Spanish -IR Verbs (present tense)

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 an 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

1. Chop off your -AR, -ER or -IR ending (viajar, beber, abrir) so that you are left with just the stem.
2. Determine the subject of the sentence (yo, tú, él, etc.).
3. 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 nosotros and vosotros forms (-imos and -ís)! 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!