Verb Tenses in Spanish

Before diving into the various tenses, it’s important to understand how verbs are conjugated. There are three types of verbs in Spanish. You can distinguish these verbs by their endings: -ar, -er and -ir verbs. When you see a verb that ends in -ar, -er or -ir you know that it is in its base form. Once you remove the ending, you are left with the stem. Let’s look at an example:

hablar→ base form (meaning “to talk”)
habl → stem form

To conjugate a verb you simply add the ending from the designated tense you would like to use, to the verbs stem form. The ending you use is based on the subject of the verb.

Note: And here is the tricky part - some stems do change for some verbs in some tenses. These are called irregular verbs which, at some point, you will need to memorize. For the purposes of this article, we will reference only regular verbs in examples.

Now that you have a basic understanding of how conjugating works, let's look at all of the verb tenses in Spanish.

The indicative mood is used to talk about statements, activities and events that are believed to be truth-based and factual. This includes discernable qualities and characteristics of people, things and situations.

Using the present tense is something you will do everyday so it’s important to learn it first before any of the other tenses. The present tense is used to talk about habits and routines as well as things that are true all the time, such as characteristics. Sometimes, it's used to talk about the near future. (Note: There are several irregular verbs that must be memorized in the present tense.)

The present progressive is used less frequently in Spanish than it is in English and is only used when talking about something going on in that very, present moment. To form the present progressive, you simply combine the present form of the verb estar with the present participle. The present participle is simply the -ing form of the verb which is: stem form + ando or iendo

The future tense is used to talk about things that may, might or will happen in the future. This tense is used less frequently and is often replaced with the construction, ir + a + base verb form, or going to + verb. (Note: There are 12 irregular verbs that change their stems in the future tense).

The present perfect is used to explain an action that was started in the past and has continued into the present. It is often used to talk about things that you have completed or done in your life. To form the present perfect, conjugate the verb haber (has/have) in the present tense and combine it with the past participle of the verb you’re using. (Note: The past participle is formed by adding -ado, for -ar verbs, and -ido for -er/-ir verbs, to the stem form of the verb).

The preterite tense is utilized frequently as it is used to describe actions that have been started and completed in the past. For some Spanish learners, the preterite tense can be one of the most difficult to learn because there are several irregular verbs that you have to memorize.

More Spanish Verb Tenses