Regular -ER Verbs in Spanish

Overview

Regular -er verbs form the second major verb class in Spanish. While not as numerous as -ar verbs, they include many essential everyday verbs like comer (to eat), beber (to drink), leer (to read), and correr (to run). At the A1 level, learning this conjugation pattern alongside -ar verbs gives you the ability to express a wide range of actions.

The conjugation follows the same logic as -ar verbs: remove the infinitive ending to find the stem, then add the appropriate personal endings. The endings for -er verbs differ slightly from -ar verbs, but the structure is identical. Once you are comfortable with both patterns, you will notice that -er and -ir verbs actually share most of their endings.

How It Works

Present tense endings

Remove -er from the infinitive to get the stem, then add:

Subject	Ending	comer (to eat)	beber (to drink)
yo	-o	como	bebo
tú	-es	comes	bebes
él / ella / usted	-e	come	bebe
nosotros/as	-emos	comemos	bebemos
vosotros/as	-éis	coméis	bebéis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	-en	comen	beben

Comparing -ar and -er endings

Subject	-AR ending	-ER ending
yo	-o	-o
tú	-as	-es
él/ella/usted	-a	-e
nosotros/as	-amos	-emos
vosotros/as	-áis	-éis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	-an	-en

Notice the pattern: where -ar verbs use a, -er verbs use e. The first person (-o) is the same for both.

Common regular -er verbs

Verb	Meaning
comer	to eat
beber	to drink
leer	to read
correr	to run
aprender	to learn
comprender	to understand
vender	to sell
creer	to believe
deber	to owe / should
responder	to respond

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
Yo como pizza.	I eat pizza.	1st person singular
Tú bebes agua.	You drink water.	2nd person singular
Ella lee el periódico.	She reads the newspaper.	3rd person singular
Nosotros corremos en el parque.	We run in the park.	1st person plural
Aprendemos español juntos.	We learn Spanish together.	Pronoun dropped
¿Comprendes la pregunta?	Do you understand the question?	Question form
Venden frutas frescas.	They sell fresh fruit.	3rd person plural
Debo ir al trabajo.	I should go to work.	Modal-like use
¿Coméis en casa o fuera?	Do you all eat at home or out?	Vosotros form
Leo un libro cada semana.	I read a book every week.	Habitual action

Common Mistakes

Applying -ar endings to -er verbs

• Wrong: Yo coma pizza. (present tense)
• Right: Yo como pizza.
• Why: The first-person ending is -o for all verb types, but watch the other forms. Comas would be subjunctive; the present indicative for tú is comes, not comas.

Confusing -er and -ir verb endings

• Wrong: Nosotros comimos. (present tense)
• Right: Nosotros comemos.
• Why: -imos is the nosotros ending for -ir verbs (or preterite of -er). In the present tense, -er verbs use -emos.

Forgetting the accent on vosotros

• Wrong: Vosotros comeis mucho.
• Right: Vosotros coméis mucho.
• Why: The vosotros form for -er verbs carries a written accent: -éis.

Practice Tips

• Compare -ar and -er side by side. Conjugate hablar and comer next to each other to see how the vowel changes from a to e across all forms.
• Describe your meals. Use comer and beber to talk about what you eat and drink: Como ensalada, bebo café, comemos a las dos.
• Read aloud. Practice sentences with leer, aprender, and comprender to reinforce both the conjugation and vocabulary.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns
• Next steps: Hacer (to do/make)
• Next steps: Querer (to want)