How to Conjugate the Most Common Spanish -ER Verbs

When you’re learning about Spanish verbs, one of the first things you’ll find out is that they’re organized based on their endings. There are -ER, -AR, and -IR verbs, and you’ll need to know the differences between the three if you want to communicate clearly in Spanish.

Some of the most crucial verbs you can learn are -ER verbs, so let’s take a closer look at them. Below, we list a number of common -ER verbs that are helpful to know, break down what an -ER verb is, and spotlight five important Spanish -ER verbs you should learn.

What is an -ER verb in Spanish?

An -ER verb is exactly what it sounds like: a verb ending in the letters “er.” Spanish verb endings are significant—these final two letters signal how a verb should be conjugated. 

By conjugating a verb, you will be able to express that an action has been performed by a different subject (you, he, they, etc.) or in a different tense (present, past, future, etc.)

In Spanish, the majority of verbs have one of these three endings: 

• -AR endings, e.g., hablar and usar 
• -ER endings, e.g., beber and leer 
• -IR endings, e.g., escribir and vivir 

Note that each of the verbs listed above is in its infinitive form, which means they have not been conjugated. When you’re ready to conjugate a verb, you’ll notice that verbs ending in -ER are conjugated differently than -AR and -IR verbs.

Conjugate Spanish -ER verbs in present tense

Tense allows you to express when something happened. The present tense is the most basic tense you’ll learn in Spanish, and you will apply it to verbs when you want to talk about things happening now or regularly. 

To conjugate an -ER verb in the present tense, you remove the ending from the infinitive (i.e. unconjugated) form and add the conjugated ending for the tense you need. Take a look at some examples of -ER verbs conjugated in the present tense here:

	beber (to drink)	leer (to read)	vender (to sell)
yo	bebo	leo	vendo
tú you, singular informal	beba	lees	vendes
él, ella he, she	bebe	lee	vende
usted you, singular formal	bebe	lee	vende
nosotros / nosotras* we	bebemos	leemos	vendemos
vosotros / vosotras* you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	bebéis	leéis	vendéis
ellos / ellas* they	beben	leen	venden
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	beben	leen	venden

*Note: Pronouns ending with “-a” are feminine and can be used when “we,” “they,” or “you” refer to a group of all women. 

Conjugate Spanish -ER verbs in the five most common tenses 

If you use an -ER verb to talk about something happening in the past, you would conjugate it differently than an -ER verb used to talk about the present. Each verb has its own conjugation patterns for different tenses. 

There are roughly 15 Spanish tenses, but knowing these five will help you feel comfortable in any conversation. You can use each tense to talk about: 

• Present tense: things happening now or regularly (“I walk to the store.”)
• Preterite tense: events that have been completed, similar to past tense (“I walked to the store.”)
• Imperfect tense: actions that occurred repeatedly or over an extended period of time (“I was walking to the store when…”)
• Future tense: things that will happen in the future (“I will walk to the store.”)
• Conditional tense: hypothetical actions (“You would get wet if it rained.”)

And here’s how you would conjugate -ER verbs in those tenses, using the common Spanish verb comer (to eat) as an example:

	stem + ending			infinitive + ending
	Present	Preterite	Imperfect	Future	Conditional
yo I	como	comí	comía	comeré	comería
tú you, singular informal	comes	comiste	comías	comerás	comerías
él, ella he, she	come	comió	comía	comerá	comería
usted you, singular formal	come	comió	comía	comerá	comería
nosotros / nosotras we	comemos	comimos	comíamos	comeremos	comeríamos
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	coméis	comisteis	comíais	comeréis	comeríais
ellos / ellas they	comen	comieron	comían	comerán	comerían
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	comen	comieron	comían	comerán	comerían

Common Spanish -ER verbs

These -ER verbs — including their conjugated forms — are noted by the Real Academia Española as some of the most frequently used words in the Spanish language, so they’re helpful to learn.

Many of these verbs are irregular, and some are stem-changing or undergo spelling changes when conjugated. This means they don’t follow normal Spanish conjugation rules. We’ve marked the irregular verbs in this list with an asterisk (*). To see how to conjugate these verbs, you can look them up in a reliable conjugation dictionary, such as SpanishDict.

• aprender = to learn
• beber = to drink
• caber* = to fit
• caer* = to fall
• comer = to eat
• conocer* = to know
• correr = to run
• crecer* = to grow
• creer* = to believe
• deber = should/to owe
• depender = to depend
• desaparecer* = to disappear
• entender* = to understand
• leer* = to read
• parecer* = to seem
• perder* = to lose
• poner* = to put
• querer* = to want/to love
• recoger* = to pick up/to gather
• romper* = to break
• saber* = to know/to taste
• suponer* = to suppose
• traer* = to bring
• valer* = to cost/to be worth
• vender = to sell
• ver* = to see
• volver* = to return/to come back

Five essential irregular Spanish -ER verbs

Many -ER verbs will follow the conjugation patterns above. You should also know, though, that quite a few -ER verbs are irregular, which means they have one or more exceptions to typical conjugation rules.

English has irregular verbs, too. As an example, think about the words “cook” and “eat.” When you conjugate “cook” into other tenses, like “cooked”, “cooks”, or “cooking”, you follow consistent rules that apply to many other verbs. This makes it a regular verb. However, when you conjugate “eat” into the past tense, you use “ate” instead of “eated.” It doesn’t follow those consistent rules, which makes it an irregular verb.

These five Spanish -ER verbs are so common that you should consider them essential. They come up often in basic conversations, and you’ll have trouble getting by without being familiar with them. All of these verbs are irregular.

Ser

Ser means “to be”. This verb has a variety of applications, such as describing characteristics, occupations, relationships, ownership, and time.

Soy arquitecto. = I am an architect.

Somos hermanas. = We are sisters.

Estas herramientas eran de mi padre. = These tools were my father’s.

Será julio pronto. = It will be July soon.

	Present	Preterite	Future	Imperfect	Conditional
yo I	soy	fui	seré	era	sería
tú you, singular informal	eres	fuiste	serás	eras	serías
él, ella he, she	es	fue	será	era	sería
usted you, singular formal	es	fue	será	era	sería
nosotros / nosotras we	somos	fuimos	seremos	éramos	seríamos
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	sois	fuisteis	seréis	erais	seríais
ellos / ellas they	son	fueron	serán	eran	serían
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	son	fueron	serán	eran	serían

Haber

Haber can mean “to be” or “to have,” depending on the context in which it’s being used. 

When it’s used as an auxiliary verb, it means “to have.” It’s placed before the past participle of another verb to form the perfect tense.

Había completado su tarea. = He had completed his homework.

Se han mudado a una nueva ciudad. = They have moved to a new city.

Haber has a special form, hay, which is used when it means “to be.” It’s used to describe things being present or in a certain place. An equivalent in English is “there is” or “there are.”

Hay una mosca en la pared. = There is a fly on the wall.

	Present	Preterite	Future	Imperfect	Conditional
yo I	he	hube	habré	había	habría
tú you, singular informal	has	hubiste	habrás	habías	habrías
él, ella he, she	ha, hay	hubo	habrá	había	habría
usted you, singular formal	ha, hay	hubo	habrá	había	habría
nosotros / nosotras we	hemos	hubimos	habremos	habíamos	habríamos
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	habéis	hubisteis	habréis	habíais	habríais
ellos / ellas they	han	hubieron	habrán	habían	habrían
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	han	hubieron	habrán	habían	habrían

Tener

Tener is another verb that can mean “to be” or “to have,” depending on context. It can be used to express possession, emotions, physical state, responsibilities, and age.

Tengo hambre. = I am hungry.

Tenía 20 años el año pasado. = I was 20 years old last year.

Tendrán un bebé el próximo mes. = They’ll have a baby next month.

Tuviste que ir a la escuela ayer. = You had to go to school yesterday.

	Present	Preterite	Future	Imperfect	Conditional
yo I	tengo	tuve	tendré	-tena	tendría
tú you, singular informal	tienes	tuviste	tendrás	tenías	tendrías
él, ella he, she	tiene	tuvo	tendrá	tenía	tendría
usted you, singular formal	tiene	tuvo	tendrá	tenía	tendría
nosotros / nosotras we	tenemos	tuvimos	tendremos	teníamos	tendríamos
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	tenéis	tuvisteis	tendréis	teníais	tendríais
ellos / ellas they	tienen	tuvieron	tendrán	tenían	tendrían
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	tienen	tuvieron	tendrán	tenían	tendrían

Poder

Poder means “to be able to,” and it’s used to communicate an ability to do something. It’s an auxiliary verb, so it is always followed by another verb.

Pude hacer malabares una vez. = I was able to juggle once.

Ella puede llevarte a casa esta noche. = She can drive you home tonight.

	Present	Preterite	Future	Imperfect	Conditional
yo I	puedo	pude	podré	podía	podría
tú you, singular informal	puedes	pudiste	podrás	podías	podrías
él, ella he, she	puede	pudo	podrá	podía	podría
usted you, singular formal	puede	pudo	podrá	podía	podría
nosotros / nosotras we	podemos	pudimos	podremos	podíamos	podríamos
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	podéis	pudisteis	podréis	podíais	podríais
ellos / ellas they	pueden	pudieron	podrán	podían	podrían
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	pueden	pudieron	podrán	podían	podrían

Hacer

Hacer primarily means “to do” or “to make.” 

Hicimos un cartel para la venta. = We made a poster for the sale.

Lo harás mañana. = You’ll do it tomorrow.

You can also use it to express time passing. This can be tricky for English speakers to learn because, when you use hacer in this way, it doesn’t have a clear and direct English equivalent.

Hace una hora que canta. = He has been singing for an hour.

	Present	Preterite	Future	Imperfect	Conditional
yo I	hago	hice	haré	hacía	haría
tú you, singular informal	haces	hiciste	harás	hacías	harías
él, ella he, she	hace	hizo	hará	hacía	haría
usted you, singular formal	hace	hizo	hará	hacía	haría
nosotros / nosotras we	hacemos	hicimos	haremos	hacíamos	haríamos
vosotros / vosotras you, plural, informal, used only in Spain	hacéis	hicisteis	haréis	hacíais	haríais
ellos / ellas they	hacen	hicieron	harán	hacían	harían
ustedes you, plural, formal in Spain, formal/informal in Latin America	hacen	hicieron	harán	hacían	harían

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