Spanish Conjugation FAQ

Conjugation is the process of changing a verb's ending to show who is performing the action and when. In Spanish, every verb has six different forms per tense — one for each grammatical person (yo, tú, él/ella, nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ellas). For example, the verb hablar (to speak) becomes hablo (I speak), hablas (you speak), habla (he/she speaks), and so on.

Spanish has more tenses than English. The most important for learners are the 7 tenses covered on this site: present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive, and imperative. In total, Spanish has around 14–16 tenses and moods depending on how they're counted — including compound tenses like the perfect (he hablado) and pluperfect (había hablado).

Both are past tenses, but they are used differently. The preterite (pretérito indefinido) describes completed actions with a clear beginning and end — e.g. Ayer comí una pizza (Yesterday I ate a pizza). The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes habitual past actions, ongoing states, or background descriptions — e.g. Cuando era niño, comía pizza todos los viernes (When I was a child, I used to eat pizza every Friday).

Both ser and estar mean "to be" in English, but they are not interchangeable. Ser is used for identity, permanent characteristics, origin, time, and possession. Estar is used for location, temporary states, feelings, and progressive tenses. Choosing the wrong one can change your meaning entirely — Es aburrido (He is a boring person) vs Está aburrido (He is bored right now).

Regular verbs follow a predictable conjugation pattern based on their ending (-ar, -er, or -ir). Once you know the pattern for each group, you can conjugate any regular verb automatically. Irregular verbs deviate from this pattern in one or more tenses — some are irregular throughout (like ser and ir), while others are only irregular in the yo form or in specific tenses.

Stem-changing verbs are a common type of irregularity where the vowel in the verb's stem changes in certain conjugated forms. There are three patterns: e→ie (e.g. querer: quiero), o→ue (e.g. poder: puedo), and e→i (e.g. pedir: pido). The change only occurs in forms where the stem vowel is stressed — so nosotros and vosotros forms are usually unchanged.

Reflexive verbs express actions performed on oneself. They are identified by the pronoun se attached to the infinitive (e.g. levantarse — to get up). They are conjugated with reflexive pronouns: me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself/herself), nos (ourselves), os (yourselves), se (themselves). Example: Me levanto a las siete (I get up at seven).

The subjunctive is a verb mood (not a tense) used to express wishes, doubts, emotions, hypotheticals, and uncertainty — typically in subordinate clauses introduced by que. For example: Quiero que vengas (I want you to come). It is one of the most challenging aspects of Spanish grammar for English speakers, since English uses it rarely. There are four subjunctive tenses in modern Spanish.

The imperative is used to give commands, instructions, or direct requests. Spanish has distinct forms for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros, and ustedes, as well as separate affirmative and negative forms. For example: ¡Habla más despacio! (Speak more slowly! — tú, affirmative) vs ¡No hables tan rápido! (Don't speak so fast! — tú, negative). Reflexive pronouns attach to the end of affirmative imperatives.

Research suggests that the 300 most common Spanish verbs cover around 90% of everyday speech. Learning the top 100 verbs well — including their irregularities — gives you a solid foundation for most conversations. This site covers 1,316 verbs with full conjugation tables, ordered by frequency so you can prioritise the most useful ones first.