Present of -ir Verbs

Present Tense of -ir Verbs

Level 1

For -ir verbs, remove -ir and add -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ides, -en: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivides, viven.

How It Works

The endings, with vivir (to live)

  • eu vivo
  • ti vives
  • el, ela, vostede vive
  • nós vivimos
  • vós vivides
  • eles, elas, vostedes viven

Other regular -ir verbs: abrir (to open), escribir (to write), partir (to leave, to break), decidir (to decide), recibir (to receive).

Compare with -er verbs. Only two forms differ: comemos / vivimos and comedes / vivides. The others match: como / vivo, comes / vives. See the present of -er verbs.

Verbs with a vowel change. Most -ir verbs keep the same stem vowel in every form. A small group changes it:

  • durmir (to sleep): durmo, dormes, dorme, durmimos, durmides, dormen. Subir, fuxir and cubrir work the same way.
  • servir (to serve): sirvo, serves, serve, servimos, servides, serven. Only the eu form has i.
  • pedir (to ask for): pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedides, piden. Every form with a stressed stem has i.

See stem vowel changes in -ir verbs for the full list.

Irregular -ir verbs. A few common ones are irregular, including ir, dicir, saír and oír. See the present of ir and dicir, traer, saír and oír.

Examples (6)

  1. Vivo en Santiago.

    I live in Santiago.

    Word by Word: I-live in Santiago.

  2. Onde vives?

    Where do you live?

    Word by Word: Where you-live?

  3. Abrimos a tenda ás nove.

    We open the shop at nine.

    Word by Word: We-open the shop at-the nine.

  4. Escribides moitas mensaxes?

    Do you all write a lot of messages?

    Word by Word: You-all-write many messages?

    Mensaxe is feminine in Galician: as mensaxes.

  5. O tren parte ás seis.

    The train leaves at six.

    Word by Word: The train leaves at-the six.

  6. Os meus avós viven na aldea.

    My grandparents live in the village.

    Word by Word: The my grandparents live in-the village.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Spanish ending -ís for vós.

    Vós vivís preto?
    Vós vivides preto?

    The Galician vós ending for -ir verbs is -ides.

  • Forgetting the plural ending -en.

    Os meus pais vive en Vigo.
    Os meus pais viven en Vigo.

    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 -ir VerbsLevel 1Present Tense of -ir Verbs

Learn This First

Regular -ir verbs share several present endings with -er verbs but differ in the plural.

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Patterns that build on this one.