The present tense is the most frequently used tense in Spanish and functions quite similarly to the English

present tense. The present tense is employed to express many things; mainly, it is used to describe
something that is happening either right now (the train is leaving) or in the near future (the train leaves in
an hour), to express a general truth (the train is comfortable) or to describe a habitual action (I take the
train to work every week).

It is also important to keep in mind that in English there are more ways to express an action in the present
than in Spanish. For example:

I drink. Yo bebo.

I am drinking.

I do drink.

Spanish Present Tense: -ar, -er and -ir verbs

As we covered in the section on Spanish verbs, all Spanish verbs end in one of the following ways:
· -ar (examples: amar, asar, borrar, estudiar, hablar, jugar, saltar, tomar)
· -er (beber, comer, comprender, leer, temer, vender)
· -ir (mentir, pedir, sentir, subir, vivir)

Regular verbs (we'll leave the irregular verbs for later) follow the same pattern as other verbs with which
they share endings. The root of the verb (the part up until the -ar, -er or -ir) stays the same, while the
ending is replaced according to the subject.

SPANISH PRESENT TENSE: VERBS ENDING IN -AR

The root for SALTAR is "salt-" and the root for AMAR is "am-". See how the endings change:

Subject -AR verb endings SALTAR (to jump)

AMAR (to love)

yo (I) -o salto (I jump)

amo (I love)
 tú (you) -as saltas (you jump)

amas (you love)

él/ella (he / she) -a salta (he / she jumps)

ama (he / she loves)

nosotros/as (we) -amos saltamos (we jump)

amamos (we love)

vosotros/as (you all) -áis saltáis (you jump)

amáis (you love)

ellos / ellas (they) -an saltan (they jump)

aman (they love)

SPANISH PRESENT TENSE: VERBS ENDING IN -ER

The root for COMER is "com-" and the root for COMPRENDER is "comprend-". See how the endings
change:

Subject -ER verb endings COMER (to eat)

COMPRENDER (to understand)

yo (I) -o como (I eat)

comprendo (I understand)
 tú (you) -es comes (you eat)

comprendes (you understand)

él/ella (he / she) -e come (he/she eats)

comprende (he/she understands)

nosotros/as (we) -emos comemos (we eat)

comprendemos (we understand)

vosotros/as (you all) -éis coméis (you eat)

comprendéis (you understand)

ellos / ellas (they) -en comen (they eat)

comprenden (they understand)

SPANISH PRESENT TENSE: VERBS ENDING IN -IR

The root for VIVIR is "viv-" and the root for SUBIR is "sub-". See how the endings change:

Subject -IR verb endings VIVIR (to live)

SUBIR (to go up)

yo (I) -o vivo (I live)

subo (I go up)

tú (you) -es vives (you live)

 subes (you go up)

él/ella (he / she) -e vive (he/she lives)

sube (he/she goes up)

nosotros/as (we) -imos vivimos (we live)

subimos (we go up)

vosotros/as (you all) -ís vivís (you all live)

subís (you all go up)

ellos / ellas (they) -en viven (they live)

suben (they go up)