Present tense verbs
Type the missing word in each sentence. You hear each sentence read by a native voice.
Yo (hablar) español.
I speak Spanish.
The rule
A Spanish verb changes its ending to match the person doing the action. The set of endings used for what happens now is the present indicative. Each of the three verb families, “-ar”, “-er” and “-ir”, takes its own set. The ending carries the person, so the verb alone already says who is speaking.
How the person changes the verb
Talking about yourself and talking about a group require different verb endings in Spanish. “Hablo” means “I speak”; “hablamos” means “we speak”. The ending tells your listener who is speaking.
Imagine meeting a new neighbour, Ana. To tell her you speak Spanish, you say “Hablo español”. If you and a friend both speak Spanish, you say “Hablamos español”.
We will build these forms from a shared starting word, then try the same process with “eat” and “live”.
A word that changes with the person
A word such as “speak”, “eat” or “live” is a verb. It tells us what someone does, or describes a situation.
Spanish changes the ending of a verb to show who is speaking, eating or living: I, you, we, or someone else. “Hablo” tells us “I speak”; “hablamos” tells us “we speak”. You do not always need a separate word for the person.
These are present tense forms. They can describe what is true now or what happens regularly. “I speak Spanish” does not mean you must be speaking at this instant.
Build the ending
In a dictionary, “to speak” is “hablar”. This dictionary form is called the infinitive. Spanish infinitives end in “-ar”, “-er” or “-ir”.
Start with “hablar”. Remove “-ar”, leaving “habl-”. Add “-o” for “I”: “hablo”. Add “-as” for one person you call “tú”: “hablas”.
Two more verbs follow the same idea: “comer”, “to eat”, and “vivir”, “to live”. Their endings are slightly different.
| Who? | “hablar”: speak | “comer”: eat | “vivir”: live |
|---|---|---|---|
| I: “yo” | “hablo” | “como” | “vivo” |
| you: “tú” | “hablas” | “comes” | “vives” |
| he, she, formal you: “él”, “ella”, “usted” | “habla” | “come” | “vive” |
| we: “nosotros”, “nosotras” | “hablamos” | “comemos” | “vivimos” |
| they, you all: “ellos”, “ellas”, “ustedes” | “hablan” | “comen” | “viven” |
Here, “tú” addresses one person informally. “Usted” is a more formal way to address one person. “Ustedes” addresses more than one. In much of Spain you will also hear “vosotros” and “vosotras” for an informal “you all”; those forms are not in this table.
Try the pattern in your conversation
Ana speaks Spanish: “Ana habla español”. You speak Spanish: “Hablo español”. Together: “Hablamos español”.
Now change what you are talking about. “Como en casa” means “I eat at home”. “Comemos en casa” means “We eat at home”. The place stays the same; the ending tells us who eats there.
“Vivo en Madrid” means “I live in Madrid”. “Viven en Madrid” means “They live in Madrid”.
What to take into practice
For these three verbs, remove “-ar”, “-er” or “-ir” and choose the ending for the person. Other verbs can change differently; we will meet those patterns separately.
The practice uses “hablar”, “comer” and “vivir”. “Español” means “Spanish”, “en casa” means “at home”, and “en Madrid” means “in Madrid”. You have everything you need to focus on the endings.