Your First Regular ER Verbs
Regular er verbs share their own dependable ending family. Build yo and tú forms from comer and other useful verbs, then contrast them with ar forms.
Learning objective
Form present-tense yo and tú forms of regular er verbs.
Compare these two short sentences before thinking about a rule: Como pan means I eat bread, while ¿Comes pan? means Do you eat bread? The final o points to the speaker, yo, and the final es points to one person addressed informally as tú. These are present-tense forms, which can describe what is happening now or a usual action.
Both forms belong to comer, meaning to eat. Comer is an infinitive, the unchanged verb name you find in a dictionary. It ends in er. For a regular er verb, one that follows this shared pattern, keep com as the stem—the part carrying the basic meaning—then use o for yo or es for tú.
This contrast creates a useful conversation loop. One person asks ¿Bebes café?, Do you drink coffee?, and the other answers No, bebo agua, No, I drink water. The ending tells you whose action it is, so Spanish does not need to repeat tú in the question or yo in the answer unless the speaker wants extra clarity or contrast.
Try the same two-person rhythm with aprender, meaning to learn: ¿Aprendes español? and Sí, aprendo español. Aprendes can naturally translate as you learn or you are learning, depending on context. Say each pair aloud—como, comes; bebo, bebes; aprendo, aprendes—so the different endings become information you can hear, not just a written chart.
Examples
¿Comes pan?
Do you eat bread?
The es ending directs the question to one informal listener.
Sí, como pan.
Yes, I eat bread.
The answer changes to o because the speaker now describes their own action.
Tú bebes café y yo bebo agua.
You drink coffee and I drink water.
The stated pronouns make the contrast between bebes and bebo explicit.
Tú aprendes español.
You are learning Spanish.
The progressive English translation is natural for learning in progress; Spanish uses the simple present here.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- ¿Tú come pan?
- Try
- ¿Tú comes pan? / ¿Comes pan?
The informal subject tú needs the ending es in this regular er pattern, producing comes. Come is another present form, used with él, ella, or usted, so it does not match tú. Once comes identifies the informal listener, the pronoun may remain for emphasis or disappear in the shorter natural question.
Practice
Try it yourself
Complete this two-person exchange with forms of beber and aprender: A: ¿___ café? B: No, ___ agua. A: ¿___ español? B: Sí, ___ español. Then label each blank yo or tú.