A1
-er and -ir verbs, and the irregular ones
How regular Spanish -er and -ir verbs conjugate, where the two differ, and the irregular verbs common enough to learn at A1.
| -er (comer) | -ir (vivir) | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | como | vivo |
| tú | comes | vives |
| él / ella | come | vive |
| nosotros | comemos | vivimos |
| vosotros | coméis | vivís |
| ellos | comen | viven |
The two families differ only in the nosotros and vosotros forms. Everywhere else they are identical, which makes -ir verbs almost free once -er is learnt.
Vivo en Barcelona.
I-live in Barcelona
I live in Barcelona.
The irregulars are the frequent verbs
Heavy use protects old forms, in Spanish as everywhere.
| tener | tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen |
| hacer | hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen |
| ir | voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van |
| poder | puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden |
| querer | quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren |
| saber | sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben |
No puedo ir hoy.
not I-can to-go today
I can’t go today.
Several are irregular in the yo form only
Hacer → hago, poner → pongo, salir → salgo, conocer → conozco, dar → doy, ver → veo. The other five forms are perfectly regular.
Salgo a las ocho.
I-leave at the (f.pl.) eight
I leave at eight.
Modals take a bare infinitive
Quiero a ir.
Quiero ir.
Querer, poder and deber take the infinitive directly. The preposition belongs to other verbs and has to be learnt with each — empiezo a trabajar, trato de entender.