Present tenseUsing verbs in Spanish

Use the present tense to describe what you do and what things are like. The present continuous can be used to talk about what is happening now.

Part ofSpanishGrammar

Using verbs in Spanish

All Spanish end in either -ar, -er or -ir. This form of the verb is called the . For example:

  • hablar - to talk
  • comer - to eat
  • vivir - to live

The infinitive is the form of the verb you will find in a dictionary.

However, the infinitive doesn't tell us the person of the verb (ie who is doing the action) or the tense of the verb (ie when the action takes place / took place / will take place, etc). To do this you need to conjugate the verb (ie change it into a different form).

To work out how to conjugate a verb correctly, ask yourself:

  • Which type of verb is it (-ar / -er / -ir)?
  • Which tense is it?
  • Which person is it?