The three conjugation classes

Every Spanish verb belongs to one of three classes based on its infinitive ending:

The first conjugation (-ar) is by far the largest class - around 75% of Spanish verbs. The second and third classes share most of their endings, with only a handful of differences (usually in the first-person plural and the past tenses).

The six persons

Spanish conjugates verbs in six persons:

Regional note: Argentine and Uruguayan Spanish use vos instead of tu. The vos conjugation is different in the present and imperative.

Present tense (presente de indicativo)

The present tense covers current ongoing actions, habitual actions, and near-future actions. The endings:

Pattern points:

• All three classes share the same first-person singular ending: -o.
• The -er and -ir classes share most endings; they differ only in the first-person plural (comemos vs vivimos) and second-person plural (comeis vs vivis).

Preterite (preterito) - past completed action

The preterite expresses completed past actions with a definite endpoint ("I went," "she said," "we arrived").

Pattern points:

• The -er and -ir classes share identical preterite endings (only the -ar class diverges).
• The nosotros form for -ar and -ir verbs is identical in present and preterite (hablamos, vivimos) - context determines which one is meant.
• Critical accents: the yo form (hable, comi) and the 3rd singular form (hablo, comio) carry written accents that distinguish them from the present forms.

Imperfect (imperfecto) - past ongoing or habitual

The imperfect expresses past ongoing, habitual, or background actions ("I used to live," "she was speaking," "we always went").

Pattern points:

• The imperfect is extremely regular - only three verbs have irregular imperfect forms (ser, ir, ver).
• The -er and -ir classes share identical imperfect endings.
• The yo and 3rd singular forms are identical (hablaba, comia, vivia) - context disambiguates.

Preterite vs imperfect

The single biggest grammatical hurdle in Spanish for English speakers. Both translate as English past tense but they signal different aspects:

• Preterite = completed, bounded action. "I lived in Madrid for 3 years" (boundary stated) = vivi.
• Imperfect = ongoing or habitual past. "I lived in Madrid when I was young" (no boundary, background context) = vivia.

Useful tests:

• Can you replace it with "used to" in English? → imperfect.
• Is there a specific endpoint mentioned? → preterite.
• Is the verb describing a state or background? → imperfect.
• Is the verb describing a discrete event? → preterite.

Future (futuro simple)

The future tense expresses future actions. The endings are added to the full infinitive (not removed):

Pattern points:

• All three classes share identical future endings.
• The endings attach to the infinitive: hablar + e = hablare.
• All forms carry written accents except the nosotros form.

Note on usage: In spoken Spanish, the simple future is often replaced by the ir a + infinitive construction ("voy a hablar" - I am going to speak), particularly in Latin American Spanish. The simple future remains common in writing and for emphasis.

Conditional (condicional)

The conditional expresses hypothetical or polite actions ("I would speak," "she would eat"). Same endings as the imperfect of -er and -ir verbs, but attached to the full infinitive:

Pattern points:

• All three classes share identical conditional endings.
• The endings attach to the infinitive: hablar + ia = hablaria.
• The conditional is critical for polite requests: querria (I would like), podrias (could you).

Present perfect (preterito perfecto)

Compound tense using the present of haber + past participle. Expresses past actions with relevance to the present ("I have eaten," "she has spoken").

The present of haber:

The past participle is formed:

• -ar verbs: stem + -ado (hablar → hablado).
• -er and -ir verbs: stem + -ido (comer → comido, vivir → vivido).

Examples:

• He hablado - I have spoken.
• Has comido - You have eaten.
• Hemos vivido - We have lived.

Regional note: In Spain, the present perfect is used much more frequently than in Latin America. Spanish Spain uses "he comido" for "I ate (today)" whereas Latin American Spanish would use the preterite "comi".

Subjunctive mood (subjuntivo)

The subjunctive expresses doubt, emotion, possibility, desire, and other non-factual contexts. It is one of the most challenging features of Spanish for English speakers because English subjunctive is minimal.

Present subjunctive endings

Pattern points:

• The -ar class takes -e endings; the -er and -ir classes take -a endings (the opposite of the present indicative).
• To form the present subjunctive: take the yo form of the present indicative, drop the -o, add the subjunctive endings.

When to use the subjunctive

• After expressions of doubt: No creo que venga (I don't think she's coming).
• After expressions of emotion: Me alegra que estes aqui (I'm glad you're here).
• After expressions of desire: Quiero que vengas (I want you to come).
• After impersonal expressions: Es importante que estudies (It's important you study).
• In hypothetical or unreal conditions: Si tuviera tiempo, viajaria (If I had time, I would travel).
• After certain conjunctions: antes de que, para que, sin que, etc.

The Spanish subjunctive deep-dive covers the full usage rules.

Imperfect subjunctive

Formed from the third-person plural preterite, dropping -ron, adding the imperfect subjunctive endings:

• hablaron → hablara, hablaras, hablara, hablaramos, hablarais, hablaran
• (Or the alternative ending: -se forms - hablase, hablases, etc. - equally valid, more formal/literary in Spain, less common in Latin America.)

Used for past subjunctive and hypothetical conditions:

• Si tuviera dinero, viajaria (If I had money, I would travel).
• Quiso que viniera (He wanted me to come).

Imperative (imperativo)

Used for commands.

Tu form (informal singular command)

• Affirmative: 3rd person singular present indicative (habla, come, vive).
• Negative: 2nd person singular present subjunctive (no hables, no comas, no vivas).

Usted form (formal singular command)

• Affirmative: 3rd person singular present subjunctive (hable, coma, viva).
• Negative: same form (no hable, no coma, no viva).

Nosotros form (let's command)

• Both affirmative and negative use 1st person plural present subjunctive (hablemos, no hablemos).

Vosotros form (Spain informal plural)

• Affirmative: replace the -r of the infinitive with -d (hablad, comed, vivid).
• Negative: 2nd person plural present subjunctive (no hableis, no comais, no vivais).

Ustedes form (formal/universal plural)

• 3rd person plural present subjunctive (hablen, coman, vivan).

The most important irregular verbs

Spanish has many irregular verbs but the workhorse ones to master first are these:

Ser (to be - permanent/essential)

Estar (to be - temporary/location)

Ir (to go)

Note: The preterite of ir (to go) and ser (to be) is identical - context determines which verb is meant. Fui can mean "I went" or "I was."

Tener (to have)

Hacer (to do/make)

Other high-frequency irregulars worth memorising: decir (to say), poder (to be able), querer (to want), saber (to know), ver (to see), venir (to come), dar (to give), poner (to put).

Stem-changing verbs

A large class of verbs that follow regular endings but change their stem vowel in stressed forms (present tense first/second/third singular and third plural). The patterns:

• e → ie: pensar (to think) → pienso, piensas, piensa, pensamos, pensais, piensan.
• o → ue: poder (to be able) → puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podeis, pueden.
• e → i: pedir (to ask for) → pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedis, piden (-ir verbs only).
• u → ue: jugar (to play) → juego, juegas, juega, jugamos, jugais, juegan (only one verb in this class).

The stem change does NOT occur in the nosotros and vosotros forms (where the stress falls on the ending).

Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs (verbs whose subject and object are the same) take reflexive pronouns:

Example with levantarse (to get up):

• Me levanto - I get (myself) up.
• Te levantas - You get up.
• Se levanta - He / she gets up.
• Nos levantamos - We get up.
• Os levantais - You all get up (Spain).
• Se levantan - They get up.

The reflexive pronoun typically comes before the conjugated verb. With infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives, it attaches to the end: levantarme, levantandome, levantate.

Progressive tenses

Formed with estar + gerund. The gerund:

• -ar verbs: stem + -ando (hablar → hablando).
• -er and -ir verbs: stem + -iendo (comer → comiendo, vivir → viviendo).

Examples:

• Estoy hablando - I am speaking.
• Estaba comiendo - I was eating.
• Estuvieron viviendo - They were living (for a defined period).

How to actually internalise Spanish conjugation

Three practical recommendations:

1. Master the present tense of the three regular classes first. Most of Spanish reading and listening uses the present, and most of the irregular verbs are themselves irregular in the present (so the pattern stays useful even when the verb breaks it).
2. Learn preterite vs imperfect by feel, not by rule. The rule-based explanations (boundary, completion, habit) are useful starters but real fluency requires hearing thousands of examples until the choice becomes intuitive. Graded readers, podcasts, and TV are critical for this.
3. Internalise ser, estar, ir, tener, hacer first. These five irregular verbs do a disproportionate share of the work in spoken Spanish. Memorising their conjugations completely unlocks a huge percentage of practical Spanish.

Cross-references

• The Spanish for adult learners pillar covers the wider Spanish learning approach.
• The Spanish grammar cheatsheet covers the A1-B1 grammar overview.
• The intermediate (B1-B2) grammar page covers the next-level structures.
• The advanced (C1-C2) grammar page covers complex structures.
• The Spanish subjunctive deep-dive covers subjunctive usage in detail.
• The common mistakes for English speakers in Spanish article covers the most frequent conjugation errors.