# 03. Conjugating Verbs (Present)

> Source: [video link](https://youtube.com/watch?v=YHDZSHCt1DE&t=632s)

The "primary fundamental" of Spanish: how regular verbs end in **-ar / -er / -ir**, and the six person-conjugations you produce by dropping the infinitive ending and adding a person-specific ending. Walks through *hablar*, *comer*, and *vivir* as the canonical models.

## Key Rules
- A Spanish infinitive must end in **-ar**, **-er**, or **-ir** (English infinitives are marked by the preposition "to": to eat, to walk).
- Conjugation = drop the infinitive ending → add the person ending matching the subject pronoun.
- Spanish has **6** person endings per tense (vs. English's 2 in the present).
- *-er* and *-ir* share four of six endings (yo, tú, él, ellos), making the systems similar.
- Focus first on **yo / tú / él / ellos** — these dominate everyday speech. *Nosotros* and *vosotros* matter but are less frequent.

## Present-tense Endings

| Pronoun | -ar | -er | -ir |
|---------|-----|-----|-----|
| yo | -o | -o | -o |
| tú | -as | -es | -es |
| él / ella / usted | -a | -e | -e |
| nosotros/as | -amos | -emos | -imos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | -éis | -ís |
| ellos/as / ustedes | -an | -en | -en |

## Conjugation: hablar (to speak)

| Pronoun | Form |
|---------|------|
| yo | hablo |
| tú | hablas |
| él / ella / usted | habla |
| nosotros/as | hablamos |
| vosotros/as | habláis |
| ellos/as / ustedes | hablan |

## Conjugation: comer (to eat)

| Pronoun | Form |
|---------|------|
| yo | como |
| tú | comes |
| él / ella / usted | come |
| nosotros/as | comemos |
| vosotros/as | coméis |
| ellos/as / ustedes | comen |

## Conjugation: vivir (to live)

| Pronoun | Form |
|---------|------|
| yo | vivo |
| tú | vives |
| él / ella / usted | vive |
| nosotros/as | vivimos |
| vosotros/as | vivís |
| ellos/as / ustedes | viven |

## Examples

| Spanish | English |
|---------|---------|
| Yo hablo español. | I speak Spanish. |
| Yo hablo ruso. | I speak Russian. |
| Yo hablo contigo. | I'm speaking with you. |
| Como pizza. | I eat pizza. |
| Vivimos en Madrid. | We live in Madrid. |

## Notes & Gotchas
- *Como* (I eat) is also the word for "like / as" (e.g., *como te dije ayer* — "as I told you yesterday"). Context disambiguates.
- The pattern only covers **regular** verbs. Many useful verbs (*ser, estar, ir, tener, pensar, gustar*) are irregular or stem-changing and are covered in their own chapters.
- Subject pronouns are often dropped because the verb ending already encodes the person.
