Memorizing verbs (and their conjugations) is the single most important part of learning Spanish. As you probably know, a lot of verbs are "regular", meaning they follow a standard conjugation pattern. There are three categories of regular verbs: verbs ending in -ar, verbs ending in -er, and verbs ending in -ir. Here are the 50 most common regular verbs in Spanish, divided by category.
Regular verbs ending in -ar
This is the most common category. There are hundreds of verbs ending in -ar. You should eventually learn how to conjugate them in all tenses. The conjugation endings for the present tense are -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. Here are the most common ones:
Amar – to love
Ayudar – to help
Bailar – to dance
Caminar – to walk
Cantar – to sing
Cenar – to dine/to have dinner
Cocinar – to cook
Comprar – to buy
Desayunar – to have breakfast
Descansar – to rest/to relax
Enviar – to send
Escuchar – to listen
Esperar – to wait
Estudiar – to study
Explicar – to explain
Hablar – to talk/to speak
Lavar – to wash
Limpiar – to clean
Llamar – to call
Llegar* – to arrive
Llevar – to take/to carry/to wear
Mirar – to look/to watch
Odiar – to hate
Olvidar – to forget
Pagar* – to pay
Pintar – to paint
Preguntar – to ask
Preparar – to prepare
Regalar – to give (as a present)
Terminar – to end/to finish
Tocar** – to touch/to play an instrument
Tomar – to take/to grab/to have (for food & drink)
Trabajar – to work
Usar – to use
Viajar – to travel
Visitar – to visit
Regular verbs ending in -er
There are not that many regular verbs ending in -er in Spanish, but some of them are very important. The conjugation endings for the present tense are -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. Here are the most common ones:
Beber – to drink
Comer – to eat
Comprender – to understand
Correr – to run
Creer*** – to believe
Leer*** – to read
Responder – to answer/to respond
Vender – to sell
Regular verbs ending in -ir
Again, there are not that many regular verbs ending in -ir in Spanish, but, again, some of them are very important. The conjugation endings for the present tense are -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en. Here are the most common ones:
Abrir – to open
Discutir – to argue
Escribir – to write
Existir – to exist
Recibir – to receive
Vivir – to live
Every sentence you say or write in Spanish will have a verb in it. Learning vocabulary is important, but verbs are the backbone of the language. Make sure you know lots of them, and make sure you know how to conjugate them properly in the most important tenses.
