Present regular — same engine, HL mileage: Relax: the -ar, -er and -ir endings you drill here are word-for-word what SL learns, so you're exactly where you should be.
What changes at HL
- The HL twist is mileage, not difficulty.
- You'll lean on these regular present-tense forms constantly across a 450–600-word essay.
- You'll use them whenever you discuss your two literary works in the oral.
- Nail the patterns now and the rest of HL rides on them.
The present tense: The present tense (el presente) is the most-used tense in Spanish. This micro covers regular verbs — the ones whose endings follow a fixed pattern, with no surprises in the stem.
When you reach for it
- Habits and routines: estudio cada día
- General facts: el agua hierve a 100 grados
- What's happening now: ahora trabajo
- Near-future plans: mañana viajo a Madrid
- el presente
- the present tense
- conjugar
- to conjugate — to change the verb so it matches the subject
- la raíz
- the stem — what's left after you remove -ar / -er / -ir
- la terminación
- the ending — the part that changes for each person
- regular
- regular — the verb follows the standard pattern, the stem never changes
- la persona
- the person — who does the action (yo, tú, él…)
When you reach for it: If the prompt mentions normalmente, todos los días, siempre, cada — or simply asks what you do, like or think — it's almost always the present. It's the default tense for describing your routine and your opinions in the speaking and writing tasks.
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Stem + ending: To conjugate a regular verb, take the stem and add the ending for the person. Learn the table below and you can conjugate thousands of verbs.
Two steps
- Drop the -ar / -er / -ir to get the stem.
- Add the ending for the person.
- The three families share most endings; only a couple of vowels differ between -er and -ir.
| Persona | -ar (hablar) | -er (comer) | -ir (vivir) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablo | como | vivo |
| tú | hablas | comes | vives |
| él / ella / usted | habla | come | vive |
| nosotros / nosotras | hablamos | comemos | vivimos |
| vosotros / vosotras | habláis | coméis | vivís |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablan | comen | viven |
It's always stem + ending: hablar → stem habl- + -o = hablo. The stem stays the same for every person; only the ending changes. Notice the -er and -ir endings are identical except for nosotros/vosotros (comemos/coméis vs vivimos/vivís).
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Five everyday jobs: The present tense does more than one job. Here are the five you meet most in the exam — each with a Spanish example. Notice that the same verb form covers habits, facts, the here-and-now and even the near future.
Usos del presente
- Habits & routines — Cada mañana corro en el parque. (Every morning I run in the park.)
- General facts — La Tierra gira alrededor del Sol. (The Earth goes around the Sun.)
- Actions happening now — En este momento escribo un correo. (Right now I'm writing an email.)
- Near-future plans — Esta noche cenamos en casa de Ana. (Tonight we're having dinner at Ana's.)
- Time spanning until now — Vivo aquí desde hace tres años. (I've been living here for three years.)
One form, many meanings: Spanish doesn't have a separate I am doing form for everyday speech — trabajo already covers I work, I do work and I'm working. Let the time markers (ahora, normalmente, esta noche) make the meaning clear.
A routine, sentence by sentence: Here's a short everyday paragraph built one sentence at a time. Every verb is a regular verb in the present. Read it once for the meaning, then tap Ver traducción for the English or the audio button to hear it.
El presente en acción
Una rutina, frase a frase
- Todos los días me levanto a las siete de la mañana.
- Desayuno un café con tostadas y leo las noticias.
- Después estudio español en la biblioteca con mis amigos.
- Por la tarde comemos juntos y hablamos de nuestras clases.
- Mis hermanos viven cerca, así que los visito los fines de semana.
Steal this for your routine: Notice the pattern: a time marker (todos los días, después, por la tarde) + a regular verb in the present. Swap in your own activities and you have a ready-made paragraph about your daily life.
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The slips to watch for: Most present-tense mistakes are about the ending: leaving the verb in the infinitive, or matching the wrong person. Compare the right version with the typical mistake and the fix becomes obvious.
Correcto
- Yo hablo español.
- Nosotros comemos a la una.
- Ella vive en Sevilla.
Error común
- Yo hablar español.
- Nosotros comen a la una.
- Ella vivir en Sevilla.
Check the ending matches the person: Before you move on, ask: who is doing it, and does the ending match? Yo needs -o, nosotros needs -amos / -emos / -imos. A verb still ending in -ar / -er / -ir is a sign you forgot to conjugate it.