo (Conjugation of the present indicative)

Conjugation of verbs in Spanish generally follow a basic pattern, the exceptions are the irregular and stem-changing verbs, which basically everyone hates but these follow another pattern and once you learn that pattern, which I will cover later, then they aren't so bad either.

The most important thing to do when learning the patterns of conjugations is to divide them into verb ending.
"-ar" verb will always end in -ar in the infinitive. Two examples: hablar, trabajar.
In the present indicative these verbs follow this pattern:
yo-------------------> -o
tú--------------------> -as
usted, él, ella---------> -a
nosotros-------------> -amos
ustedes, ellos, ellas---> -an

Here is an example of an -ar verb being conjugated:

To talk: hablar
I talk: hablo
you talk: hablas
you (formal), he, she talks: habla
we talk: hablamos
they, you (all) talk: hablan

NOTE: When conjugating verbs in Spanish and using them in a sentence pronouns, such as yo (I), tú (you), usted (you, formal), etc. are not needed and are often considered redundant when used. Unless you are using them to emphasize who is doing the action you should avoid using them when learning Spanish.

Notice that the word has a root to it that is in all of the conjugations: habl-. When you are conjugating the word you use the root as your base to work off of.

Now lets look at the next group of verbs -er/-ir verbs.

You'll notice first that this is a double group, it contains all the verbs that end in both -er and -ir. This is because the verb endings for these conjugations are the same. Let's take a look.

-er: comer, correr
-ir: vivir, escribir

Yo-------------------> -o
tú---------------------> -es
usted-----------------> -e
Nosotros-------------> -emos (-er); -imos (-ir)
Ustedes--------------> -en

To eat: comer
I eat: como
you eat: comes
you (formal), he, she eats: come
we eat: comemos
they, you (all) eat: comen

To run: correr
I run: corro
you run: corres
you (formal), he, she runs: corre
we run: corremos
they, you (all) run: corren

To live: vivir
I live: vivo
you live: vives
you (formal), he, she lives: vive
we live: vivimos
they, you (all) live: viven

To write: escribir

I write: escribo
you write: escribes
you (formal), he, she writes: escribe
we write: escribimos
they, you (all) write: escriben

Irregular/Stem-changing verbs

Stem-changing and irregular verbs can be tricky even for those that know them. Each irregular and stem changing verb follows a specific pattern. In the case of stem-changing verbs the patter is literally a change in the stem of the verb (the stem is more commonly known as the root of the word). For some people it helps to know the patterns, and certainly if you do this it will be easier to spot your mistakes when you make them, but most people simply memorize these verbs in each conjugation and tense. The majority of these verbs appear in the -er or -ir form. Here are a few examples:

To be: estar (irregular)
I am: estoy
you are: estás

you (formal), he, she is: está
we are: estamos
they, you (all) are: están

Please note that if this were a regular verb it would look something like this
"I am" would be: esto
"you are" would be: estas
etc.
"esto" and "estas" are still words in Spanish, but they do not mean "I am" or "you are"

To return: volver (stem-changing)

I return: vuelvo
you return: vuelves
you (formal), he, she returns: vuelve
we return: volvemos
they, you (all) return: vuelven

There are two things you should notice about the two conjugations above. The first is that in the "nosotros" (or we) form, the verb is not irregular (for estar) and the stem does not change ("volv-" in this case). The second observation should be that irregular verbs carry a different verb ending whereas stem-changing verbs are different in the middle of the word.

*An easy way to remember the common irregular verbs is the acronym DISHES
D: Dar
I: Ir
S: Ser
H: Haber
E: Estar
S: Saber

The pattern for the stem-changing verbs is as follows:
o---> ue
e---> ie
e---> i

What this means is that if you are conjugating a stem-changing verb (it must be a stem-changing verb) the "o" will change to "ue" and the "e" will change to either "ie" or "i".

Recall the verb used before, volver. When conjugated to "I return" it changes so that instead of volvo (which is not a word) you have vuelvo. Another example is entender, to understand.

I understand: entiendo

you understand: entiendes
you (formal), he, she understands: entiende
we understand: entendemos
they, you (all) understand: entienden

...and to ask, pedir
I ask: pido
you ask: pides
you (formal), he, she asks: pide
we ask: pedimos
they, you (all) ask: piden

Now that you know how to conjugate in the present tense try the problems below. You may need to look the answers up, but to encourage learning please do not simply look at the answers below.The answers to the problems are at the bottom of the page.


Conjugate the following verbs to the present tense. Some verbs are irregular or stem-change and the rest are regular verbs

1. I am (estar):
2. They walk (caminar):
3. He says (decir):
4. She wants (querer):
5. You (formal) work (trabajar):


Regular only:
6. They talk (hablar):
7. She drinks (beber):
8. We hate (odiar):
9. I should (deber):
10. You decide (decidir):


Irregular only:
11. I know (saber):
12. He is (ser):
13. I fall (caer):
14. We go (ir):
15. I give (dar):


Stem-Changing only:
16. I think (pensar):
17. We want (querer):
18. They have (tener):
19. He serves (servir):
20. You get/obtain (obtener):




Answers:

1.estoy
2.caminan
3.dice
4.quiere
5.trabaja

6.hablan
7.bebe
8.odiamos
9.debo
10.decides



11.sé
12.es
13.cayo
14.vamos
15.doy

16.pienso
17.queremos
18.tienen
19.sirve
20.obtienes