Spanish Present Tense (Presente): Conjugation, Uses & Irregulars

The Spanish present tense (presente de indicativo) describes what is happening now, what you do regularly and what is always true: Hablo español (I speak Spanish), Los lunes voy al gimnasio (On Mondays I go to the gym). Grammar books also call it the present indicative or the simple present.

The good news for English speakers: one Spanish form covers several English ones. Como can mean I eat, I do eat or I am eating, and with a time word it can even refer to the future. The hard part is the conjugation: six persons, and more irregular verbs than in any other tense (tengo, puedo, quiero, sé, voy).

On this page:

• when to use the present tense, with 8 uses and examples;
• signal words;
• regular verb conjugation: endings, vosotros, ustedes and vos;
• irregular and stem-changing verbs, plus hay and gustar;
• present vs present progressive vs future;
• common mistakes English speakers make;
• example sentences and how to learn it.

When to use the Spanish present tense

The present tense in Spanish does more work than in English. These are its eight main uses:

1. What is happening right now. ¿Qué haces? - Leo un libro. (What are you doing? - I'm reading a book.) English needs the -ing form here; Spanish usually doesn't. Use estar + gerund (Estoy leyendo un libro) to stress that the action is in progress at this very moment (see Spanish gerund).
2. Habits and routines. Todos los días me levanto a las siete. (Every day I get up at seven.) Los sábados comemos en casa de mis padres. (On Saturdays we have lunch at my parents' place.) Spanish grammars call this the presente habitual.
3. General truths and facts. El agua hierve a 100 grados. (Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.) La Tierra gira alrededor del Sol. (The Earth revolves around the Sun.)
4. Scheduled or planned future. With a time expression: Mañana salgo a las ocho. (I'm leaving at eight tomorrow.) El tren sale a las 9:30. (The train leaves at 9:30.) Where English says "I'm leaving", Spanish uses the simple present, not estar + gerund.
5. Past events (historical present). Common in timelines and headlines: En 1492 Colón llega a América. (In 1492 Columbus reaches America.) In casual storytelling, too: Ayer voy por la calle y me encuentro con Luis. (So yesterday I'm walking down the street and I run into Luis.)
6. Instructions, recipes and directions. Sigues recto y giras a la derecha. (You go straight and turn right.) Cortas la cebolla y la pones en la sartén. (You chop the onion and put it in the pan.) It sounds softer than the imperative.
7. How long something has been going on. Vivo aquí desde hace dos años. (I have lived here for two years.) Hace tres meses que estudio español. (I've been studying Spanish for three months.) ¿Desde cuándo trabajas aquí? (How long have you been working here?) English uses the present perfect; Spanish uses the present, because the action is still going on.
8. Suggestions and requests. ¿Vamos al cine? (Shall we go to the movies?) ¿Te ayudo con la maleta? (Can I help you with your suitcase?) ¿Me pasas la sal? (Can you pass me the salt?) English adds shall, can or will; Spanish uses the plain present.

Signal words for the present tense

Frequency words point to habits; ahora and hoy point to the present moment.

Two details English speakers miss. Days of the week take the article and no preposition: los lunes = on Mondays, never *en lunes. And Spanish uses double negatives: if nunca comes after the verb, you need no before it: No bebo café nunca (I never drink coffee).

Spanish present tense conjugation: regular verbs

Every regular verb follows three steps: take the infinitive (hablar), drop -ar, -er or -ir to get the stem (habl-), and add the ending for the person (hablo). The yo form always ends in -o.

Present tense endings

A shortcut: -er and -ir verbs share the same endings except in nosotros (comemos / vivimos) and vosotros (coméis / vivís).

Hablar, comer, vivir: full conjugation

Hundreds of everyday verbs work exactly like these: trabajar, estudiar, escuchar, comprar; aprender, beber, leer, correr; escribir, abrir, recibir.

Two habits to drop from English. First, the ending already shows the person, so the subject pronoun is usually left out: Hablo inglés (I speak English), not always Yo hablo inglés. Second, there is no helper verb "do": questions just change the intonation, ¿Hablas español? (Do you speak Spanish?), and negatives put no before the verb, No hablo francés (I don't speak French).

Vosotros, ustedes and vos

In Spain, vosotros is the informal "you all" (¿Habláis inglés?) and ustedes the formal one. In Latin America, which is the Spanish most learners in the US hear, ustedes is used for every group, friends included, with the same form as ellos: ustedes hablan, comen, viven. For Latin American Spanish, it's enough to recognize vosotros forms.

In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and much of Central America, vos replaces tú and has its own present tense forms: vos hablás, comés, vivís. Voseo forms have no stem change (vos podés, querés, pensás), and ser becomes vos sos.

Accent marks and spelling changes

• Vosotros forms carry an accent mark: habláis, coméis, vivís. One-syllable forms don't: sois, vais, dais, veis.
• Estar has accent marks in four forms: estás, está, estáis, están. Without them, esta means "this".
• Some -iar and -uar verbs stress the i or u and write an accent on it: enviar → envío, envías, envía, enviamos, enviáis, envían; continuar → continúo, continúas. Others don't: cambiar → cambio, estudiar → estudio. You learn this verb by verb.
• Spelling changes in the yo form keep the sound before -o: coger → cojo, dirigir → dirijo (g → j); distinguir → distingo (gu → g); vencer → venzo (c → z after a consonant). These are spelling rules; the verbs are regular.

Irregular verbs in the Spanish present tense

The present has more irregular verbs than any other tense, but they come in groups that change the same way. There are three kinds: verbs whose stem vowel changes (pienso, puedo, pido), verbs with an irregular yo form (tengo, conozco, sé), and a handful with forms of their own (soy, voy). Some verbs do two things at once: tener has -go in yo (tengo) and e → ie elsewhere (tienes).

Stem-changing verbs (boot verbs)

In stem-changing verbs, the last vowel of the stem changes when it is stressed: e → ie (pensar → pienso), o → ue (poder → puedo) or e → i (pedir → pido). In nosotros and vosotros the stress moves to the ending (pensamos, podéis), so the stem stays the same as in the infinitive. Draw a line around the forms that change in the chart below and you get the shape of a boot, which is why teachers call them boot verbs or shoe verbs.

The e → i change only happens in -ir verbs (pedir, servir, seguir, repetir, vestir, medir), and jugar is the only u → ue verb (juego, jugamos). You can't tell from the infinitive: pensar changes but esperar doesn't (espero); contar changes (cuento) but tomar doesn't (tomo). That's why dictionaries and textbooks mark them as pensar (ie), poder (ue), pedir (i). Full charts: pensar, poder, pedir.

Ser, estar, ir and tener

Learn these four before anything else: they show up in almost every sentence, and you can't work out their forms from the infinitive. Ser and estar both mean "to be": ser for identity and characteristics (Soy profesor, I'm a teacher), estar for states and location (Estoy en casa, I'm at home).

Ser, estar and ir end in -oy in the yo form, like dar (doy). Tener combines -go in yo with e → ie: tengo, tienes, but tenemos. Venir works the same way (vengo, vienes, venimos, venís), and so do verbs built on tener: mantener, obtener, contener. Full charts in every tense: ser, estar, ir, tener.

Present tense irregular verbs by group

Each group lists the most common verbs with key forms; click a verb for its full conjugation. More verbs with the same patterns: caber → quepo, valer → valgo, traducir → traduzco, conducir → conduzco, ofrecer → ofrezco, preferir → prefiero, cerrar → cierro, mostrar → muestro, costar → cuesta, repetir → repito.

-uir verbs: construyo, construimos

Verbs ending in -uir (construir, destruir, incluir, contribuir, distribuir, huir) add a y in the forms where the stem is stressed: construyo, construyes, construye, construimos, construís, construyen. Nosotros and vosotros don't get it. Oír follows a similar pattern, with -go in yo: oigo, oyes, oye, oímos, oís, oyen.

-ger, -gir and -guir verbs: cojo, dirijo, sigo

To keep the same sound before -o, g is written j and gu is written g: escoger → escojo, proteger → protejo, dirigir → dirijo, diriges, exigir → exijo, distinguir → distingo, distingues. That's only spelling. Seguir and conseguir, however, are also e → i verbs: sigo, sigues, sigue, seguimos, seguís, siguen. Elegir and corregir combine e → i with g → j: elijo, eliges; corrijo, corriges. A word of caution: coger (to take, cojo) is everyday Spanish in Spain but vulgar in much of Latin America, where people say tomar or agarrar.

Hay: there is, there are

As a helping verb, haber has a full set of forms (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) used for the present perfect: he comido (I have eaten). To say that something exists, Spanish uses one form only, hay, for both singular and plural: Hay un problema. (There is a problem.) Hay cinco personas en la sala. (There are five people in the room.) With "the" or a name, use estar: Hay un banco en la esquina (There's a bank on the corner), but El banco está en la esquina (The bank is on the corner). Hay que + infinitive means "you have to": Hay que llegar temprano. (You have to get there early.)

Gustar and similar verbs

Gustar is a regular verb, but it works backwards compared to "to like": the thing you like is the subject, and the person is shown by me, te, le, nos, os, les. So the verb is almost always in the third person: Me gusta el café (I like coffee), Me gustan los libros (I like books), Nos gusta viajar (We like to travel; an infinitive takes the singular). Encantar (Me encantan las series, I love TV shows), interesar, doler (Me duele la cabeza, My head hurts) and parecer work the same way.

Present tense vs present progressive vs future

English speakers tend to overuse the progressive and the future in Spanish. Both forms in each pair exist; the difference is emphasis.

Simple present or estar + gerund?

The simple present states a fact, a habit or a stable situation: Trabajo en un banco (I work at a bank; that's my job). Estar + gerund stresses that something is in progress now or is temporary: Estoy trabajando, te llamo luego (I'm working, I'll call you later); Este mes estoy trabajando en Madrid (This month I'm working in Madrid). State verbs like saber, tener, querer and conocer are rarely used in the progressive: Sé la respuesta (I know the answer), not *Estoy sabiendo la respuesta.

Present or future?

For fixed plans with a time expression, the present is what people actually say: Mañana salgo a las ocho (I'm leaving at eight tomorrow). The simple future (Mañana saldré a las ocho) sounds more formal or distant and is the usual choice for predictions and promises: Mañana lloverá (It will rain tomorrow), Te lo devolveré (I'll give it back to you). For intentions, the most neutral option is ir a + infinitive: Voy a salir (I'm going to go out). Only the future can express a guess: Serán las diez (It must be about ten).

Common mistakes English speakers make

1. *Yo sabo → yo sé; *yo poño → yo pongo. Many common verbs have an irregular yo form, and following the hablo, como pattern creates words that don't exist. Same with *cabo → quepo, *conoco → conozco, *hazo → hago.
2. *Nosotros piensamos → nosotros pensamos. The stem change never reaches nosotros or vosotros: pensamos, podemos, pedimos, jugamos.
3. *Estoy saliendo mañana → Salgo mañana / Voy a salir mañana. English uses "I'm leaving tomorrow" for plans; Spanish does not use estar + gerund for the future.
4. "To be" is not always ser. *Soy 20 años → Tengo 20 años (I'm 20); likewise tengo hambre (I'm hungry), tengo frío (I'm cold), tengo razón (I'm right). *Soy de acuerdo → Estoy de acuerdo (I agree); *Soy cansado → Estoy cansado (I'm tired). Some adjectives change meaning: es aburrido (he's boring) vs está aburrido (he's bored).
5. *Están cinco personas → Hay cinco personas. "There is" and "there are" are both hay. It never takes a plural ending: hay un libro, hay dos libros.
6. Translating "have been ... for" word for word. He estado viviendo aquí por dos años sounds like a translation. Spanish speakers say Vivo aquí desde hace dos años or Llevo dos años viviendo aquí.
7. *Ustedes tenéis → ustedes tienen; *hablais → habláis. Ustedes always takes the ellos form, in Spain and in Latin America. And vosotros forms need their accent mark.

Spanish present tense examples

Twelve sentences covering every person, with regular, stem-changing and irregular verbs:

1. Yo trabajo en un hospital y empiezo a las siete. (I work at a hospital and start at seven.)
2. ¿Hablas inglés o solo español? (Do you speak English or just Spanish?)
3. Mi hermana vive en Miami y tiene dos hijos. (My sister lives in Miami and has two kids.)
4. ¿Usted conoce este barrio? (Do you know this neighborhood?)
5. Los domingos comemos en casa de mis padres. (On Sundays we have lunch at my parents' place.)
6. ¿Sabéis dónde está la estación? (Do you guys know where the station is?)
7. Mis hijos juegan al fútbol los sábados. (My kids play soccer on Saturdays.)
8. Ustedes pueden pagar con tarjeta. (You can pay by card.)
9. No entiendo esta palabra. ¿Qué significa? (I don't understand this word. What does it mean?)
10. En ese restaurante siempre pido lo mismo. (I always order the same thing at that restaurant.)
11. Los gatos duermen hasta dieciséis horas al día. (Cats sleep up to sixteen hours a day.)
12. ¿Qué dices? No te oigo bien. (What are you saying? I can't hear you well.)

How to learn the Spanish present tense

Start with the regular endings: they already let you conjugate thousands of verbs. Then learn the irregular verbs in groups rather than one by one, beginning with ser, estar, ir, tener, hacer and poder. For each irregular verb, memorize two forms, yo and nosotros: pienso / pensamos, tengo / tenemos, conozco / conocemos. The rest follows from those two. The yo form also pays off later: the present subjunctive is built on it (tengo → tenga, conozco → conozca).

Then describe your daily routine out loud with the signal words above (Normalmente me levanto a las siete...). In the verbos.app trainer you pick the present tense, the verbs and the persons, and drill until the forms come without thinking.

Keep going: the Spanish preterite, imperfect and present perfect (plus preterite vs imperfect), the simple future, the Spanish gerund and the present subjunctive. Irregular forms in every tense: Spanish irregular verbs. Vocabulary to practice with: 100 most common Spanish verbs and reflexive verbs. All tenses: Spanish tenses chart.