Pet & Animal: How to Conjugate Ir Verbs in Spanish

Verbs ending in -ir are the third largest group of verbs in Spanish. To conjugate -ir verbs in Spanish, all you do is remove the -ir from the end and replace it with the right letters. The new ending you choose conveys the tense (past, present, future), the mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative), and who's doing the action.^[1]

EditSteps

EditDescribing Present Actions

Learn the endings for present indicative verbs. The present indicative tense is used in Spanish to mean three different things. Using the regular -ir verb vivir (to live), "yo vivo" might mean "I live," "I am living," or "I do live." To conjugate the verb, replace the -ir with the ending that matches the subject.^[2]
- Yo (I): -o. Yo vivo (I live).
- Tú (informal you): -es Tú vives (you live).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -e. Él/ella/usted vive (he/she/you live).
- Nosotros (we): -imos. Nosotros vivimos (we live).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -ís. Vosotros vivís (you all live).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -en. Ellos/ellas/ustedes viven (they/you all live).
Try the progressive form for continuous actions. If the subject of your sentence is currently in the middle of doing something, the progressive form is appropriate. Combine the present participle of your -ir verb with the correct conjugated form of the verb estar.^[3]
- Yo (I): estoy. Yo estoy viviendo (I am living).
- Tú (informal you): estás. Tú estás viviendo (You are living).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): está. Él/ella/usted está viviendo (He/she is living; you are living).
- Nosotros (we): estamos. Nosotros estamos (We are living).
- Vosotros (informal you all): estáis. Vosotros estáis viviendo (You all are living).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): están. Ellos/ellas/ustedes están viviendo (They/you all are all living).
Use the imperative for commands. If you're commanding someone to do something, you'll always be speaking in present tense. For regular verbs, drop the -ir and add the appropriate ending, depending on who you're addressing.^[4]
- Tú (informal you): -e. ¡Vive! (Live!)
- Usted (he/she/formal you): -a. ¡Viva!
- Vosotros (informal you all): -amos. ¡Vivamos!
- Ustedes (they/formal you all): -an. ¡Vivan!
Express uncertainty with the subjunctive mood. Any time you're talking about your emotions, or about something uncertain, you'll want to conjugate the present tense verb in the subjunctive mood. For example, you might say "es posible que la víctima viva," or "it's possible the victim lives." The word possible is a trigger that the person's life is uncertain.^[5]
- Yo (I): -a. Yo viva. (I live).
- Tú (informal you): -as. Tú vivas. (You live).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -a. Él/ella/usted viva. (He/she lives, you live).
- Nosotros (we): -amos. Nosotros vivamos. (We live).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -áis. Vosotros viváis. (You all live).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -an. Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivan. (They/you all live).
Add a helper verb when a past action continues into the present. Combine the present indicative form of haber with the past participle of your -ir verb to make the present perfect form. It's also common to use the present indicative for this, so the present perfect is used more in Spain that it is in Latin America.^[6]
- Yo (I): he. He vivido. (I have lived).
- Tú (informal you): has. Has vivido. (You have lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): ha, hay (Add the y when the present participle of the verb starts with a vowel). Ha vivido (He/she has lived; you have lived).
- Nosotros (we): hemos. Hemos vivido (We have lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): habéis. Habéis vivido (You all have lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): han. Han vivido (They/you all have lived).

EditDiscussing Past Actions

Use preterite indicative to talk about completed actions. There are two different verb forms in Spanish that are used for past tense. For example, you might say "Ella vivió en España," or "She lived in Spain," to talk about someone who lived in Spain once.^[7]
- Yo (I): -í. Yo viví (I lived).
- Tú (informal you): -iste. Tú viviste (You lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -ió. Él/ella/usted vivió (He/she/you lived).
- Nosotros (we): -imos. Nosotros vivimos (We lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -isteis. Vosotros vivisteis (You all lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -ieron. Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivieron (They/you all lived).
Form imperfect indicative verbs to talk about past actions with no end. The imperfect tense also deals with actions that happened in the past. When deciding whether to use the imperfect or preterite form, look for words such as a menudo (often) or generalmente (usually).^[8]
- Yo (I): -ía. Yo vivía (I lived).
- Tú (informal you): -ías. Tú vivías (You lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -ía. Él/ella/usted vivía (He/she/you lived).
- Nosotros (we): -íamos. Nosotros vivíamos (We lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -íais. Vosotros vivíais (You all lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -ían. Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivían (They/you all lived).
Use the subjunctive mood when expressing wishes or doubts. In Spanish, there are two different forms of the subjunctive imperfect tense. They both mean the same thing, just pick one and use it consistently.^[9]
- Yo (I): -iera, -iese. Yo viviera, viviese (I lived).
- Tú (informal you): -ieras, -ieses. Tú vivieras, vivieses (You lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -iera, -iese. Él/ella/usted viviera, viviese (He/she/you lived).
- Nosotros (we): -iéramos, -iésemos. Nosotros viviéramos, viviésemos (We lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -ierais, -ieseis. Vosotros vivierais, vivieseis (You all lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -ieran, iesen. Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivieran, viviesen (They/you all lived).
Talk about actions that happened before other past actions with past perfect tense. To form past perfect tense, combine the correct conjugation of haber in the imperfect tense with the past participle of your -ir verb.^[10]
- Yo (I): había. Yo había vivido (I had lived).
- Tú (informal you): habías. Tú habías vivido (You had lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): había. Él/ella/usted había vivido (He/she/you had lived).
- Nosotros (we): habíamos. Nosotros habíamos vivido (We had lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): habíais. Vosotros habíais vivido (You all had lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): habían. Ellos/ellas/ustedes habían vivido (They/you all had lived).
Use preterite perfect tense in formal writing. The preterite perfect tense is used for actions that happened immediately before another past action. You don't need to know it for normal conversation, but you form it with the conjugated preterite form of haber and the past participle of your -ir verb.^[11]
- Yo (I): hube. Yo hube vivido (I had lived).
- Tú (informal you): hubiste. Tú hubiste vivido (You had lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): hubo. Él/ella/usted hubo vivido (He/she/you had lived).
- Nosotros (we): hubimos. Nosotros hubimos vivido (We had lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): hubisteis. Vosotros hubisteis vivido (You all had lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): hubieron. Ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieron vivido (They/you all had lived).
Form past perfect subjunctive to discuss past hypotheticals. If you want to mention a condition or possibility that occurred in the past, combine the conjugated imperfect subjunctive form of haber with the past participle of your -ir verb. Remember that there are two imperfect subjunctive forms, which are interchangeable.^[12]
- Yo (I): hubiera, hubiese. Yo hubiera/hubiese vivido (I had lived).
- Tú (informal you): hubieras, hubieses. Tú hubieras/hubieses vivido (You had lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): hubiera, hubiese. Él/ella/usted hubiera/hubiese vivido (He/she/you had lived).
- Nosotros (we): hubiéramos, hubiésemos. Nosotros hubiéramos/hubiésemos vivido (We had lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): hubierais, hubieseis. Vosotros hubierais/hubieseis vivido (You all had lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): hubieran, hubiesen. Ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieran/hubiesen vivido (They/you all had lived).

EditExpressing Future Actions

Start with the future indicative. The future indicative is the basic tense to use in Spanish when you want to talk about an action that will happen at some point in the future. Unlike in English, this tense does not require a helper verb in Spanish.^[13]
- Yo (I): -iré. Yo viviré (I will live).
- Tú (informal you): -irás. Tú vivirás (you will live).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -á. Él/ella/usted vivirá (He/she/you will live).
- Nosotros (we): -iremos. Nosotros viviremos (We will live).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -iréis. Vosotros viviréis (You all will live).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -irán. Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivirán (They/you all will live).
Learn the future subjunctive. The future subjunctive is primarily used when you're talking about an action that is possible in the future, but may not happen. This is a relatively rare verb form that is becoming obsolete, but you might see it in writing.^[14]
- Yo (I): -iere. Yo viviere (I will live).
- Tú (informal you): -ieres. Tú vivieres (You will live).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): -iere. Él/ella/usted viviere (He/she/you will live).
- Nosotros (we): -iéremos. Nosotros viviéremos (We will live).
- Vosotros (informal you all): -iereis. Vosotros viviereis (You all will live).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): -ieren. Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivieren (They/you all will live).
Combine the present participle with the correct conjugation of estar for future progressive. In Spanish, as in English, the future progressive tense is used to describe an action that will be happening at some point in the future.^[15]
- Yo (I): estaré. Yo estaré viviendo (I will be living).
- Tú (informal you): estarás. Tú estarás viviendo (You will be living).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): estará. Él/ella/usted estará viviendo (He/she/you will be living).
- Nosotros (we): estaremos. Nosotros estaremos viviendo (We will be living).
- Vosotros (informal you all): estaréis. Vosotros estaréis viviendo (You all will be living).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): estarán. Ellos/ellas/ustedes estarán viviendo (They/you all will be living).
Use future perfect to describe an action that will have happened in the future. Form the future perfect by combining the correct future indicative form of the verb haber with the past participle of your -ir verb.^[16]
- Yo (I): habré. Yo habré vivido (I will have lived).
- Tú (informal you): habrás. Yo habrás vivido (You will have lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): habrá. Él/ella/usted habrá vivido (He/she/you will have lived).
- Nosotros (we): habremos. Nosotros habremos vivido (We will have lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): habréis. Vosotros habréis vivido (You all will have lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): habrán. Ellos/ellas/ustedes habrán vivido (They/you all will have lived).
Switch to future perfect subjunctive if an action might happen in the future. If there is doubt about whether an action will have happened in the future, use the correct future subjunctive form of the verb haber with the past participle of your -ir verb. Like the future subjunctive, this verb form is rarely used, but you might see it in writing.^[17]
- Yo (I): hubiere. Yo hubiere vivido (I will have lived).
- Tú (informal you): hubieres. Tú hubieres vivido (You will have lived).
- Él/ella/usted (he/she/formal you): hubiere. Él/ella/usted hubiere vivido (He/she/you will have lived).
- Nosotros (we): hubiéremos. Nosotros hubiéremos vivido (We will have lived).
- Vosotros (informal you all): hubiereis. Vosotros hubiereis vivido (You all will have lived).
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes (they/formal you all): hubieren. Ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieren vivido (They/you all will have lived).