A Semi-Comprehensive List of -ER Verbs in Spanish

A list of -er  verbs in Spanish can come in handy in many situations. Whether you want to impress your Spanish-speaking friends or your college professor. This list will also help you write flawless essays.

However, if you want to quickly learn and use all the verbs that you’ll find on the list, you should get to know some rules that govern the -er verbs in different tenses in Spanish.

I’ll show you everything you need to grasp the -er conjugation concepts. You’ll learn to conjugate them in various tenses and get to know the irregularities—and regularities within the irregularities.

Three Types of Conjugation

You surely remember that -er conjugation is one of the three conjugations you use in Spanish: -ar, -er, and -ir. The great thing about Spanish conjugation groups is that after you learn one type, you know how to conjugate all the other verbs in the same group. 

In English verbs used to fully conjugate in the past, and started losing their endings in the times of Shakespeare. However, still reading his plays, we have to decipher all these “willst”, “canst”, and “doth” forms. Luckily, for all the English learners, verbs are pretty straightforward and if you know the infinitive you can make an elaborate conversation. 

In Spanish, there is more to understand before you start talking. Infinitives are the starting point and yo estudiar español en una escuela won’t take you far. 

Let’s make then another step in your Spanish journey and learn how to conjugate -er verbs.

-ER Verb Conjugation

Probably you already know the –ar conjugation, and you’ll see that in the -er group things work similarly. 

The -er verbs look like this in their infinitive form:

Verb stem + infinitive ending -er

For example coser (to sew), poner (to put), beber (to drink).

If you feel like jumping directly into the list of -er verbs in Spanish, hold your horses. Let me split the -er verbs into smaller subgroups for you.

You’ll learn how to conjugate -er verbs in six different indicative tenses:

1. Simple present
2. Present progressive
3. Preterite
4. Imperfect
5. Simple future
6. Conditional

Don’t worry about the subjunctive for now. There’s time for everything, and today let’s just focus on the indicative mood. 

Conjugation of Regular -ER Verbs in the Simple Present Tense

Everybody loves regular verbs. The stem of the verb looks exactly the same with all grammatical subjects, so you just need to add a correct ending and—voilá! 

The simple present tense is one of the first Spanish tenses you get to know. You use it to talk about habitual actions, routines, general truths, facts, and things happening now and in the near future. 

For example:

Mi mamá bebe agua con vinagre todas las mañanas.
My mom drinks water with vinegar every morning. 

In the present simple tense, cut the -er infinitive endings and substitute them as follows:

Present tense endings for -er  verbs

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo bebo	I drink
tú bebes	you drink
él, ella, usted bebe	he, she, it,  drinks (fml. you drink)
nosotros bebemos	we drink
ustedes beben	you drink
ellos, ellas beben	they drink

Check out the list of –er verbs in Spanish at the end of this post to learn more. 

Irregular Yo Forms

There is a group of Spanish -er verbs that have irregular yo form in the simple present tense. All the other forms follow the patterns for regular verbs.

This is how it looks with the verb hacer:

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo hago	I do
tú haces	you do
él, ella, usted hace	he, she, it,  does (fml. you do)
nosotros hacemos	we do
ustedes hacen	you do
ellos, ellas hacen	they do

Other verbs that undergo changes in the first person singular form in the simple present tense are, for example, saber – sé (to know), traer – traigo (to bring), valer – valgo (to be worth). 

Spelling-change Verbs

Since some Spanish letters can be pronounced differently according to the vowel that follows them, there are several Spanish verbs that undergo spelling changes in some of the simple present tense forms.

-ger Verbs

The rule is simple, in the yo form, the g in the stem of the verb changes to j.

I’ll show you how it looks with the verb proteger (to protect).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo protejo	I protect
tú proteges	you protect
él, ella, usted protege	he, she, it,  protects (fml. you protect)
nosotros protegemos	we protect
ustedes protegen	you protect
ellos, ellas protegen	they protect

Can you try conjugating another verb in this subgroup? Try encoger (to shrink) or choose another from the -er verbs list in Spanish at the end.

-cer Verbs

There are two cases in the -cer verbs subgroup. 

1. -er verbs that have a consonant before -cer
2. -er verbs that have a vowel before -cer

In both groups, you make changes in the first person singular since the letter c + the o would be pronounced as /k/ and not /s/ as it sounds in the infinitive form.

1. Consonant + –cer

This subgroup also has a simple rule to remember. If the letter that appears before -cer is a consonant, the c changes to a z in the yo form.

Let’s see a conjugation example for the verb convencer (to convince).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo convenzo	I convince
tú convences	you convince
él, ella, usted convence	he, she, it,  convinces  (fml. you convince)
nosotros convencemos	we convince
ustedes convencen	you convince
ellos, ellas convencen	they convince

Yo convenzo a cualquiera bajo estas circunstancias. 
I convince anyone under these circumstances.

2. Vowel + -cer

If a vowel appears before -cer, you’ll need to add the letter z before c in the yo form.

Look at the verb empobrecer (to impoverish)

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo empobrezco	I impoverish
tú empobreces	you impoverish
él, ella, usted empobrece	he, she, it,  impoverishes  (fml. you impoverish)
nosotros empobrecemos	we impoverish
ustedes empobrecen	you impoverish
ellos, ellas empobrecen	they impoverish

You’ll find more -cer verbs in the -er verbs list in Spanish.

Stem-Changing Verbs

Just as in the -ar conjugation, some -er verbs undergo a stem change in the present tense. The endings are the same as in the regular conjugation but there is a vowel change in all but one forms. 

There are two types of stem changes in the -er verbs.

1. e-ie Changes

The rule is: change the letter e in the last syllable of the stem to ie.

Let’s do it with the verb querer (to want).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo quiero	I want
tú quieres	you want
él, ella, usted quiere	he, she, it,  wants  (fml. you want)
nosotros queremos	we want
ustedes quieren	you want
ellos, ellas quieren	they want

Take note there is no stem change in the nosotros form. This is the only one that maintains the infinitive stem spelling.

Other verbs that follow the same pattern are defender (to defend), entender (to understand), perder (to lose). Try conjugating them or choose another one from the er verb list in Spanish at the end.

2. o-ue Changes

-ER verbs in this group change the last o in the stem to ue.

Check out an example for the verb devolver (to return).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo devuelvo	I return
tú devuelves	you return
él, ella, usted devuelve	he, she, it,  returns  (fml. you return)
nosotros devolvemos	we return
ustedes devuelven	you return
ellos, ellas devuelven	they return

Watch out for the verb oler (to smell) since apart from the stem change, as you must add the letter h at the beginning of the word in the present tense. All the forms but nosotros!

La sopa huele muy rico.
The soup smells delicious.

Nosotros no olemos nada.
We don’t smell anything.

Completely Irregular -ER Verbs

There are two completely irregular -er verbs: ser (to be) and haber (auxiliary to have). 

SER

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo soy	I am
tú eres	you are
él, ella, usted es	he, she, it,  is  (fml. you are)
nosotros somos	we are
ustedes son	you are
ellos, ellas son	they are

Yo soy española pero mi papá es mexicano.
I am Spanish but my dad is Mexican.

HABER

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo he	I have
tú has	you have
él, ella, usted ha	he, she, it,  has (fml. you have)
nosotros hemos	we have
ustedes han	you have
ellos, ellas han	they have

He aquí algunos ejemplos.
Here you have some examples.

The sentence above sounds formal or old fashioned, but you still hear the verb haber used like this occasionally. However, you mostly see it as an auxiliary verb in compound tenses.

¡Mamá, he terminado la tarea!
Mom, I have finished my homework!

Check out other irregular verbs in How to Use the 50 Most Common Spanish Irregular Verbs. 

Conjugation of Regular -ER Verbs in the Present Progressive

The present progressive tense is like the present continuous in English (I am writing and you’re reading). You use it for actions happening at the moment of speaking or around now. 

To construct the present progressive in Spanish, you need to use this formula:

Subject + conjugated estar + gerund.

Tú estás comiendo.
You are eating.

All the gerunds of the -er verbs end in –iendo. Just cut off the infinitive -er and add the gerund ending.

Let’s see one example of the present progressive tense conjugation of the -er verbs with the verb comer (to eat).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo estoy comiendo	I am eating
tú estás comiendo	you are eating
él, ella, usted está comiendo	he, she, it,  is eating (fml. you are eating)
nosotros estamos comiendo	we are eating
ustedes están comiendo	you are eating
ellos, ellas están comiendo	they are eating

There are some irregular -er gerunds that instead of -iendo finish in -yendo. The most common ones are: caer (to fall), creer (to believe), leer (to read), and traer (to bring). This change is necessary as you have two consecutive vowels in the stem of the verb.

Se me está cayendo la cadena de mi bici.
My bike chain is falling off.

Conjugation of Regular -ER Verbs in the Preterite.

Now, I’ll show you how to use -er verbs in the simple past. The regular forms are easy to remember. Let’s use comer again.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo comí	I ate
tú comiste	you ate
él, ella, usted comió	he, she, it, ate (fml. you ate)
nosotros comimos	we ate
ustedes comieron	you ate
ellos, ellas comieron	they ate

Note that the first and the third person singular have an accent over the preterite ending.

¡Mi perro se comió mi desayuno!
My dog ate my breakfast!

Stem-changing -ER Verbs in the Preterite

There are stem-changing verbs in the preterite. Notice that none of the preterite stem-changing -er verbs have accent marks.

Change to -uv-

This change occurs with some common Spanish verbs. However, of the -er verbs, only the verb tener (to have) follows this pattern.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo tuve	I had
tú tuviste	you had
él, ella, usted tuvo	he, she, it, had (fml. you had)
nosotros tuvimos	we had
ustedes tuvieron	you had
ellos, ellas tuvieron	they had

Change to -j-

These verbs use j in all forms of the preterite forms. On the list of -er verbs in Spanish, only the verb traer (to bring) follows this pattern.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo traje	I brought
tú trajiste	you brought
él, ella, usted trajo	he, she, it, brought (fml. you brought)
nosotros trajimos	we brought
ustedes trajeron	you brought
ellos, ellas trajeron	they brought

Change to -i-

In this group, swap the vowel in the infinitive form with the letter i to make a new preterite stem. 

Verbs that conjugate like this are hacer (to do) and querer (to want). In the 3rd person singular (he, she, formal you), you’ll swap the c with a z. In the verb querer, change the letter r for s in all forms.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo hice	I did
tú hiciste	you did
él, ella, usted hizo	he, she, it, did (fml. you did)
nosotros hicimos	we did
ustedes hicieron	you did
ellos, ellas hicieron	they did

Yo hice la comida y mi pareja hizo el postre.
I made lunch, and my partner made the dessert.

Yo quise salir pero nadie más quiso hacerlo.
I wanted to go out but no one else wanted to.

Change to -u-

Some verbs in the preterite tense change the first vowel in the infinitive form to make a new stem with u. Verbs that will follow this pattern are for example caber (to fit), haber (to have), poder (can), poner (to put), and saber (to know).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo pude	I could
tú pudiste	you could
él, ella, usted pudo	he, she, it, could (fml. you could)
nosotros pudimos	we could
ustedes pudieron	you could
ellos, ellas pudieron	they could

The verb poner (to put), in addition to the u change in the stem, changes the n to an s. And the verbs caber and saber change the b to a p.

Te juro que lo puse aquí.
I swear that I put it here.

No me cupieron tus libros en la maleta.
Your books didn’t fit in my suitcase.

-ER verbs with Stems Ending in a Vowel

These verbs add a y in the 3rd person singular (él, ella, usted) and the 3rd person plural (ellos, ellas, ustedes) forms. 

Let’s have a look at the verb caer (to fall).

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo caí	I fell
tú caíste	you fell
él, ella, usted cayó	he, she, it, fell (fml. you fell)
nosotros caímos	we could
ustedes cayeron	you could
ellos, ellas pudieron	they could

Watch out because the verb traer also has a stem ending in a vowel, but it does not follow this pattern. As I told you earlier, traer and its derivatives add a j in all preterite forms.

SER

Ser is completely irregular in the preterite tense as it is in the present simple tense. You just need to practice and learn the forms by heart.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo fui	I was
tú fuiste	you were
él, ella, usted fue	he, she, it, was (fml. you were)
nosotros fuimos	we were
ustedes fueron	you were
ellos, ellas fueron	they were

If you feel like reading more about the Spanish preterite, read All You Ever Needed to Know about Spanish (Simple) Past Tense Verbs.

Conjugation of Regular -ER Verbs in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense talks about past actions that are in progress or incomplete or about past habits.

There are no irregularities in this tense. You just have to swap the infinitive ending -er with the correct imperfect ending.

Let’s check out comer (to eat) as an example.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo comía	I ate / was eating
tú comías	you ate / were eating
él, ella, usted comía	he, she, it, ate / was eating (fml. you ate / was eating)
nosotros comíamos	we ate / were eating
ustedes comían	you ate / were eating
ellos, ellas comía	they ate / were eating

You can see other verbs like this one on the list of -er verbs in Spanish at the end of this article.

Conjugation of Regular -ER Verbs in the Future Simple Tense

This is another painless tense for -er verbs with no irregularities. Just add the future simple endings to the infinitive.

You use the future simple tense in Spanish to talk about forthcoming things that will happen at a certain point in the future.

Let’s look again at comer.

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo comeré	I will eat
tú comerás	you will eat
él, ella, usted comerá	he, she, it, will eat (fml. you will eat)
nosotros comeremos	we will eat
ustedes comerán	you will eat
ellos, ellas comerán	they will eat

Conjugation of Regular -ER Verbs in the Conditional Tense

The conditional tense works in the same way as the future tense, but this time you add the conditional endings to the infinitive. 

SPANISH	ENGLISH
yo comería	I would eat
Tú comerías	you would eat
él, ella, usted comería	he, she, it, would eat (fml. you would eat)
nosotros comeríamos	we would eat
ustedes comerían	you would eat
ellos, ellas comerían	they would eat

See also: What is the Conditional Tense in Spanish?

A List of -ER Verbs in Spanish

Finally, here’s the list of -er verbs in Spanish. Try to conjugate them in different tenses. Of course, the list is far from complete but there is enough here to broaden your vocabulary and boost your grammar skills.

Regular Spanish -ER Verbs in the Present Simple Tense

SPANISH	ENGLISH
aprender	to learn
barrer	to sweep
beber	to drink
comer	to eat
comprender	to understand
correr	to run
coser	to sew
deber	should
depender	to depender
esconder	to hide
meter	to put
ofender	to offend
prometer	to promise
romper	to break
sorprender	to surprise
suceder	to happen
temer	to fear
toser	to cough
vender	to sell

Irregular Yo forms for Spanish -ER Verbs in the Present Simple Tense

SPANISH	ENGLISH
caber (yo quepo)	to fit
caer (yo caigo)	to fall
hacer (yo hago)	to do
poner (yo pongo)	to put
saber (yo sé)	to know
traer (yo traigo)	to bring
valer (yo valgo)	to be worth
ver (yo veo)	to see

-ER Verbs with Spelling Changes in the Present Simple Tense (-ger, -cer)

SPANISH	ENGLISH
acoger	to embrace
agradecer	to thank
apetecer	to crave
carecer	to lack
coger	to take
complacer	to please
convencer	to convince
converger	to converge
desaparecer	to disappear
enfurecer	to infuriate
emerger	to emerge
encoger	to shrink
escoger	to choose
fortalecer	to strengthen
mecer	to rock
proteger	to protect
recoger	to collect
vencer	to overcome

-ER Verbs with Stem Changes in the Present Simple Tense (e-ie)

SPANISH	ENGLISH
atender	to attend
defender	to defend
descender	to descend
encender	to turn on
entender	to understand
perder	to lose
tener	to have

-ER Verbs with Stem Changes in the Present Simple Tense (o-ue)

SPANISH	ENGLISH
absolver	to absolve
cocer	to cook
conmover	to move
demoler	to demolish
devolver	to give back
disolver	to dissolve
doler	to hurt
envolver	to wrap
llover	to rain
morder	to bite
moler	to grind
mover	to move
poder	can
promover	to promote
remover	to stir
resolver	to solve
soler	to (usually) do
torcer	to twist
Oler	to smell

-ER Verbs with Stem Changes in the Preterite (-u-)

SPANISH	ENGLISH
caber	to fit
haber	to have
poder	can
poner	to put
saber	to know

-ER Verbs with Changes in the Third Person in the Preterite 

SPANISH	ENGLISH
caer	to fall
leer	to read
roer	to gnaw

Practice Time

Congratulations! You just learned a big chunk of Spanish grammar that takes you far on your path to fluency. Now, you can use the list of -er verbs to conjugate them by yourself and use your newly acquired skills. You can say them out loud or write down sentences to use them in a context.

Read how to Master the 18 Spanish Tenses and use these -er verbs in context.

You can also sign up for a free class and practice with one of our friendly native-speaking teachers from Guatemala. Don’t forget to bring your list of -er verbs in Spanish and tell them what you want to work on at the beginning of the lesson!

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