Present of -er Verbs

Present Tense of -er Verbs

Level 1

For -er verbs, remove -er and add -o, -es, -e, -emos, -edes, -en: como, comes, come, comemos, comedes, comen.

How It Works

The endings, with comer (to eat)

  • eu como
  • ti comes
  • el, ela, vostede come
  • nós comemos
  • vós comedes
  • eles, elas, vostedes comen

Other regular -er verbs: beber (to drink), aprender (to learn), vender (to sell), correr (to run), entender (to understand), coller (to take, to catch).

Open and closed vowels. When the last vowel of the stem is e or o, it changes sound when stressed. It is open in the forms for ti, el/ela/vostede and eles/elas/vostedes, and closed in the eu form:

  • bebo (closed e, close to the e in "café") and bebes, bebe, beben (open e, like the e in "bed")
  • como (closed o, close to the o in "go" without the glide) and comes, come, comen (open o, close to the vowel in "saw")

A few verbs do not follow this: querer and poder always have an open vowel, and deber, crer and ler always have a closed one. This is a pronunciation feature only; the spelling stays the same. See open and closed vowels.

The vós form ends in -edes: Comedes connosco? (Are you all eating with us?). See vós and vostedes.

Some very common -er verbs are irregular, such as ser, ter, facer, poder and querer. See the present of facer and the present of querer and poder.

Examples (6)

  1. Como ás dúas todos os días.

    I eat at two every day.

    Word by Word: I-eat at-the two all the days.

  2. Bebes auga ou viño?

    Are you drinking water or wine?

    Word by Word: You-drink water or wine?

    The e of bebes is open.

  3. Aprendemos galego na escola.

    We learn Galician at school.

    Word by Word: We-learn Galician in-the school.

  4. Entendedes o que di?

    Do you all understand what he is saying?

    Word by Word: You-all-understand the that says?

  5. Nesta tenda venden froita fresca.

    They sell fresh fruit in this shop.

    Word by Word: In-this shop they-sell fruit fresh.

  6. Collo o autobús ás oito.

    I take the bus at eight.

    Word by Word: I-take the bus at-the eight.

    Coller means "to take" or "to catch" and is an everyday verb in Galician.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Spanish ending -éis for vós.

    Vós coméis aquí?
    Vós comedes aquí?

    The Galician vós ending for -er verbs is -edes.

  • Forgetting the plural ending -en.

    Os nenos come moita froita.
    Os nenos comen moita froita.

    A plural subject needs the plural form, which ends in -en.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Present of -er VerbsLevel 1Present Tense of -er Verbs

Learn This First

Regular -er verbs use a second set of present endings.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.