In Spanish, verbs are conjugated according to the person performing the action. There are three types of regular verbs in Spanish: -ar verbs, -er verbs, and -ir verbs. In this post, we will learn how to conjugate er and ir verbs.
We will learn the following:
- The basic rules for conjugating er and ir verbs
- The different endings for er and ir verbs
- Examples of how to conjugate er and ir verbs in sentences
By the end of this post, you will be able to conjugate er and ir verbs confidently and accurately in your Spanish conversations and writing.
How to Conjugate er and ir Verbs
To conjugate er and ir verbs you remove the ending (-er or -ir) and you add a new ending based on the subject or person performing the action. and there are 5 easy steps to follow
- find the Infinitives: Infinitives are verbs that end in -ar, -er & -ir. They are verbs that have not been conjugated. In English they are what we call “to verbs”. To run, to talk, to eat, etc. Examples: hablar, comer, escribir
- Make sure its a ir or er verb: ir or er verbs are simply verbs that end in ir or er .
- Find the ending: with ir or er verbs it should be ir or er
- Follow the rules to Conjugate ir or er verbs: Remove the ir or er and add a new ending
- Add new ending depending on who is performing the action. See Chart Below
| who is performing the action | er | ir |
| yo | o | o |
| tú | es | es |
| él/ella/usted | e | e |
| nosotros(as) | emos | imos |
| vosotros(as) | éis | ís |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | en | en |
Below we will learn to conjugate some of them together. The rest you will be able to conjugate on your own by following the rules that we learn today.
Spanish Er & Ir video lesson
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Rules to Conjugate Regular er & ir Verbs
- Get rid of the ending (-er & -ir)
- Add a new ending.
- That’s how you conjugate a verb.
Let’s take a look at the verb Comer
Comer = to eat. Again, -er is the ending and whatever is leftover is the stem.
With that out of the way let’s go over the two rules we have to Conjugate verbs.
Remember conjugating is simply changing the verb to match the person that is performing the action.
So now I want to show you how to apply those rules. In order to do that I am going to use some scissors. It will help you see things clearly.
Remember the verb estudiar? To study? Well, let’s go ahead and apply the rules together.
This is where we are going to use our tijeras (our scissors).
Rule 1 says to get rid of the ending (-er & -ir). So let’s do that. Let’s cut it off. Poof, it’s gone.
So now we are left with the stem of the verb estudiar because we got rid of the -er & -ir
er verbs endings Chart
Since the new endings are based on who is performing the action, let’s bring back our subject pronouns. In one of our previous lessons I told you that it was important to memorize the subject pronouns in this order. If by now you know your subject pronouns then all you have to memorize are the new endings.
Let’s go over the endings.
The ending for yo is o. Como means I study.
The ending for tú is es. Comes means you study.
The ending for él/ella/Ud. is e. Come means he studies, she studies or You formal study.
The ending for nosotros(as) is emos. Comemos means we study.
The ending for vosotros(as) is éis. Coméis means You guys study.
The ending for ellos/ellas/Uds. is en. Comen means they study or you guys study.
So now we have all of the endings for -er verbs.
Let’s Take a Look at the verb Escribir
So let’s now look at -ir verbs. The process is the same. Good news: -er and -ir verbs ending are very similar but be careful about the nosotros and vosotros forms as they are different.
So now I want to show you how to apply those rules. In order to do that I am going to use some scissors. It will help you see things clearly.
The verb escribir is an -ir verb
o let’s conjugate it.
Rule 1. Get rid of the ending (-ir). Let’s use our scissors again and let’s get rid of that -ir. Poof!
ir Verb Endings Chart
Now we have the stem (escrib) and we have to add new endings according to rule #2 and depending on who is speaking. Depending on who is performing the action.
Here is our stem. escrib
I speak = yo escribo.
you speak = tú escribes. See how the ending changed? Let’s continue
he/she/You (f.) speak(s) = él escribe / ella escribe / Ud. escribe
we speak = nosotros(as) escribimos
you speak (pl. Spain) = vosotros(as) escribís
they / you (pl. Latin America) speak = ellos escriben / ellas escriben / Uds. escriben
And that’s it friends. Now you have conjugated the verb escribir in all of it’s forms
- escribo
- escribes
- escribe
- escribimos
- escribís
- escriben
And that’s it. Super simple. You just gotta practice a bit.
Asking and Answering Questions
Let’s discuss something important.
What if I ask YOU a question?
Who would you answer about?
That’s right you are answering about yourself. So I may ask ..
¿Tú corres mucho?
You would answer in the yo form since you are talking about yourself. You may say:
Sí, yo corro mucho
or
No, no corro mucho.
The same thing applies if I ask you a question about Uds. I am asking you guys … therefore you need to answer in the nosotros (we) form. Think about it. Hey do you guys study a lot? Yes, WE study a lot
¿Uds. escriben mucho?
Sí, nosotros escribimos mucho
or
No, no escribimos mucho.
How to say you Don’t do some of these things
To say you don’t do something we are going to put the NO in front of the verb. Just like we did with gustar.
¿Tú lees mucho?
No, no leo mucho.
So now you are an expert and you know how to conjugate -ar, -er and -ir verbs.
Free handouts (Click to download from Google drive)
