Present tense: -er and -ir verbs

Como en casa. Mis padres viven en Lima.I eat at home. My parents live in Lima.

Verbs ending in -er (comer, beber, aprender) and -ir (vivir, escribir, abrir) are the two smaller groups of Spanish verbs. The good news is that they work almost exactly alike, and they follow the same idea as -ar verbs: remove the infinitive ending and add the ending that matches the subject.

Quick shortcut: -er and -ir verbs share the endings -o, -es, -e, -en. They differ only in the nosotros, vosotros and vos forms: -emos, -éis, -és for -er, and -imos, -ís, -ís for -ir. comer → como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen; vivir → vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven.

How to build the present tense

Removing -er or -ir from the infinitive leaves the stem (comer → com-, vivir → viv-), and the ending that matches the subject goes on it:

A few things worth noticing:

• The only differences between the two groups are in nosotros (-emos vs -imos) and vosotros (-éis vs -ís), plus vos (-és vs -ís). For every other subject the endings are identical.
• With -ir verbs, vos and vosotros share one form (vivís); with -er verbs they differ (vos comés, vosotros coméis). The written accent on these endings marks the stressed last syllable.
• Compared with -ar verbs, the vowel changes: -a- in habla, hablas becomes -e- in come, comes. As with -ar verbs, usted and él/ella share one form, ustedes and ellos/ellas share another, and the pronoun is usually left out (see the subject pronouns lesson). vos and vosotros are used in some regions and not others; the address forms lesson explains who uses which.

What the present tense covers

The uses are the same as for -ar verbs:

• Habits and routines: Como a las dos. (I eat at two o'clock.) · Escribimos todos los días. (We write every day.)
• General facts and abilities: Mi hermano corre muy rápido. (My brother runs very fast.) · Ella vive en Lima. (She lives in Lima.)
• Things happening right now: Leo un libro ahora. (I'm reading a book now.)

Some common -er and -ir verbs

When an -er or -ir verb doesn't follow the pattern

The pattern above works for regular verbs. Many very common -er and -ir verbs are not regular, so it's worth knowing the kinds of change to expect:

• some have a special yo form: hacer → hago, ver → veo, conocer → conozco; escoger only changes its spelling in yo (escojo)
• some change a vowel in the stem in certain forms: volver → vuelvo, dormir → duermo, pedir → pido, or tener → tienes
• a few, like ser and ir, are irregular throughout

These have their own lessons: Present tense: common irregular verbs (ir, hacer, querer, poder) and Present tense: common stem-changing verbs.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Yo comes pizza. → ✅ Yo como pizza. (the ending has to match the subject)
• ❌ Ella viven en Madrid. → ✅ Ella vive en Madrid. (ella takes -e; -en goes with ellos/ellas and ustedes)
• ❌ Nosotros vivemos en Madrid. → ✅ Nosotros vivimos en Madrid. (-ir verbs take -imos, not -emos)
• ❌ Vosotros comeis pan. → ✅ Vosotros coméis pan. (-éis keeps its written accent)
• ❌ Yo comer pizza. → ✅ Yo como pizza. (the infinitive isn't used as the main verb; drop -er and add the ending)

Quick check

Which form of the verb in parentheses completes each sentence?

1. Yo ___ pizza los viernes. (comer)
2. Tú ___ una carta. (escribir)
3. Ella ___ el periódico. (leer)
4. Nosotros ___ en Madrid. (vivir)
5. Ellos ___ la puerta. (abrir)

Key takeaways

• Regular -er and -ir verbs drop their infinitive ending and add -o, -es, -e, -en, plus -emos, -éis (-er) or -imos, -ís (-ir) for nosotros and vosotros; vos takes -és (-er) or -ís (-ir).
• The two groups differ only in nosotros, vosotros and vos.
• usted and él/ella share one form; ustedes and ellos/ellas share another; the pronoun is usually left out.
• The present tense covers habits and routines, general facts and abilities, and things happening now.
• Many common -er and -ir verbs have irregular yo forms or stem changes and don't follow the regular pattern.