Spanish

Spanish -IR Verbs (present tense)

July 13, 2023

In our previous lesson we learned all about regular -ER verbs (-ER Verbs Module) and how to conjugate them. Now we finally get to take a look at regular -IR verbs and how they are conjugated! Spanish –ir verbs are an essential part of learning Spanish. -Ir verbs share the same construction, so you can easily link them in your mind. This will make all of the words easier to remember.

Be careful not to mix up the verb IR (to go) and -IR verbs.-IR is simply and ending to one type of Spanish verb (the others being -AR and -ER verbs).

Now, just like regular -AR and -ER verbs, we use these three steps to conjugate -IR verbs. They are:

STEPS TO CONJUGATING REGULAR PRESENT TENSE VERBS IN SPANISH

Chop off your -AR, -ER or -IR ending (viajar, beber, abrir) so that you are left with just the stem.
Determine the subject of the sentence (yo, tú, él, etc.).
Add your new ending based on the subject of the sentence. (yo viajo, tú bebes, nosotros abrimos)

Now for step 3, here are the new endings you will add to -IR verbs.

-O	-IMOS
-ES	-ÍS
-E	-EN

Do you notice another pattern? Our -ER and -IR verbs are very similar. The only two endings that are different from the -ER endings taught in our previous lesson are the two shaded boxes! These two verb types are similar in many more ways that you will learn in lessons to come…

NOTE! The yo ending in the present tense for all three types of verbs (-AR, -ER and -IR) is -O!

Stephen Sovenyhazy

Stephen is the President of CORE Languages having founded the company in 2007. His focus is on empowering those with a need for community, culture and communication. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. A quote from Stephen. "When I started teaching, I sought to bring that same energy, dedication, and sense of purpose into my own classrooms. I founded CORE Languages to expand that vision, seeing the growing need for language training options designed to meet the unique needs of business environments. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. It’s a privilege to do what we do and share what we love with you.” **[ameliastepbooking employee=1]**