-er & -ir Verbs As we saw in the previous presentation, there are three conjugations of verbs in Spanish: -ar, -er, and -ir. -er and -ir verbs are often studied together because all of their endings (except one) are identical.
BEBER Let’s look at an example, the verb BEBER, which means “to drink.” It ends in -er, so it is included in this class.
BEBER The verb can be split into two parts: The base: beb- The infinitive ending: -er
BEBER Now let’s say “I drink.” Start with the base: beb- When you talk about yourself, add -o, just as you did for the -ar verbs.
BEBER yo bebo Are you surprised?
BEBER Now let’s talk about you. When the subject is tú, you add –ES (remember that it’s an –ER verb).
BEBER tú bebes
BEBER Let’s guess endings for the other persons: él, ella, Ud., nosotros, ellos, ellas, Uds.
BEBER él bebe ella bebe Ud. bebe nosotros bebemos ellos beben ellas beben Uds. beben
-er endings The endings for regular -er verbs are the same as for -ar verbs, except that the vowel is -e- instead of -a -! yo -o tú -es él, ella, Ud. -e nosotros -emos vosotros -éis ellos -en ustedes -en
What about the -ir Verbs? Well, take a look for yourself. Can you find the one difference? beber vivir bebo vivo bebes vives bebe vive bebemos vivimos beben viven
That’s right! The endings are identical except for the nosotros form: beber: bebemos vivir: vivimos
Let’s Practice > ESCRIBIR Yo _______ muchas cartas, pero mi hermana no _______ cartas.
Escribir Yo escribo muchas cartas, pero mi hermana no escribe cartas.
RECIBIR, DEBER Cuando yo _______ (recibir) una carta, _______ (deber) leerla [read it].
RECIBIR, DEBER Cuando yo recibo una carta, debo leerla. N.B. There was no change in subject, so “yo” was understood to be the subject for both verbs. It was not necessary to repeat “yo.”
LEER, COMPRENDER Snoopy ______ (leer) filosofía pero no la ________ (comprender) muy bien.
LEER, COMPRENDER Snoopy lee filosofía pero no la comprende muy bien. Don’t forget that the base of leer is le-, so there is a double –e on the él form.
VIVIR, CORRER Nosotros _____ (vivir) cerca de [near] un parque y ______ (correr) allí [there] por la mañana.
VIVIR, CORRER Nosotros vivimos cerca de un parque y corremos allí por la mañana.
Regular Present Tense To summarize, here are the endings for the three verb conjugations: -AR -ER -IR -o -o -o -as -es -es -a -e -e -amos –emos –imos -an -en -en
Regular Present Tense Now let’s look at verbs that don’t fit these neat patterns! Start the presentation entitled Tener...