Grammar: Verbs - All Persons of the Verb

Verb Types and Conjugation

In Spanish, verbs change their form to indicate tense and who is performing the action. These changes comprise different verb endings for each person in every tense.
Spanish verbs fall into three classes based on their infinitive endings: -ar, -er and -ir.
The infinitive represents the base form of a verb, like ‘to eat’ or ‘to speak’.
Each verb class has a distinct set of endings for the present tense. For instance, -ar verbs have endings “-o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an”, while -er verbs have “-o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en”, and -ir verbs have “-o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en”.
In the preterite tense (past simple), -ar verbs have endings “-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron”, while both -er and -ir verbs use “-í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron”.
In the imperfect tense, -ar endings are “-aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban”, and both -er and -ir verbs use “-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían”.

Verb to be in Spanish has two different verbs: “ser” and “estar”. Each of this contains a different connotation to be remembered.
Reflexive verbs are verbs in which the subject of the verb is also its object. These verbs use reflexive pronouns like “me, te, se, nos, os, se”.
To conjugate reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun matches the subject and goes before the verb. For example, “Yo me lavo” (I wash myself).

Spanish verbs in the future tense are much simpler, they keep their infinitive form and add the endings “-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án” regardless of whether they are -ar, -er, or -ir verbs.
Always remember the irregular verbs in the different tenses, they have their unique conjugation rules, and are common in daily use.
Practice by reading, writing, listening and speaking, always conjugating the verbs correctly for the subject and tense, in order to improve your fluency.
Keep revising the rules and exceptions, alongside practicing conjugations for common verbs in each group.
Take time to cover all verb tenses, including less common ones such as the conditional and subjunctive moods, both important for expressing hypothetical situations or doubts.