Regular, irregular and reflexive Spanish verbs – el presente

¡Hola, language aficionados! 🌟 The presente tense ¡El tiempo presente!

Today, we’re diving headfirst into the unforgiving world of Spanish verbs—regular, irregular, and reflexive in the present tense. Yes, you heard that right! We’re going to wade through the wild waves of verb conjugation with the grace of a salsa dancer. So buckle up! Think of me as your linguistic lifeguard, ready to rescue you if you get tangled in tenses. ¡Vamos!

1. Regular Verbs – Where Predictability is a Blessing 🌿

Regular verbs are the bread and butter of Spanish—comforting, reliable, and almost boring in how obedient they are. These little gems follow a predictable pattern, like a good cuppa at 4 p.m. or a smooth café cortado at elevenses!

We’ve got three classic verb endings: -ar, -er, and -ir. Think of them as the three amigos of verb endings.

Habl-ar (to speak) – regular -ar verb

Com-er (to eat) – regular -er verb

Viv-ir (to live) – regular -ir verb

Now, every verb in this category is a conformist. It loves to follow the rules. Each subject has a specific ending, and no one steps out of line:

Subject	-ar (hablar)	-er (comer)	-ir (vivir)
Yo	habl-o	com-o	viv-o
Tú	habl-as	com-es	viv-es
Él/Ella	habl-a	com-e	viv-e
Nosotros	habl-amos	com-emos	viv-imos
Vosotros	habl-áis	com-éis	viv-ís
Ellos	habl-an	com-en	viv-en

Examples: (infinitive of the verb in italics)

Yo hablo hablar español. (I speak Spanish.)

Tú comes comer pizza. (You eat pizza.)

Nosotros vivimos vivir en Madrid. (We live in Madrid.)

See? Nothing shocking here. Just pure, unadulterated regularity. You could set your watch by these verbs. (Don’t though, because that would be weird.)

2. Irregular Verbs – The Wild Child of the Verb World 😵‍💫

Now we enter the realm of irregular verbs, which are basically the teenagers of the Spanish verb family—moody, unpredictable, and just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they’ll do something entirely unexpected. They don’t follow the rules. They ARE the rules.

Here are a few you should know:

Ser (to be)

Ir (to go)

Tener (to have)

These verbs shift their forms like a shape-shifting chameleon at a fancy-dress party:

Subject	Ser	Ir	Tener
Yo	soy	voy	tengo
Tú	eres	vas	tienes
Él/Ella	es	va	tiene
Nosotros	somos	vamos	tenemos
Vosotros	sois	vais	tenéis
Ellos	son	van	tienen

Examples:

Yo soy ser estudiante. (I am a student.)

Ellos van ir al cine. (They go to the cinema.)

Tú tienes tener un perro. (You have a dog.)

One moment you’re feeling confident with tener, and then bam—suddenly you’re saying tienes instead of tenes, and you’re left questioning everything you thought you knew. But not worries, we’re here to help.

3. Reflexive Verbs – The Narcissists of the Language 🪞

And now, my dear reader, we meet the divas of the Spanish language: reflexive verbs. These verbs are self-involved. They’re all about me, me, me. Well, not just me, but also te, se, nos, os. In short, these verbs do the action to themselves.

Reflexive verbs have a special little buddy attached to them, called a reflexive pronoun. It’s like the verb saying, (I’ve got this, I’ll handle it myself.) Think of the classics:

despertarse (to wake up)
levantarse (to get up)
ducharse (to shower)

So, what do we do? Just slap that reflexive pronoun right in there:

Subject	Pronoun	Levantarse (to get up)
Yo	me	levanto
Tú	te	levantas
Él/Ella	se	levanta
Nosotros	nos	levantamos
Vosotros	os	levantáis
Ellos	se	levantan

Examples:

Yo me levanto levantarse temprano. (I get up early.)

Tú te despiertas despertarse las 7am. (You wake up at 7am.)

Él se ducha ducharse por la noche. (He/ she/ has a shower at night)

They’re special, these verbs, but at least they tell you when they’re being all self-care mode by flashing their se at the end of their infinitive.

Quick Recap 📝

Regular verbs are the boring-but-nice ones that follow the rules: hablar, comer, vivir.

Irregular verbs like to mix it up and keep you guessing: ser, ir, tener.

Reflexive verbs take care of themselves—because who else will?—with their fancy pronouns: levantarse, lavarse.

There you have it—a crash course in a few important Spanish; regular, irregular and reflexive verbs in the present tense, all without breaking a sweat (unless you count the panic over irregular conjugations). So grab a café cortado, give those verbs a whirl, and remind yourself that you’re mastering one of the world’s most beautiful languages.