Understanding how to conjugate verbs is vital to learning a new language. Nearly every language conjugates verbs, including English. Spanish verbs are conjugated according to the subject of the sentence and the ending (-ar, -er or -ir) of the verb's root word. Each ending has different rules for verb conjugation.

1

Remove the last two letters (-ar, -er, -ir) used for the ending of the Spanish word.

2

Decide the subject of the verb to be conjugated. Common subjects include I, you, he, she, it, we and they. If the subject is they, for example, you would conjugate a verb in the present tense by adding -an, -en or -in, depending on whether the verb ends in "ar," "er" or "ir." If the ending of the Spanish verb is -ar, then you would use -an. If the ending is -er, then use -en, and so on.

3

Conjugate the verb escuchar (to listen) in the present tense as an example. If the subject is I, the conjugation would be yo escucho (I listen).

4

Conjugate the verb escuchar with you (singular, familiar) as the subject. The conjugation would be tu escuchas (you listen).

5

Conjugate the verb escuchar with he, she or you (singular, formal) as the subject. The conjugation would be el/ella/usted escucha (he/she listens or you listen).

6

Conjugate the verb escuchar with we as the subject. The conjugation would be nosotros escuchamos (we Listen).

7

Conjugate the verb escuchar with they or you (plural) as the subject. The conjugation would be ellos/ellas or ustedes escuchan (they/you listen).

8

Practice pronunciation. This is important in any foreign language. The slightest change in pronunciation can change the meaning of the word or phrase you are trying to convey.

9

Follow the conjugation rules in previous steps for verbs ending in -ar. The only changes for verbs with -er or -ir are changing the "a" from the conjugated verb to an "e" or "i."

Tips

Some verbs are irregular, and just like the rules of English grammar, do not follow the rules. For example, the verb "ir," meaning "to go," is an irregular verb and can be conjugated as follows:

I go = Yo voy.

You (familiar) go = Tu vas.

He, she goes or you (formal) go = El/ella va or usted va.

We go = Nosotros vamos.

They go or you (plural) go = Ellos/ellas van or ustedes van.