Your First Regular IR Verbs
Regular ir verbs complete the three infinitive families. Focus on the present yo and tú endings, noticing where they match er verbs and where they differ.
Learning objective
Form present-tense yo and tú forms of regular ir verbs.
Imagine leaving useful updates on a shared-house message board. Under MY UPDATE, you write Vivo aquí, I live here; Abro la ventana, I open the window; and Escribo una nota, I write a note. The final o shows that each action belongs to the person writing the message, even when yo is not stated.
The dictionary labels for those actions are vivir, to live; abrir, to open; and escribir, to write. A dictionary label is called an infinitive, the unchanged verb form. These three infinitives end in ir, so they belong to the regular ir family. Regular means they follow the shared pattern introduced here.
Reverse-engineer each message by crossing out ir to reveal the stem, the part carrying the core meaning: viv, abr, and escrib. Add o to post a yo update: vivo, abro, escribo. Add es to place a question under CHECK FOR YOU: ¿Vives aquí?, ¿Abres la ventana?, and ¿Escribes una nota? These questions address one person informally as tú.
The yo and tú endings happen to match regular er endings at this early stage, but the infinitive still tells you which family a new verb belongs to. Compartir, to share, therefore gives comparto and compartes. Build the correct form from its ir label, then use it for a real board message instead of reciting disconnected pairs.
Examples
Vivo aquí.
I live here.
This first-person update can sit under MY UPDATE.
Abro la ventana.
I open the window.
Abro is built from the ir infinitive abrir.
¿Escribes una nota?
Are you writing a note?
Escribes checks one informal listener's action.
Comparto la información.
I share the information.
The final o makes compartir a first-person update.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- Escribo una nota y compartir la información.
- Try
- Escribo una nota y comparto la información.
The two joined actions describe what the same speaker does, so both need conjugated forms. Conjugated means changed to match the person doing the action. Compartir is only the unchanged dictionary label; comparto turns it into the speaker's second message-board action.
Practice
Try it yourself
Create a shared-house task board with two headings: MY UPDATE and CHECK FOR YOU. Turn abrir and compartir into first-person updates under the first heading. Turn escribir and vivir into informal questions under the second. Include a useful noun or place with every form.