Grammar.

Present Tense

The present tense describes actions happening now, habitual actions, and general truths, similar to the simple present tense in English (e.g., "I speak," "I eat").


  • -ar verbs (e.g., hablar): yo hablo, tú hablas, él/ella habla, nosotros/nosotras hablamos, vosotros/vosotras habláis, ellos/ellas hablan.
  • -er verbs (e.g., comer): yo como, tú comes, él/ella come, nosotros/nosotras comemos, vosotros/vosotras coméis, ellos/ellas comen.
  • -ir verbs (e.g., vivir): yo vivo, tú vives, él/ella vive, nosotros/nosotras vivimos, vosotros/vosotras vivís, ellos/ellas viven.

Short example sentence: Yo hablo español (I speak Spanish).

Extended example sentence: Todos los días, yo hablo con mi familia por teléfono para saber cómo están (Every day, I talk to my family on the phone to know how they are).

Preterite (Simple Past) Tense

The preterite tense is used for actions that were completed in the past, analogous to the simple past tense in English (e.g., "I spoke," "I ate").


  • -ar verbs (e.g., hablar): yo hablé, tú hablaste, él/ella habló, nosotros/nosotras hablamos, vosotros/vosotras hablasteis, ellos/ellas hablaron.
  • -er verbs (e.g., comer): yo comí, tú comiste, él/ella comió, nosotros/nosotras comimos, vosotros/vosotras comisteis, ellos/ellas comieron.
  • -ir verbs (e.g., vivir): yo viví, tú viviste, él/ella vivió, nosotros/nosotras vivimos, vosotros/vosotras vivisteis, ellos/ellas vivieron.

Short example sentence: Ayer comí una manzana (Yesterday, I ate an apple).

Extended example sentence: El año pasado, mi familia y yo viajamos a España y visitamos muchos lugares históricos (Last year, my family and I traveled to Spain and visited many historical places).

Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense describes past actions without specifying when they ended, akin to the English past continuous tense (e.g., "I was speaking," "I was eating"), or to express used to (e.g., "I used to eat").


  • -ar verbs (e.g., hablar): yo hablaba, tú hablabas, él/ella hablaba, nosotros/nosotras hablábamos, vosotros/vosotras hablabais, ellos/ellas hablaban.
  • -er and -ir verbs (e.g., comer, vivir): yo comía/vivía, tú comías/vivías, él/ella comía/vivía, nosotros/nosotras comíamos/vivíamos, vosotros/vosotras comíais/vivíais, ellos/ellas comían/vivían.

Short example sentence: Cuando era joven, jugaba al fútbol (When I was young, I used to play soccer).

Extended example sentence: Cuando vivía en Madrid, siempre comía en un pequeño restaurante cerca de mi casa que servía la mejor paella (When I lived in Madrid, I always ate at a small restaurant near my house that served the best paella).

Future Tense

The future tense indicates actions that will happen in the future, similar to the English "will + verb" (e.g., "I will speak," "I will eat").


  • All regular verbs (-ar, -er, and -ir verbs): yo hablaré, tú hablarás, él/ella hablará, nosotros/nosotras hablaremos, vosotros/vosotras hablaréis, ellos/ellas hablarán.

Short example sentence: Mañana lloverá (Tomorrow, it will rain).

Extended example sentence: El próximo año, terminaré mis estudios y empezaré a trabajar en lo que siempre he soñado (Next year, I will finish my studies and start working on what I have always dreamed of).

Reflexive verbs

  • Reflexive verbs indicate that the subject performs an action on itself, and they use reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se): me lavo (I wash myself), te levantas (you get up), se acuesta (he/she goes to bed).

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs in Spanish do not follow the standard conjugation patterns. These verbs can change stem forms or endings in unpredictable ways across different tenses. Common examples include "ser" (to be), "ir" (to go), "tener" (to have), and "hacer" (to do/make).


  • Present tense of ser: yo soy, tú eres, él/ella es, nosotros/nosotras somos, vosotros/vosotras sois, ellos/ellas son.
  • Preterite tense of ir: yo fui, tú fuiste, él/ella fue, nosotros/nosotras fuimos, vosotros/vosotras fuisteis, ellos/ellas fueron.
  • Imperfect tense of tener: yo tenía, tú tenías, él/ella tenía, nosotros/nosotras teníamos, vosotros/vosotras teníais, ellos/ellas tenían.
  • Future tense of hacer: yo haré, tú harás, él/ella hará, nosotros/nosotras haremos, vosotros/vosotras haréis, ellos/ellas harán.

These verbs require special attention as their conjugations must be memorized due to their lack of a predictable pattern. The examples provided are only a small selection of the many irregular verbs in Spanish.


For a comprehensive list and detailed explanations of irregular verbs in all tenses, learners are encouraged to consult specialized Spanish language resources or grammar books. Online language learning platforms and Spanish grammar websites are also valuable for in-depth study and practice.


For more information, visit SpanishDict's Comprehensive Guide to Spanish Irregular Verbs.

Estar vs Ser vs Hay

  • "Estar" is used for temporary states, locations, and ongoing actions (using the present progressive): Estoy cansado (I am tired), Está en la casa (It is in the house).
  • "Ser" is used for permanent characteristics, origins, time, and professions: Soy estudiante (I am a student), Es de España (He/She is from Spain).
  • "Hay" is an impersonal verb that means "there is" or "there are": Hay un libro en la mesa (There is a book on the table).

Por vs Para

  • "Por" is used to express duration, reason, exchange, or movement through a place: Estudio por dos horas (I study for two hours), Gracias por la ayuda (Thanks for the help).
  • "Para" is used to indicate destination, purpose, recipient, or a deadline: Este regalo es para ti (This gift is for you), Estudio para ser médico (I study to be a doctor).

Article-noun and subject agreement

  • In Spanish, articles and nouns must agree in gender and number: el chico (the boy), la chica (the girl), los chicos (the boys), las chicas (the girls).
  • Subjects and verbs must also agree in number and person: Yo hablo (I speak), Él habla (He speaks), Nosotros hablamos (We speak).

Muy vs Mucho

  • "Muy" is used to modify adjectives or adverbs and means "very": Muy rápido (very fast).
  • "Mucho" is used to indicate a large quantity or degree and can change form to match gender and number: Mucho dinero (a lot of money), Muchas casas (many houses).

Sentence Structure

  • Standard Spanish sentence structure follows a Subject-Verb-Object order: Juan come manzanas (Juan eats apples). Questions typically invert the order: ¿Come Juan manzanas? (Does Juan eat apples?).

Irregular verbs

  • Irregular verbs do not follow standard rules of conjugation and must be memorized. Examples include "ser" (to be), "ir" (to go), "ver" (to see), and "tener" (to have).

Puntuación (Punctuation)

  • Signos de interrogación (Question Marks): Placed at the beginning and end of a question, the opening question mark is inverted – ¿Qué hora es?
  • Signos de exclamación (Exclamation Marks): Used at both the beginning and end of an exclamatory sentence, with the opening exclamation mark inverted – ¡Feliz Cumpleaños!
  • Uso de mayúsculas (Capitalization): Unlike English, days of the week and months are not capitalized in Spanish – lunes, enero. However, personal titles are capitalized when used with names – Don Quijote.
  • Capitalización de nombres propios (Capitalization of proper nouns): Names of cities, countries, nationalities, and languages are always capitalized – Madrid, México, español.