Present Tense: Regular -ER and -IR Verbs
Present Tense: Regular -ER and -IR Verbs
The other two regular verb families, -er and -ir, share almost the same ending pattern as -ar and as each other — only the nosotros and vosotros forms differ — so learning all three together is more efficient than treating them as unrelated, especially since English gives you no equivalent scaffolding to lean on.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
comer (to eat) — the -er pattern
como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen
I eat, you eat, he/she eats, we eat, you all eat, they eat
Drop the -er and add -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. Notice how close these endings are to the -ar family's — mostly just swapping a for e. English's own conjugation stays essentially flat by comparison: 'eat' for every person except 'eats' for he/she — six Spanish endings doing the job English does with barely one change.
vivir (to live) — the -ir pattern
vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven
I live, you live, he/she lives, we live, you all live, they live
-ir verbs match -er verbs exactly except in the nosotros and vosotros forms (vivimos/vivís vs comemos/coméis) — every other ending is identical. Learning -er and -ir as a matched pair, rather than two separate systems, cuts the memorization in half.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| Spanish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| comer | koh-MEHR | to eat |
| vivir | vee-VEER | to live |
| escribir | es-kree-BEER | to write |
| leer | leh-EHR | to read |
| como | KOH-moh | I eat |
| comes | KOH-mehs | you eat |
| vivo | VEE-voh | I live |
| viven | VEE-vehn | they live |