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The Spanish simple present tense (or ) can be used to talk about habitual actions, routines, things happening now or in the near future, universal truths, facts, hypotheticals, lapses of time, and for ordering in restaurants and stores.

Regular Present Indicative Forms

Below you'll find instructions for forming regular verbs in the present tense, including the endings you need to know for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.

Verbs that End in -ar

To conjugate an verb, remove the infinitive ending () and add the ending that matches the subject. You can find these endings in the table below.
Present Tense Endings for -ar Verbs
Verbs that End in -er

To conjugate an verb, remove the infinitive ending () and add the ending that matches the subject. You can find these endings in the table below.
Present Tense Endings for -er Verbs
Verbs that End in -ir

To conjugate an verb, remove the infinitive ending () and add the ending that matches the subject. You can find these endings in the table below.
Present Tense Endings for -ir Verbs Copy Cats
Notice that most of the present tense endings for and verbs are the same. Only the nosotros and vosotros endings are different.

Some present tense yo conjugations undergo spelling changes or are irregular.

Verbs with Spelling Changes in the Yo Form

Verbs with Irregular Yo Forms

The following verbs have irregular forms. The other present tense forms of these verbs follow the patterns for regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.

Here are a few examples of the above verbs in action.

Stem-changing Verbs

Many present tense verbs undergo what is called a stem change. The present tense endings for these verbs are regular, but there is a vowel change in the verb stem (the part of the verb that comes before -ar, -er, or -ir). Click here to read our article on stem-changing verbs.

Present Indicative Uses

The Spanish present tense can be used to talk about habitual actions, routines, things happening now or in the near future, universal truths, facts, hypotheticals, lapses of time, and for ordering in restaurants and stores. Read on for more on each of these uses.
Dropping Subject Pronouns
Because the endings of Spanish verbs indicate who the subject of an action is, you can often drop the subject pronoun ( yo, tú, nosotros, etc.). Many Spanish speakers rarely use personal pronouns, although this varies from country to country.

For example, in the sentence Hablo español. ( I speak Spanish.), the pronoun isn't really necessary. The ending tells you who the subject of the verb is.

1. Habitual Actions

Habitual actions are activities that a person does every day (or very often). Daily routines, responsibilities, hobbies, and jobs can be talked about using the present tense.

2. Things Happening Now

In English, something happening at the moment of speaking is usually expressed using the present progressive. In Spanish, both the simple present and the present progressive can be used to talk about things happening now.

3. Things Happening in the Near Future

The Spanish present tense can also be used to talk about things that will happen in the near future.

4. Timeless Events/Universal Truths

Things that are universally known or generally accepted are often expressed using the simple present. These can be facts, opinions, or proverbs.

5. Hypothetical Situations

When used with the conjunction si ( if), the present tense can express hypothetical situations and outcomes.

6. Lapses of Time

The present tense is commonly used to talk about the amount of time something has been going on. The following formula is used with the present tense for this purpose.

7. Ordering

It's also quite common to use the present tense in Spanish when ordering something in a restaurant or store.

Looking for more articles about grammar? Check out these articles!

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Spanish Grammar Articles and Lessons | SpanishDictionary.com

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Expert articles and interactive video lessons on how to use the Spanish language. Learn about 'por' vs. 'para', Spanish pronunciation, typing Spanish accents, and more.

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PRESENTE REGULAR (Present - regular verbs)

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Presente de indicativo en español. Nivel básico.