Spanish verb tenses
Present Tense
The present tense is the simplest and, usually, most used tense in any language, including Spanish. The present tense conjugation is very simple for –ar, -er, and –ir verbs. For all regular verbs, follow the tables below for conjugating in the present tense. We will use the verbs comprar (to buy), comer (to eat), and vivir (to live), to illustrate the tense usage.
-AR -ER -IR
compro como vivo
compras comes vives
compra come vive
compramos comemos vivimos
compran comen viven
Examples:
Spanish: Yo hablo español.
English: I speak Spanish.
Spanish: Nosotros aprendemos leer.
English: We learn to read.
Spanish: Ella corre despues de la escuela.
English: She runs after school.
Master the present tense with lots of practice. Once you have this verb tense down, you can move on to the harder verb tenses. Preterit Tense
We use the Spanish preterit tense when the event has happened in the past. You will notice there are accent marks at the end of most of the conjugations. These must be emphasized at the end in speech in order to let others know they are the preterit tense. We will illustrate the preterit tense using the same verbs previously used in conjugating for the present tense.
-AR -ER -IR
compré comí viví
compraste comiste viviste
compr? comi? vivi?
compramos comimos vivimos
compraron comieron vivieron
Notice that the preterit tense conjugation is the same for both –er and –ir verbs.
Future Tense
The future tense is used when speaking of events that will happen in the future. The good thing about the future tense is that you don’t have to change the infinitive form of the verb, you just tack a new ending on the end of the verb. There are some irregular verbs, though, that you will have to memorize. Again, we will use the same verbs for illustration and will continue to do so for the rest of the lesson.
-AR -ER -IR
compraré comeré viviré
comprarás comerá s vivirás
comprará comerá vivirá
compraremos comeremos viviremos
comprarán comerá n vivirán
You also may have noticed that the conjugations are the same for all the verbs. This is another bonus. The bad part is that there are quite a few irregular verbs. Some verbs drop the e:
Caber = cabré
Poder = podré
Querer = querré
Saber = saber
And some replace the e or i with a d:
Poner = pondré
Salir = saldré
Tener = tendré
Vener = vendré
There are other variations as well, which you should take the time to learn. Conditional Tense
Another way to state the future is through the conditional. In English, this is the same as using the word would, such as, “I would read go swimming if it wasn’t raining.” Again, you would add the ending to the infinitive of the verb. It is the same for all three types of verbs.
-AR -ER -IR
compraría comería viviría
comprarías comerías vivirías
compraría comería viviría
compraríamos comeríamos viviríamos
comprarían comerían vivirían
Imperfect Tense
The Imperfect tense is used to say something was happening or something that you used to do. I was running, you were eating, etc. The –er and –ir endings are the same as the conditional, except you don’t just tack it onto the end. The –ar form is aba instead of ía.
-AR -ER -IR
compraba comía vivía
comprabas comías vivías
compraba comía vivía
comprábamos comíamos vivíamos
compraban comían vivían
Examples:
Spanish: Me dijo que venía.
English: She told me she was coming.
Spanish: Estábamos en el teatro.
English: We were at the theater.