Regular -er and -ir verbs in Spanish · present tenseRegular Verbs 2

The twins

You know the -ar verbs from the -ar verbs class. The other two groups, -er verbs like comer (to eat) and -ir verbs like vivir (to live), work the same way: remove the ending, add the one for the person.

And here's the good news: -er and -ir verbs are twins. They share every ending except one:

Only nosotros is different: -emos for -er verbs, -imos for -ir verbs. It keeps the vowel of the verb: comer → comemos, vivir → vivimos.

Say the twins out loud

• Como, comes, come, comemos, comen.I eat, you eat, he/she eats, we eat, they eat.
• Vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven.I live, you live, he/she lives, we live, they live.

With every person

Every person, every day

• Como en casa.I eat at home.
• ¿Dónde vives?Where do you live?
• Mi hermano lee mucho.My brother reads a lot.
• ¿Usted bebe café?Do you drink coffee? (formal)
• Nosotros comemos a las dos.We have lunch at two.
• Nosotros vivimos en el centro.We live downtown.
• Mis papás venden comida.My parents sell food.
• ¿Ustedes escriben en español?Do you all write in Spanish?

The stress follows the same rule as -ar verbs: second-to-last syllable. CO-mo, VI-ves, co-ME-mos, vi-VI-mos, CO-men.

16 -er and -ir verbs you'll use every day

✍️ Quick check

0/3

1. 1.Nosotros ___ en Chicago. (We live in Chicago.)

   vivemosvivimosviven

2. 2.Nosotros ___ tacos los viernes. (We eat tacos on Fridays.)

   comimoscomemoscomen

3. 3.Mi hija ___ mucho. (My daughter reads a lot.)

   leesleeleen

Some -er and -ir verbs aren't regular

A few verbs in these groups break the pattern. You already know them:

• Boot verbs from the stem-changing class: entender → entiendo, dormir → duermo, pedir → pido.
• "-go" verbs from the irregular verbs class: tener → tengo, hacer → hago, decir → digo.

Everything else in this lesson is regular. If you meet a new -er or -ir verb, try the regular endings first: you'll be right most of the time.

Common mistakes

• ✗Nosotros vivemos en Texas.

  ✓Nosotros vivimos en Texas.

  -ir verbs keep the i: vivimos.

• ✗Nosotros comimos en casa. (to say "we eat")

  ✓Nosotros comemos en casa.

  Comimos is the past, "we ate". -er verbs take -emos.

• ✗Ella comes mucho.

  ✓Ella come mucho.

  The -s is only for tú.

• ✗Mis amigos vivan en Dallas.

  ✓Mis amigos viven en Dallas.

  Ellos takes -en with -er and -ir verbs. Vivan is a different form you'll see later.

• ✗Asisto mi jefe.

  ✓Ayudo a mi jefe.

  Asistir is "to attend". "To help" is ayudar.

Put it together

Here's the sentence from class:

Como en casa y vivo en el centro.

• como: comer, yo. The yo form is -o for every regular verb
• vivo: vivir, yo

And now with every person, between two new coworkers:

1. ¿Dónde vives?

   Where do you live?

2. Vivo en el centro, cerca del trabajo. ¿Y tú?

   I live downtown, near work. And you?

3. Yo vivo lejos. Mis papás viven en las afueras y vivo con ellos.

   I live far away. My parents live on the outskirts and I live with them.

4. ¿Y comes aquí en la oficina?

   And do you eat here at the office?

5. No, como en casa. Mi mamá cocina muy bien. ¿Ustedes comen aquí?

   No, I eat at home. My mom cooks really well. Do you all eat here?

6. Sí, comemos en la cafetería. Venden comida corrida muy barata.

   Yes, we eat at the cafeteria. They sell a cheap set lunch.

7. ¡Qué bien! Creo que mañana como con ustedes.

   Great! I think tomorrow I'll eat with you all.

Comida corrida is the Mexican set lunch: soup, rice, a main dish and agua fresca, all for one price. Every neighborhood has a place that sells it.

Now make it yours: say where you live, where you eat, what you read and what you drink every day. Then say what your family does: Mis papás viven en… Nosotros comemos…

Test yourself

✍️ Six quick questions

0/6

1. 1.¿Tú ___ en un departamento? (Do you live in an apartment?)

   vivesvivevivimos

2. 2.Ellos ___ tamales los domingos. (They sell tamales on Sundays.)

   vendenvendanvendes

3. 3.Nosotros ___ español en ChidoLingo. (We learn Spanish at ChidoLingo.)

   aprendimosaprendemosaprenden

4. 4.Nosotros ___ un correo. (We write an email.)

   escribemosescribimosescriben

5. 5.¿Va a llover? — "I don't think so."

   Creo que no.No creo que sí.Creo no.

6. 6.Asisto a la clase means…

   I help in class.I attend class.

All the forms

Regular -er and -ir verbs: the full chart

	yo	tú	él / ella / usted	nosotros	ellos / ustedes
comer	como	comes	come	comemos	comen
beber	bebo	bebes	bebe	bebemos	beben
aprender	aprendo	aprendes	aprende	aprendemos	aprenden
leer	leo	lees	lee	leemos	leen
vivir	vivo	vives	vive	vivimos	viven
escribir	escribo	escribes	escribe	escribimos	escriben
abrir	abro	abres	abre	abrimos	abren
compartir	comparto	compartes	comparte	compartimos	comparten

-er endings: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -en. -ir endings: -o, -es, -e, -imos, -en. The only difference is nosotros.

All three groups side by side: hablo, como, vivo · hablas, comes, vives · habla, come, vive · hablamos, comemos, vivimos · hablan, comen, viven.