Regular Verbs in SpanishA1

The infinitive is the basic form of the verb, the one that appears in the dictionary: hablar, comer, vivir. In regular verbs, the infinitive ends in -ar, -er or -ir. To find the verbal root, the ending is removed: habl- in hablar, com- in comer, viv- in vivir. The root is the part that preserves the main meaning and to which the conjugation endings are added. If you change the ending, you change the person, the number and the tense, as in Presente simple.

Identification of the infinitive and the root

Idea
The infinitive is the basic form of the verb and ends with ar, er or ir.
The verbal root is the part that remains when we remove the ending of the infinitive.
Regular verbs keep the same root in all their simple forms.

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The verb changes according to the person and the number. In singular they are yo, tú and él / ella / usted. In plural they are nosotros / nosotras, vosotros / vosotras and ellos / ellas / ustedes. Each verbal form carries a different ending for each combination. Yo does the action; tú you do it; él / ella / usted does it for a single person; nosotros / nosotras do it together; vosotros / vosotras do it among several in Spain; ellos / ellas / ustedes do it for several people. These persons are the basis to conjugate any regular verb in the present and also to recognize forms in other tenses like the Pretérito and the Imperfecto.

Regular verbs ending in -ar form the present indicative with this root + ending: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. With hablar, the conjugation becomes: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan. The root does not change and the endings are added directly. This model applies to thousands of verbs like trabajar, estudiar and escuchar. When an auxiliary verb construction appears, the conjugated form of the main verb will follow this pattern if it is regular. In Presente simple this same scheme is used to talk about habitual actions and current facts.

Present indicative in -ar verbs

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	saltar	salto
tú	saltar	saltas
él o ella	saltar	salta
nosotros	saltar	saltamos
vosotros	saltar	saltáis
ellos o ellas	saltar	saltan

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Regular verbs ending in -er use these endings in the present indicative: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. With comer, the full form is como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. The root remains fixed: com-. Verbs like aprender, beber and vender follow the same pattern. In contrast with -ar verbs, here the endings change, but not the way the root is formed. These forms appear frequently in everyday conversations and also in compound tenses, where the main verb retains its regular participle.

Present indicative in -er verbs

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	beber	bebo
tú	beber	bebes
él o ella	beber	bebe
nosotros	beber	bebemos
vosotros	beber	bebéis
ellos o ellas	beber	beben

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Regular verbs ending in -ir are conjugated in the present with -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en. With vivir, the forms are vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven. The root remains the same: viv-. This model applies to verbs like escribir, abrir and recibir. Many -ir forms resemble -er forms in several persons, but in nosotros and vosotros they use their own endings. When language needs to express an action in progress, these regular forms combine with the Presente Progresivo.

Present indicative in -ir verbs

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	vivir	vivo
tú	vivir	vives
él o ella	vivir	vive
nosotros	vivir	vivimos
vosotros	vivir	vivís
ellos o ellas	vivir	viven

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The regular gerund is formed with the verb root + -ando for -ar verbs and with the verb root + -iendo for -er and -ir verbs. Thus, hablar becomes hablando, comer becomes comiendo and vivir becomes viviendo. The gerund does not change according to the person. It is used mainly with an auxiliary verb to express an action in progress, as in estoy hablando, estás comiendo or están viviendo. In these constructions, the auxiliary carries the conjugation and the gerund provides the idea of ongoing action.

Formation of the regular gerund

Idea
In verbs ending in ar, the gerund is formed with ando.
In verbs ending in er, the gerund is formed with iendo.
In verbs ending in ir, the gerund is also formed with iendo.

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The regular participle is formed with the verb root + -ado for -ar verbs and with the verb root + -ido for -er and -ir verbs. That is why forms like hablado, comido and vivido appear. The participle does not change for person either. It is used in compound tenses with the auxiliary verb haber: he hablado, has comido, han vivido. It also appears as an adjective in expressions like la puerta cerrada or el trabajo terminado, although in regular verbs the base form remains the same.

Formation of the regular participle

Idea
In verbs ending in ar, the participle is formed with ado.
In verbs ending in er, the participle is formed with ido.
In verbs ending in ir, the participle is also formed with ido.

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In everyday speech, regular verb forms serve to count actions, describe states and place events in time. The present expresses habits, general truths and actions that occur now. The gerund appears in simple periphrases for an action in development, such as estoy trabajando or siguen estudiando. The participle appears in compound tenses with haber and forms structures like he comido or hemos salido. These combinations allow building clear messages about what is happening, what has happened and what is happening at this moment.

Everyday uses of verbal forms

Usage	Explanation
Action in progress	Use the gerund to show an action that is happening right now or slowly progressing.
Compound tense	Use the participle with haber to build compound tenses and talk about an action already finished.
Continuity periphrasis	Use the gerund in periphrasis to express that an action is still in progress.
Result or state	Use the participle when you want to present the final result of an action.

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