AR, ER, IR Verbs in Spanish: Endings for Every Tense

Quick answer: Every Spanish verb ends in -ar, -er or -ir in its infinitive form (hablar, comer, vivir). To conjugate a regular verb, drop the ending and add the ending for the person: hablar → hablo, hablas, habla… AR verbs use endings with a, while ER and IR verbs share almost the same endings with e and i.

Learn these three patterns and you can conjugate thousands of Spanish verbs. This guide has the AR, ER and IR verb charts for the present, preterite, imperfect and future tenses, lists of the most common regular verbs, and a quick quiz.

What are AR, ER and IR verbs?

Spanish verbs are grouped by the last two letters of the infinitive (the “to” form):

• -AR verbs (the largest group): hablar – to speak, trabajar – to work
• -ER verbs: comer – to eat, aprender – to learn
• -IR verbs: vivir – to live, escribir – to write

The part before the ending is the stem (habl-, com-, viv-). Regular verbs keep the stem and change only the ending.

Present tense: AR, ER, IR endings

Pronoun	-AR (hablar)	-ER (comer)	-IR (vivir)
yo	hablo	como	vivo
tú	hablas	comes	vives
él / ella / usted	habla	come	vive
nosotros	hablamos	comemos	vivimos
vosotros	habláis	coméis	vivís
ellos / ustedes	hablan	comen	viven

Tip: ER and IR verbs are identical in the present tense except for nosotros (-emos / -imos) and vosotros (-éis / -ís).

Preterite (simple past)

Pronoun	-AR (hablar)	-ER (comer)	-IR (vivir)
yo	hablé	comí	viví
tú	hablaste	comiste	viviste
él / ella / usted	habló	comió	vivió
nosotros	hablamos	comimos	vivimos
vosotros	hablasteis	comisteis	vivisteis
ellos / ustedes	hablaron	comieron	vivieron

In the preterite, ER and IR endings are exactly the same.

Imperfect (used to / was doing)

Pronoun	-AR (hablar)	-ER (comer)	-IR (vivir)
yo	hablaba	comía	vivía
tú	hablabas	comías	vivías
él / ella / usted	hablaba	comía	vivía
nosotros	hablábamos	comíamos	vivíamos
vosotros	hablabais	comíais	vivíais
ellos / ustedes	hablaban	comían	vivían

Future tense

The future is the easiest: keep the whole infinitive and add the same endings for all three groups: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.

hablaré, comerás, vivirá, hablaremos, comeréis, vivirán

Most common regular AR verbs

hablar (to speak), trabajar (to work), estudiar (to study), tomar (to take/drink), llegar (to arrive), llevar (to carry/take), buscar (to look for), usar (to use), necesitar (to need), escuchar (to listen), mirar (to look at), esperar (to wait/hope), ayudar (to help), comprar (to buy), cocinar (to cook), caminar (to walk), bailar (to dance), viajar (to travel), terminar (to finish), preguntar (to ask)

Most common regular ER verbs

comer (to eat), beber (to drink), aprender (to learn), leer (to read), correr (to run), vender (to sell), comprender (to understand), creer (to believe), deber (to owe/should), responder (to answer), romper (to break), temer (to fear), meter (to put in), barrer (to sweep), prometer (to promise)

Most common regular IR verbs

vivir (to live), escribir (to write), abrir (to open), recibir (to receive), subir (to go up), decidir (to decide), compartir (to share), asistir (to attend), cubrir (to cover), describir (to describe), discutir (to argue/discuss), permitir (to allow), sufrir (to suffer), unir (to unite), existir (to exist)

See the full list with examples in our top 50 regular verbs in Spanish and the 200 most common Spanish verbs.

Watch out: irregular and stem-changing verbs

Some very common verbs break the pattern. Learn these separately:

• Fully irregular: ser, ir, tener, hacer, decir, haber
• Stem-changing (e → ie): pensar, empezar, entender
• Stem-changing (o → ue): poder, volver, dormir, encontrar
• Stem-changing (e → i): pedir, repetir, servir

Quick quiz

Conjugate the verb in the present tense.

1. Nosotros ______ (vivir) en Texas.
2. Tú ______ (aprender) muy rápido.
3. Ellos ______ (trabajar) los sábados.
4. Yo ______ (escribir) un correo.
5. Usted ______ (beber) mucha agua.

Show answers

1. vivimos
2. aprendes
3. trabajan
4. escribo
5. bebe