Ultimate Guide To Spanish Conjugation: Present, Past, Future Conjugation Charts

Hola amigos! (Hello friends!)

Are you ready to brush up on your Spanish verb conjugation skills?

I’ve got all the tips and tricks to help you master the present, past, and future tenses of Spanish conjugations.

In this ultimate guide, we’ll walk through the basics of Spanish conjugation and the rules and exceptions (irregular verbs) for each tense…

Before we start, let’s take a look at this video from Spring Languages (a platform where I’m a co-founder) and see how Maríana explains everything about conjugation in Spanish:

So, grab your notebook (digital or physical), and let’s get started on your Spanish conjugation journey!

1. Conjugate Spanish verbs in the present tense

The present tense is used to talk about actions that are happening right now or that happen regularly.

To conjugate regular verbs in the present tense, you have to:

1. Remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir)
2. Add the appropriate endings for each subject pronoun (-o, -as/-es, -a/-e, -amos/-emos/-imos, -áis/-éis/-ís, -áis/-éis/-ís, -an/-en/-en)

Here’s a Spanish conjugation chart for the regular verb ‘hablar‘ in the present tense:

Now, all of this in action – meaning: Easy Spanish sentences!

1. “Yo hablo español” (I speak Spanish)
2. “Tú comes una manzana” (You eat an apple)
3. “Nosotros escribimos en un cuaderno” (We write in a notebook)

Present tense Spanish conjugation: irregular verbs

Unfortunately, some verbs don’t follow the regular conjugation patterns, so you’ll need to memorize their unique forms for the present tense.

Here are some common irregular verbs and their present tense conjugations:

Here are a few sentences using the irregular verb forms in the present tense:

1. “Yo soy profesor” (I am a teacher)
2. “Estoy en el parque” (I am in the park)
3. “Ellos van al cine los viernes” (They go to the movie theater on Fridays)

2. Conjugate Spanish verbs in the imperfect tense

The imperfect tense is used to talk about past actions that were ongoing or repeated.

To conjugate regular verbs in the imperfect tense, follow these steps:

1. Remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir)
2. Add the corresponding endings for each subject pronoun (-aba/ía, -abas/-ías, -aba/-ía, -ábamos/-íamos, -abais/-íais, -aban/-ían)

Here’s a conjugation chart for one of the most used Spanish verbs in the imperfect tense:

And again, all of this – in action!

1. Cuando éramos niños, jugábamos en el parque todos los días. (When we were children, we used to play in the park every day.)
2. Vivía en España cuando aprendí a hablar español. (I was living in Spain when I learned to speak Spanish.)
3. Antes de tener el coche, caminaba a la escuela todos los días. (Before I had the car, I used to walk to school every day.)

Imperfect tense conjugation: irregular verbs

Similar to the present tense, there are some irregular verbs in the imperfect tense.

Check them out!

We underline the irregular verbs in the following examples 😉

1. Cuando era niño, siempre iba a la biblioteca después de la escuela. (When I was a child, I always used to go to the library after school.)
2. A pesar de la lluvia, veía el partido de fútbol desde las gradas. (Despite the rain, I was watching the football match from the stands.)
3. Antes de mudarme a la ciudad, hacía pan en casa todos los días. (Before moving to the city, I used to make bread at home every day.)

3. Conjugate Spanish verbs in the preterite tense

The preterite tense is used to talk about past actions that happened and were completed in the past.

To conjugate regular verbs in the preterite tense, follow these steps:

1. Remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir).
2. Add the corresponding endings for each subject pronoun (-é/-í, -aste/-iste, -ó/-ió, -amos/-imos, -asteis/-isteis, -aron/- ieron)

Here’s a conjugation chart for the Spanish verb ‘escribir’ in the preterite tense:

And let’s see three regular verb examples in the preterite tense:

1. Ella compró un vestido nuevo (She bought a new dress)
2. Nosotros comimos pizza para la cena (We ate pizza for dinner)
3. Ellos vendieron su casa vieja (They sold their old house)

Preterite conjugation: irregular verbs

As with the other tenses, there are some irregular verbs in the preterite tense. Here are a few examples:

Can you write sentences with irregular verbs in the preterite in Spanish? For a little help, check the underlined verbs!

1. Yo fui al cine ayer (I went to the movies yesterday)
2. Ellos hicieron su tarea en la biblioteca (They did their homework in the library)
3. Nosotros pudimos terminar el proyecto a tiempo (We were able to finish the project on time)

(Tip: Some people might find it hard to differentiate preterite vs imperfect in Spanish. We have the explanation on Effortless Conversations!)

4. Conjugate Spanish verbs in the future tense

The future tense is used to talk about actions that will happen in the future.

To conjugate regular verbs in the future tense, follow these steps:

1. Remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir).
2. Add the corresponding endings for each subject pronoun (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án)

During the day, you might often think about being hungry! Let’s see how you would say ‘I will eat’ something in the future!

Here are three regular verb examples in the future tense:

1. Yo leeré el libro mañana. (I will read the book tomorrow.)
2. Nosotros viajaremos a España el próximo año. (We will travel to Spain next year.)
3. Ellos aprenderán a tocar la guitarra en un mes. (They will learn to play the guitar in a month.)

Future tense conjugation: irregular verbs

The future tense also has irregular verb conjugations.

Here are a few examples:

1. En próximo mes, yo seré el presidente del club de ajedrez. (Next month, I will be the president of the chess club.)
2. Ella irá a la universidad el próximo año. (She will go to the university next year.)
3. Podrán terminar el proyecto antes de la fecha límite. (They will be able to finish the project before the deadline.)

5. Spanish regular verb conjugator chart

To make it easier to memorize the verb conjugations, here’s a chart that includes all six tenses:

6. Practice worksheet: Spanish verb conjugations

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

This was just the Present Tense! Make sure to sign up to our CBC Starter Pack to get access to Full Practice Worksheets!

7. Learn Spanish conjugation and how verbs change with Conversation Based Chunking!

With strategic approaches like Conversation Based Chunking, the learning process can be significantly accelerated!

This method emphasizes learning through real-life dialogues and context, making it easier to understand and recall the correct verb conjugations. Instead of memorizing long lists of inflected verbs, you’ll learn naturally through conversation, absorbing patterns of conjugations as they are used in everyday speech.

With the CBC method you’ll be conjugating Spanish verbs with ease in no time!