How To Conjugate ER Verbs in Spanish: 27 Common Verbs To Learn

ER verbs in Spanish include some of the words you’ll reach for most often: “comer” when you’re hungry, “querer” when you want something, and “poder” when you’re talking about what you can do. The catch? They don’t all behave the same way when you conjugate them.

Some ER verbs follow a predictable pattern, like beber → bebo, while others change their stem, like querer → quiero, or have irregular forms, like tener → tengo. Learning to recognize these differences will help you conjugate verbs more confidently instead of treating every new word as a rule of its own.

In this guide, we’ll go through 27 common ER verbs, starting with regular verbs before moving on to those with irregular conjugations and stem changes. You’ll find English translations and practical example sentences for each one, plus a quick review of present-tense conjugation and a short exercise to test what you’ve learned.

(PS, we already covered the 45 most common AR verbs here)

ER Verbs in Spanish: Simple Present Tense Conjugation

Before learning individual verbs, it’s helpful to understand how to conjugate them. Spanish verbs are grouped into three main categories according to their infinitive endings: -ar, -er, and -ir.

Regular ER verbs follow a predictable pattern in the simple present tense. Let’s use “comer” (to eat) as an example: 

-Er Endings	Personal Pronoun	Spanish conjugation	English equivalent
-o	Yo	Como	I eat
-es	Tú	Comes	You eat
-e	Él	Come	He eats
-e	Ella	Come	She eats
-e	Usted	Come	You (formal) eat
-emos	Nosotros	Comemos	We eat
-en	Ustedes	Comen	You (plural) eat
-en	Ellos	Comen	They eat

To conjugate a regular ER verb, remove the infinitive ending -er and add the ending that matches the subject.

For example, remove –er from “comer” to get com–, then add –o to form “como” (I eat).

Not every ER verb follows this pattern perfectly. Some have stem changes, spelling changes, or irregular forms that you’ll need to learn separately. We’ll cover examples of these below.

The verbs below are grouped into two sections: regular ER verbs and other common ER verbs with irregular conjugations or spelling changes. This makes it easier to see which verbs follow the standard pattern and which need extra attention.

Regular ER Verbs in Spanish

These five verbs follow the regular present-tense conjugation pattern.

 

#	English	Spanish
1	To eat	Comer
2	To drink	Beber
3	To run	Correr
4	To sell	Vender
5	To fear	Temer

1. To eat / Comer

• You eat cereal every morning – Ustedes comen cereal todas las mañanas

2. To drink / Beber

• They drink orange juice at breakfast – Ellos beben jugo de naranja en el desayuno

3. To run / Correr

• Carlos runs five kilometers every day – Carlos corre cinco kilómetros todos los días

4. To sell / Vender

• I sell food in the market – Yo vendo alimentos en el mercado

5. To fear / Temer

• He fears spiders – Él le teme a las arañas

How to Recognize Irregular ER Verbs in Spanish

There’s no way to avoid irregular verbs when learning Spanish, but you don’t have to memorize every verb as a completely separate case. Recognizing a few common patterns can make conjugation easier.

Here are three patterns to watch for:

1. Stem-changing verbs

Some verbs change a vowel in the stem when conjugated. In the present tense, these changes often affect yo, tú, él/ella/usted, and ellos/ellas/ustedes, while nosotros usually keeps the original stem.

Most irregular ER verbs in Spanish will follow this pattern ( “Ser” and “Haber” are exceptions)

For example, “entender” changes from e to ie:

Person	Simple Present Tense	English
Yo	Entiendo	I understand
Tú	Entiendes	You understand
Usted	Entiende	You understand
Él / Ella	Entiende	He / She understands
Nosotros	Entendemos	We understand
Ustedes	Entienden	You understand
Ellos	Entienden	They understand

Other examples include querer → quiero, poder → puedo, and volver → vuelvo.

2. Irregular first-person forms

Some verbs follow a mostly predictable pattern but have an irregular form for yo.

Infinitive	Yo form	English
Hacer	Hago	I do / make
Poner	Pongo	I put
Traer	Traigo	I bring
Conocer	Conozco	I know
Saber	Sé	I know
Caer	Caigo	I fall
Proteger	Protejo	I protect

3. Fully irregular verbs

Some very common verbs have conjugations that don’t fit a single regular pattern. “Ser” is one example: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son. “Haber” is another, with forms such as he, has, ha, hemos, and han, as well as hay for “there is” or “there are.”

Learning these verbs in context, rather than relying on one rule for all irregular ER verbs, will help you use them more confidently.

Most Common Irregular ER Verbs In Spanish

Now let’s review the most common irregular ER verbs in Spanish that you should know.

#	English	Spanish
6	To be	Ser
7	To have	Haber
8	To have	Tener
9	To do	Hacer
10	To know	Conocer
11	To understand	Entender
12	To read	Leer
13	Want	Querer
14	To put	Poner
15	To come back	Volver
16	To bring	Traer
17	To know	Saber
18	To see	Ver
19	To move	Mover
20	To fall	Caer
21	To protect	Proteger
22	To fit	Caber
23	To be born	Nacer
24	To seem	Parecer
25	To be able to / Can	Poder
26	To smell	Oler
27	To dawn	Amanecer

Examples:

6. To be / Ser

• We are friends since we were children – Nosotros somos amigos desde niños

7. To have / Haber

• There is a lot of food in the fridge – Hay mucha comida en la nevera

8. To have / Tener

• She has to work tomorrow – Ella tiene que trabajar mañana

9. To do / Hacer

• They do their work on time – Ellos hacen su trabajo a tiempo

10. To know / Conocer

• I know that place, it’s very nice – Yo conozco ese lugar, es muy bonito

11. To understand / Entender

• You understand Spanish very well – Tú entiendes muy bien el español

12. To read / Leer

• I read the newspaper every morning – Yo leo el periódico todas las mañanas

13. To want / Querer

• Do you want to go to the pool tomorrow? – ¿Quieres ir a la piscina mañana?

14. To put / Poner

• She puts on her coat before leaving – Ella se pone el abrigo antes de salir

15. To come back / Volver

• When are you coming back to college? – ¿Cuando vuelves a la universidad?

16. To bring / Traer

• You bring the food to the house – Tú traes la comida a la casa

17. To know / Saber

• I know how to speak Spanish – Yo sé hablar español

18. To see / Ver

• We do not see any problem – Nosotros no vemos ningún problema

19. To move / Mover

• She moves her body when listening to music – Ella mueve su cuerpo al escuchar la música

20. To fall / Caer

• My uncle fell out of the chair, but it’s okay – Mi tío cayó de la silla, pero está bien

21. To protect / Proteger

• I protect my family – Yo protejo a mi familia

22. To fit / Caber

• We do not fit in the car, we’ll call a taxi – No cabemos en el carro, llamaremos un taxi

23. To be born / Nacer

• My son will be born next week – Mi hijo nace la próxima semana

24. To seem / Parecer

• The situation seems normal – La situación parece normal

25. To be able / Poder

• I am able to go next week – Yo puedo ir la próxima semana

26. To smell / Oler

• The wine smells exquisite – El vino huele exquisito

27. To dawn / Amanecer

• We can go to the pool if the day dawns sunny – Podemos ir a la piscina si el día amanece soleado

Learning ER verbs in Spanish becomes easier when you focus on common words first and study their conjugations in context. Start with regular verbs such as comer, beber, and correr, then practice useful irregular verbs like tener, hacer, querer, and poder.

You don’t need to memorize every conjugation at once. Learn the patterns, notice how verbs appear in everyday sentences, and revisit the forms that don’t follow the standard rules. With regular practice, you’ll build a stronger vocabulary and feel more comfortable using Spanish in real conversations.

Let’s put it to practice!

Practice: ER Verbs in Spanish

Identify the infinitive form in the following sentences

1. A José le gusta correr en las mañanas
2. Mi hermana y yo necesitamos vender el carro
3. Mis amigos prefieren beber cerveza
4. Los niños quieren ver la película
5. Deberías hacer tu tarea
6. Te recomiendo leer ese libro
7. Pensamos en traer comida pero no pudimos
8. Espero conocer esa ciudad pronto
9. ¿Puedes poner otra canción por favor?
10. Eso no puede ser, debe haber un error
11. Me encanta comer ensalada
12. ¿Podrías mover tu carro al estacionamiento por favor?
13. A ella le encanta oler las flores
14. Nuestro bebé va a nacer en septiembre
15. ¡Cuidado! Te puedes caer

Answers

1. 1. A José le gusta correr en las mañanas
   2. Mi hermana y yo necesitamos vender el carro
   3. Mis amigos prefieren beber cerveza
   4. Los niños quieren ver la película
   5. Deberías hacer tu tarea
   6. Te recomiendo leer ese libro
   7. Pensamos en traer comida pero no pudimos
   8. Espero conocer esa ciudad pronto
   9. Puedes poner otra canción por favor?
   10. Eso no puede ser, debe haber un error
   11. Me encanta comer ensalada
   12. Podrías mover tu carro al estacionamiento por favor?
   13. A ella le encanta oler las flores
   14. Nuestro bebé va a nacer en septiembre
   15. Cuidado! Te puedes caer