There are three types of verbs in Spanish. We call them Ar, Er and Ir verbs. We catagorize verbs based on the last two letters of their infinitive (or unconjugated) form.
-
Hablar
- The first thing we do is take off the last two letters: the -ar ending. Then we are left with the "root" of the verb:
- Hablar - ar = Habl
- Now we add on one of the present tense
endings to our root:
- o
- as
- a
- amos
- an
- habl + (one of the endings)---->Hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablan
Present Tense Endings
Ar verbs |
Er Verbs |
Ir Verbs |
|
| Yo | o | o | o |
| Tú (you-casual) | as | es | es |
| Él, Ella, Usted
(He, She, You-formal) |
a | e | e |
| Nosotros (We-males/mixed
group) Nosotras (we-females) |
amos | emos | imos |
| Ellos (they-males/mixed group) Ellas (they-females) Ustedes (you all) |
an | en | en |
Notice that the endings for the Er and Ir verbs are identical except for the Nosotros form.
Examples
Infinitive |
Yo |
Tú |
él, ella, usted |
Nosotros/as |
Ellos, ellas, Uds. |
| Hablar | Hablo | Hablas | Habla | Hablamos | Hablan |
| Vivir | Vivo | Vives | Vive | Vivimos | Viven |
| Comer | Como | Comes | Come | Comemos | Comen |
I like to think of the three categories as : Los buenos, Los malos, y Los feos (the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.) This is because the -Ar verbs are pretty stable and have few irregulars or stem-changers, while the -Er verbs seems really predictable too and then suddenly have an irregular or stem-changer when you don't expect it. And the -Ir verbs thoroughly enjoy being irregular and quirky.