Use this handy tool to conjugate a large list of Spanish verbs into every tense! With regular Spanish verbs there is a set formula you can use (more about this below). With irregular verbs you just have to learn them, but luckily there are nowhere near as many irregular Spanish verbs as there are English ones.
While learning Spanish as a beginner, one of the hardest things to grasp was conjugating verbs into all the different past and future tenses. I knew that there was a set of rules that all regular verbs follow, so I used the rules to develop this tool to aid my own learning. I shared it with my teacher, who shared it with his other students, at which point I decided to start this website and make it publicly available for free.
There are three main types of Spanish verbs, those ending in ar, er and ir. The rules are slightly different for conjugating each verb type. Generally the method of conjugation is to add a different suffix to the end of the verb depending on the subject / pronoun (the thing or person who performs the action of the verb). In spanish the pronoun is generally omitted, for example 'I speak' can be just 'hablo', and 'you speak' can be 'hablas'. The pronoun 'yo' in the explicit form 'yo hablo' is only used to add emphasis or to clear ambiguity in complex sentences.
The suffixes are added to the root of the verb, which is the part you are left with after removing the last two letters (ar, er, ir). So for example with the verb 'hablar', meaning 'to speak', the root would be 'habl', and the suffixes are added to that e.g. hablo (I speak), hablas (you speak), hablamos (we speak), etc.
In the future simple tense the suffixes are added to the verb itself. In the case of the present perfect tense (I have spoken), the present continuous (I am speaking), and the future continuous (I am going to speak), the verbs 'I have', 'I am' and 'I am going to' are prepended, and the suffix doesn't change depending on the pronoun. For example 'I am speaking' is 'Estoy hablando' and 'you are going to speak' is 'Vas a hablar'. The tables below should help it to make more sense and can be used to conjugate any regular verb.
| Subject | Imperfect (I used to speak) | Simple past (I spoke) | Present perfect (I have spoken) | Simple present (I speak) | Present continuous (I am speaking) | Future simple (I will speak) | Future continuous (I am going to speak) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo I | root +aba | root +é | He +root +ado | root +o | Estoy +root +ando | verb +é | Voy a +verb |
| tu you (informal) | root +abas | root +aste | Has +root +ado | root +as | Estás +root +ando | verb +ás | Vas a +verb |
| el, ella, usted he, she, you (formal) | root +aba | root +ó | Ha +root +ado | root +a | Está +root +ando | verb +á | Va a +verb |
| nosotros we | root +abamos | root +amos | Hemos +root +ado | root +amos | Estamos +root +ando | verb +emos | Vamos a +verb |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes They (masculine), They (feminine), You (plural) | root +aban | root +aron | Han +root +ado | root +an | Están +root +ando | verb +án | Van a +verb |
| Subject | Imperfect (I used to speak) | Simple past (I spoke) | Present perfect (I have spoken) | Simple present (I speak) | Present continuous (I am speaking) | Future simple (I will speak) | Future continuous (I am going to speak) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo I | root +ía | root +í | He +root +ido | root +o | Estoy +root +iendo | root +iré | Voy a +verb |
| tu you (informal) | root +ías | root +iste | Has +root +ido | root +es | Estás +root +iendo | root +irás | Vas a +verb |
| el, ella, usted he, she, you (formal) | root +ía | root +ió | Ha +root +ido | root +e | Está +root +iendo | root +irá | Va a +verb |
| nosotros we | root +íamos | root +imos | Hemos +root +ido | root +emos / imos | Estamos +root +iendo | root +iremos | Vamos a +verb |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes They (masculine), They (feminine), You (plural) | root +ían | root +ieron | Han +root +ido | root +en | Están +root +iendo | root +irán | Van a +verb |
The most important irregular verbs to learn by heart are probably: to be (ser, estar), to want (querer), to have (tener), to go (ir). Use the tool above to learn and practice irregular verbs.
You may have noticed above that there are to spanish verbs for 'to be', 'ser' and 'estar'. They are both irregular verbs. There is a general rule that 'ser' is used for things that are in a permanent state, and 'estar' for things that are in a temporary state. This is a tricky concept for English speakers to grasp at first, so it's worth reading up on and learning which one to use in different situations. This website has a very good in-depth explanation about the different uses.