Spanish -ER Verbs: 40 Essentials for Beginners
🇪🇸 Spanish · 40 cards · A1 · by Lucía Herrera
These are the 40 -ER verbs my beginner students meet first: the well-behaved ones like comer, beber and aprender, and the troublemakers — tener, hacer, poder, querer — which are -ER verbs too, even though almost nothing about them is regular.
Regular -ER verbs take -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. The catch is that the most frequent -ER verbs are precisely the irregular ones, so in the note I flag every stem change (o→ue, e→ie), every odd yo form (tengo, hago, pongo, conozco, recojo) and every irregular participle (roto, hecho, visto, puesto).
Learn the infinitive and its meaning first, then read the note aloud and say the example sentence before you flip the card.
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
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All 40 cards
| # | Spanish | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | comer Fully regular: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. | to eat | Comemos a las dos en casa de mi madre. We eat at two at my mother's house. | |
| 2 | beber Regular. In most of Latin America people say tomar for everyday drinking; beber sounds slightly more formal there. | to drink | Bebe mucha agua, hace calor. Drink plenty of water, it's hot. | |
| 3 | leer Regular in the present, but the i turns into y elsewhere: leyendo, leyó, leyeron. | to read | Leo el periódico por la mañana. I read the newspaper in the morning. | |
| 4 | correr Regular. | to run | Todos los días corre cinco kilómetros. He runs five kilometres every day. | |
| 5 | aprender Regular. Before another verb it needs a: aprender a conducir. | to learn | Estoy aprendiendo a nadar. I'm learning to swim. | |
| 6 | comprender Regular. In speech entender is far more common; comprender sounds a bit more formal. | to understand | Ahora comprendo el problema. Now I understand the problem. | |
| 7 | vender Regular. Se vende on a sign means 'for sale'. | to sell | Venden fruta en la esquina. They sell fruit on the corner. | |
| 8 | deber Regular. Deber + infinitive = obligation; deber algo a alguien = to owe someone something. | must, should; to owe | Debes llamar a tu madre. You should call your mother. | |
| 9 | creer Regular in the present; y appears in creyó, creyendo. Creo que… is the everyday way to say 'I think…'. | to think, to believe | Creo que llega mañana. I think he arrives tomorrow. | |
| 10 | responder Regular. Contestar is an equally common synonym and is what most people say on the phone. | to answer, to reply | Nadie respondió al teléfono. Nobody answered the phone. | |
| 11 | romper Regular except the past participle: roto (he roto la silla). | to break | El niño rompió el plato. The kid broke the plate. | |
| 12 | meter Regular. Meter = put inside something; poner = place on or set down. | to put in, to put inside | Mete la ropa en la maleta. Put the clothes in the suitcase. | |
| 13 | prometer Regular. | to promise | Te prometo que voy a ir. I promise you I'll go. | |
| 14 | esconder Regular. Use the reflexive esconderse when you hide yourself, as in the example. | to hide (something) | Los niños se esconden detrás del sofá. The children hide behind the sofa. | |
| 15 | barrer Regular. | to sweep | Barro la cocina cada noche. I sweep the kitchen every night. | |
| 16 | toser Regular. The noun is la tos (feminine). | to cough | El bebé tose mucho por la noche. The baby coughs a lot at night. | |
| 17 | depender Regular, used mostly in the third person. Always followed by de: depende de ti. | to depend | Depende del tiempo que haga. It depends on the weather. | |
| 18 | suceder Regular, used mainly in the third person. In conversation pasar is much more common: ¿Qué pasó anoche? | to happen | ¿Qué sucedió anoche? What happened last night? | |
| 19 | temer Regular. Fairly formal; in everyday speech people say tener miedo a/de las tormentas. | to fear, to be afraid of | Mi abuela les teme a las tormentas. My grandmother is afraid of storms. | |
| 20 | sorprender Regular. Sorprenderse de = to be surprised at. | to surprise | Su respuesta me sorprendió mucho. His answer surprised me a lot. | |
| 21 | recoger Spelling change g→j before o and a: yo recojo. In Spain coger also means 'to take/catch', but coger is vulgar in Mexico and the River Plate area — recoger is safe everywhere. | to pick up, to collect | Recojo a los niños a las tres. I pick the kids up at three. | |
| 22 | escoger Spelling change g→j: yo escojo. Elegir means the same thing and is just as common. | to choose, to pick | Escoge el que más te guste. Choose the one you like best. | |
| 23 | ser Completely irregular: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son. Used for identity, origin, profession and characteristics; estar covers location and temporary states. | to be | Mi hermano es profesor. My brother is a teacher. | |
| 24 | tener Irregular: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. Age uses tener: tengo veinte años. | to have | Tengo dos hermanas mayores. I have two older sisters. | |
| 25 | hacer Irregular: hago, haces, hace… Participle hecho, preterite hice. Also used for weather: hace frío, hace sol. | to do, to make | ¿Qué haces el fin de semana? What are you doing this weekend? | |
| 26 | poder Stem change o→ue: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden. Preterite pude. | can, to be able to | ¿Puedes ayudarme un momento? Can you help me for a moment? | |
| 27 | querer Stem change e→ie: quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren. Te quiero = I love you. When ordering, quería or quisiera un café sounds politer. | to want; to love | Quiero un café con leche. I want a coffee with milk. | |
| 28 | saber Irregular yo form: sé (with accent). Saber = know information or a skill; conocer = be acquainted with people or places. | to know (facts, how to) | No sé dónde están las llaves. I don't know where the keys are. | |
| 29 | ver Irregular: veo, ves, ve, vemos, veis, ven. Participle visto. | to see, to watch | Desde aquí se ve el mar. You can see the sea from here. | |
| 30 | poner Irregular: pongo; short imperative pon; participle puesto. Ponerse = to put on clothes. | to put, to place | Pon la mesa, por favor. Set the table, please. | |
| 31 | volver Stem change o→ue: vuelvo, vuelves, volvemos. Participle vuelto. Volver a + infinitive = to do something again. | to return, to come back | Vuelvo a casa a las siete. I get home at seven. | |
| 32 | traer Irregular: traigo, traes, trae… Preterite traje, trajiste, trajo. | to bring | ¿Me traes un vaso de agua? Will you bring me a glass of water? | |
| 33 | conocer Irregular yo form: conozco. Needs the personal a with people. In the preterite it means 'met': lo conocí en marzo. | to know (people, places), to meet | ¿Conoces a mi hermano? Do you know my brother? | |
| 34 | parecer Irregular yo form: parezco. Works like gustar when giving opinions: me parece, te parece. Parecerse a alguien = to resemble someone. | to seem, to look like | Me parece buena idea. That sounds like a good idea to me. | |
| 35 | entender Stem change e→ie: entiendo, entiendes, entiende, entendemos, entendéis, entienden. | to understand | No te entiendo, habla más despacio. I don't understand you, speak more slowly. | |
| 36 | perder Stem change e→ie: pierdo, pierdes, perdemos. Perder el autobús = to miss the bus. | to lose; to miss (a bus, a train) | Siempre pierdo el paraguas. I always lose my umbrella. | |
| 37 | doler Stem change o→ue and works like gustar: me duele el pie, me duelen los pies. | to hurt, to ache | Me duele la cabeza. My head hurts. | |
| 38 | llover Stem change o→ue, only used in the third person singular: llueve, llovía, llovió. | to rain | Está lloviendo otra vez. It's raining again. | |
| 39 | caer Irregular yo form: caigo. For people it is normally reflexive: caerse. Me cae bien = I like him/her as a person. | to fall | Ten cuidado, te vas a caer. Be careful, you're going to fall. | |
| 40 | valer Irregular yo form: valgo. For prices, costar is more usual in Latin America (¿cuánto cuesta?). In Spain ¡Vale! on its own means 'OK'. | to cost, to be worth | ¿Cuánto vale este libro? How much is this book? |
Native Spanish speaker from Valencia, now in Mexico City. I tutor Spanish online and keep a notebook of the words my students trip over. Every deck here comes from that notebook.
Questions about this deck
- How do you conjugate regular -ER verbs in the present tense?
- Drop the -er and add -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. With comer: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. In Latin America the vosotros form (coméis) is not used; people say ustedes comen. Beber, correr, vender, aprender, barrer and most verbs in this deck follow exactly this pattern.
- Which -ER verbs in this deck are irregular?
- Ser, tener, hacer, poner, traer, saber, ver, caer, valer, conocer and parecer have irregular yo forms or fully irregular stems. Poder, volver, doler and llover change o→ue; querer, entender and perder change e→ie. Recoger and escoger only change spelling (recojo, escojo). Romper, hacer, ver, poner and volver also have irregular participles: roto, hecho, visto, puesto, vuelto.
- What's the difference between comprender and entender?
- They mean the same thing, but entender is what you'll hear ten times more often in conversation: no te entiendo, ¿me entiendes? Comprender sounds more formal or thoughtful and is common in writing and when you mean understanding a situation or a person: ahora comprendo por qué se fue.
- Why does doler behave differently from other -ER verbs?
- Doler is built like gustar: the body part is the subject, not the person. You say me duele la cabeza (literally 'the head hurts to me') and me duelen las piernas when the subject is plural. In practice you only need duele and duelen with me, te, le, nos, os, les.
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