Present Tense: Regular -ER Verbs

Level: A1. Regular -ER verbs are the second of Spanish’s three verb families. Once you can conjugate one, such as comer (“to eat”), you can conjugate hundreds: beber, aprender, leer, vender, correr. Drop the -er and add a fixed set of endings.

The rule

A verb is an action or state word; to conjugate it is to change its ending so it matches the subject (I, you, he…). Spanish verbs come in three groups by their infinitive ending: -AR, -ER and -IR. This page is the -ER group.

To build the present tense of a regular -ER verb, take off the -er to find the stem (comer → com-), then add the ending for each subject:

• yo → -o: como
• tú → -es: comes
• él / ella / usted → -e: come
• nosotros / nosotras → -emos: comemos
• vosotros / vosotras → -éis: coméis
• ellos / ellas / ustedes → -en: comen

You usually drop the subject pronoun, because the ending already shows who is meant: como on its own means “I eat”.

Forms

The same six endings attach to any regular -ER stem: beber → bebo, bebes, bebe…; aprender → aprendo, aprendes, aprende…

How to say it

A few sounds in these verbs trip up English speakers:

• Spanish e is a short, pure “eh” (as in “bet”), never the English “ay” glide. comer is “koh-MEHR”, not “koh-may”.
• b and v sound the same — a soft “b”. vender (“to sell”) is roughly “ben-DEHR”, and beber is “beh-BEHR”.
• r between or after vowels is a single quick tap, not the English r. The final r in comer and leer is a light flick of the tongue.
• A written accent marks the stressed syllable. coméis is “koh-MEH-ees”, with the stress on the é; without the accent the spelling is simply wrong.

Example sentences

Press play to hear each line; these were written for this lesson.

1. Como pan todos los días.
   I eat bread every day.
   yo form: como
2. ¿Comes carne?
   Do you eat meat?
   tú form: comes
3. Ella bebe agua.
   She drinks water.
   él/ella form: bebe
4. Comemos a las dos.
   We eat at two.
   nosotros form: comemos
5. Los niños comen fruta.
   The children eat fruit.
   ellos form: comen
6. ¿Vosotros coméis aquí?
   Do you all eat here?
   vosotros (Spain): coméis
7. Aprendo español.
   I'm learning Spanish.
   aprender → aprendo
8. ¿Aprendes inglés?
   Are you learning English?
9. Leemos un libro.
   We read a book.
   leer → leemos
10. Él lee el periódico.
    He reads the newspaper.
11. No comprendo la pregunta.
    I don't understand the question.
    comprender → comprendo
12. ¿Comprendes ahora?
    Do you understand now?
13. Vendemos la casa.
    We're selling the house.
    vender → vendemos
14. Corro en el parque.
    I run in the park.
    correr → corro
15. Debes estudiar más.
    You should study more.
    deber → debes
16. Creo que sí.
    I think so.
    creer → creo
17. Ellos responden rápido.
    They answer quickly.
    responder → responden
18. Bebemos café por la mañana.
    We drink coffee in the morning.

Common mistakes

• ❌ tú comas → ✅ tú comes. The -ER tú ending is -es; -as belongs to -AR verbs.
• ❌ nosotros comamos → ✅ nosotros comemos. The -ER “we” ending is -emos; comamos is a different form.
• ❌ yo comer / yo come → ✅ yo como. Drop the -er and add -o for yo.
• ❌ vosotros comeis → ✅ vosotros coméis. The é carries a written accent.
• ❌ él comes → ✅ él come. Third-person singular is -e; the -es ending is for tú.

A short conversation

— ¿Qué comes normalmente? — “What do you usually eat?” — Como fruta y bebo café. ¿Y tú? — “I eat fruit and drink coffee. And you?” — Nosotros comemos en casa. — “We eat at home.” — ¿Aprendéis español juntos? — “Do you all learn Spanish together?”

Usage notes

• Drop the pronoun by default. Because the ending shows the subject, comemos already means “we eat”; add nosotros only for contrast or emphasis.
• usted and ustedes use third-person endings. The polite “you” usted takes come (like él), and plural ustedes takes comen (like ellos), even though they mean “you”.
• A written accent never changes the ending’s job. coméis is still the vosotros form; the accent only marks which syllable is stressed.

Compared with…

• Regular -AR verbs share the yo -o but differ elsewhere (hablas, habla, hablamos): see the present tense of -AR verbs to compare the two sets side by side.
• Regular -IR verbs match -ER exactly except for “we” and “you all” (-imos/-ís instead of -emos/-éis); the -IR lesson joins the Spanish grammar section soon.
• For “to be”, Spanish uses irregular verbs, not this pattern — start with ser in the present.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Practice

Regular -ER verb practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 What is the yo (I) form of comer?

como comes come comer

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como — Drop -er, add -o for yo: como.

2 Complete with comer: Tú ____ carne. (You eat meat.)

Check

Hint: tú ending is -es

Show answer

comes — The tú form of comer is comes.

3 Build: 'We read a book.'

unLeemoslibro

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Show answer

Leemos un libro — leer → leemos (nosotros): Leemos un libro.

4 Match each subject to its -ER ending.

• yo Match for yo — choose — -emos-en-es-o
• tú Match for tú — choose — -emos-en-es-o
• nosotros Match for nosotros — choose — -emos-en-es-o
• ellos Match for ellos — choose — -emos-en-es-o

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• yo → -o
• tú → -es
• nosotros → -emos
• ellos → -en

yo -o, tú -es, nosotros -emos, ellos -en.

5 Which form is WRONG for a regular -ER verb?

comemos comes comas comen

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comas — comas uses an -AR-style ending; the -ER tú form is comes.

Quiz

Check yourself

Regular -ER verbs quiz

12 questions · pick an answer and you'll see straight away if it's right.

0/12 0 answered

1. 1To conjugate a regular -ER verb, you first drop the…

   A -o B -er C -emos D accent
   Show answer

   -er — Remove -er to find the stem, then add the endings.

2. 2The yo form of beber is…

   A bebo B bebes C bebe D beber
   Show answer

   bebo — yo takes -o: bebo.

3. 3The tú form of comer is…

   A comas B comes C come D coméis
   Show answer

   comes — tú takes -es: comes.

4. 4The él/ella form of aprender is…

   A aprendo B aprendes C aprende D aprenden
   Show answer

   aprende — Third-person singular takes -e: aprende.

5. 5The nosotros form of comer is…

   A comamos B comemos C coméis D comen
   Show answer

   comemos — nosotros takes -emos: comemos.

6. 6The vosotros form of comer is…

   A comeis B coméis C comés D comen
   Show answer

   coméis — vosotros takes -éis with a written accent: coméis.

7. 7The ellos/ustedes form of leer is…

   A leo B lees C leemos D leen
   Show answer

   leen — ellos/ustedes takes -en: leen.

8. 8Which ending is NOT a regular -ER ending?

   A -o B -es C -as D -emos
   Show answer

   -as — -as is an -AR ending; -ER uses -es for tú.

9. 9'We sell the house' is…

   A Vendo la casa B Vendes la casa C Vendemos la casa D Venden la casa
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   Vendemos la casa — nosotros of vender is vendemos.

10. 10How do -ER and -IR endings differ?

    A they never differ B only in nosotros and vosotros C only in yo D only in ustedes
    Show answer

    only in nosotros and vosotros — They match except -emos/-éis (-ER) vs -imos/-ís (-IR).

11. 11Why can you drop the pronoun in como pan?

    A Spanish has no pronouns B the ending already shows the subject C pan is the subject D it is wrong to drop it
    Show answer

    the ending already shows the subject — The ending -o already signals yo, so the pronoun is optional.

12. 12Complete with comer for nosotros: ____ a las dos. (We eat at two.)
    Check
    Show answer

    Comemos — nosotros of comer is comemos.

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Compare with the first family: present tense of -AR verbs
• Back to the Spanish grammar section
• New here? Start with Start Learning Spanish Here