Spanish -AR, -ER, and -IR Verb Chart: Complete Conjugation Guide

Key takeaways

• Spanish verbs divide into three classes: -AR, -ER, and -IR, each with its own set of conjugation endings.
• The future and conditional tenses use identical endings for all three classes.
• The -ER and -IR classes share several endings, especially in the preterite and subjunctive.
• A side-by-side chart reveals the patterns and differences that individual verb lists cannot show.

Learners often memorize conjugations one verb at a time without ever seeing how the three verb classes relate to each other. That approach works for a while, but it misses the bigger picture: many endings are shared, and understanding where the classes overlap makes the whole system easier to retain.

italki connects learners with Spanish teachers who teach grammar as a system rather than a series of isolated facts, which pays off when you need to use an unfamiliar verb for the first time.

This guide covers the complete conjugation tables for all three Spanish verb classes across the present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, and present subjunctive tenses, a side-by-side comparison chart, the key differences between classes, and tips for applying this knowledge in real Spanish.

The three Spanish verb classes

Every Spanish infinitive ends in one of three ways:

• -AR verbs: The largest class. Model verb: hablar (to speak).
• -ER verbs: The second-largest class. Model verb: comer (to eat).
• -IR verbs: The smallest class. Model verb: vivir (to live).

To conjugate any regular verb, remove the infinitive ending (-AR, -ER, or -IR) to find the stem, then add the personal endings for the correct tense and subject.

Spanish -AR verb conjugation and Spanish -ER verb conjugation let you study the two largest regular classes in more detail.

Present tense: all three classes

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/ellas/ustedes	hablan	comen	viven

Key observations:

• The yo form ends in -o for all three classes.
• The -ER and -IR endings are identical except for nosotros and vosotros.
• The -AR class uses -a vowels; the -ER and -IR classes use -e vowels (except nosotros/vosotros -IR).

Preterite tense: all three classes

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/ellas/ustedes	hablaron	comieron	vivieron

Key observations:

• The -ER and -IR preterite endings are completely identical.
• The -AR yo form ends in -é (with accent); the -ER/-IR yo form ends in -í (with accent).
• The nosotros -IR preterite (vivimos) is identical to its present tense form.

Working with a online Spanish teacher on preterite versus imperfect usage is one of the highest-return grammar investments a B1 learner can make.

Imperfect tense: all three classes

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/ellas/ustedes	hablaban	comían	vivían

Key observations:

• The -ER and -IR imperfect endings are completely identical.
• The -AR imperfect is built on -aba endings, which are highly distinctive and easy to recognize.
• The imperfect is almost entirely regular: only ser, ir, and ver are irregular.

Future tense: all three classes

Pronoun	-AR (hablar)	-ER (comer)	-IR (vivir)
yo	hablaré	comeré	viviré
tú	hablarás	comerás	vivirás
él/ella/usted	hablará	comerá	vivirá
nosotros	hablaremos	comeremos	viviremos
vosotros	hablaréis	comeréis	viviréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablarán	comerán	vivirán

Key observations:

• The future endings are identical for all three classes.
• The stem for all regular verbs is the full infinitive (hablar-, comer-, vivir-).
• The future is one of the simplest tenses to learn for regular verbs.

Conditional tense: all three classes

Pronoun	-AR (hablar)	-ER (comer)	-IR (vivir)
yo	hablaría	comería	viviría
tú	hablarías	comerías	vivirías
él/ella/usted	hablaría	comería	viviría
nosotros	hablaríamos	comeríamos	viviríamos
vosotros	hablaríais	comeríais	viviríais
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablarían	comerían	vivirían

Key observations:

• Like the future, the conditional endings are identical for all three classes.
• The stem is the full infinitive, same as the future.
• The conditional endings are the same as -ER/-IR imperfect endings (-ía, -ías, -ía…).

Present subjunctive: all three classes

Pronoun	-AR (hablar)	-ER (comer)	-IR (vivir)
yo	hable	coma	viva
tú	hables	comas	vivas
él/ella/usted	hable	coma	viva
nosotros	hablemos	comamos	vivamos
vosotros	habléis	comáis	viváis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablen	coman	vivan

Key observations:

• The -AR subjunctive switches to -E vowels; the -ER/-IR subjunctive switches to -A vowels.
• This vowel reversal is a core rule of Spanish subjunctive formation.
• The -ER and -IR subjunctive endings are completely identical.

A Spanish tutor can walk you through the grammatical contexts that trigger the subjunctive, which is the hardest part for most learners at the B1 to B2 level.

Side-by-side comparison chart

This summary shows the yo form ending for each tense and class at a glance:

Tense	-AR yo	-ER yo	-IR yo
Present	-o (hablo)	-o (como)	-o (vivo)
Preterite	-é (hablé)	-í (comí)	-í (viví)
Imperfect	-aba (hablaba)	-ía (comía)	-ía (vivía)
Future	-é + inf. (hablaré)	-é + inf. (comeré)	-é + inf. (viviré)
Conditional	-ía + inf. (hablaría)	-ía + inf. (comería)	-ía + inf. (viviría)
Subj. present	-e (hable)	-a (coma)	-a (viva)

Key differences between -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs

Present tense: The clearest difference is the vowel. -AR uses -a vowels (hablas, habla, hablan); -ER uses -e vowels (comes, come, comen); -IR mirrors -ER in most forms.

Preterite: The -AR yo ends in -é; the -ER and -IR yo both end in -í. All other -ER and -IR preterite endings are identical.

Imperfect: The -AR imperfect uses -aba endings, while -ER and -IR both use -ía endings. This means you can always identify an -AR imperfect by its -aba sound.

Subjunctive: The vowel reversal rule applies: -AR subjunctive uses -e vowels; -ER and -IR subjunctive uses -a vowels.

Future and conditional: No difference between classes. This is the one area where verb class is irrelevant.

100 common Spanish -ER verbs gives you real verbs and example sentences to practice after the chart.

Model verbs at a glance

Class	Model verb	Stem	Translation
-AR	hablar	habl-	To speak
-ER	comer	com-	To eat
-IR	vivir	viv-	To live

These three model verbs cover the regular patterns for their entire class. Any new verb you encounter can be conjugated by matching it to the appropriate model, as long as it is regular.

Spanish verbs for beginners helps you connect -ER patterns to the verbs learners use most often.

Apply this with a tutor

Charts make patterns visible, but speaking makes them automatic. Seeing the table is not the same as producing the correct ending mid-sentence without thinking about it. italki connects you with over 30,000 expert tutors trusted by more than 10 million learners worldwide. A tutor who specializes in Spanish grammar can design drills and conversations that push you to produce all three verb classes under realistic time pressure. Book a Spanish trial lesson and start turning these charts into fluent instincts.

FAQ

Do all three verb class patterns apply to irregular verbs too?

Irregular verbs often break the regular pattern in specific tenses or for specific pronouns. However, the irregular forms are finite and predictable: verbs like poder, querer, and tener follow their own consistent patterns. The regular templates in this chart still apply to the majority of forms, even for irregular verbs. Irregulars typically diverge only in the yo present, subjunctive, preterite, or future stem.

Why do -ER and -IR verbs share so many endings?

Spanish -ER and -IR verbs both descend from Latin second and fourth conjugation classes, which were already similar in ancient Latin. Over centuries, many of their endings merged in spoken Spanish. The overlap makes the -ER and -IR classes easier to learn together: once you know one, you have a head start on the other.

Is there a fast way to test which verb class a new verb belongs to?

Yes. Look at the last two letters of the infinitive. Any verb ending in -ar is -AR class; -er is -ER class; -ir is -IR class. There are no exceptions to this rule for infinitives. The class is always visible in the infinitive ending.