Verb · regular -er
comer
to eat
The thing that catches people out
The model regular -er verb. The -er and -ir endings are identical in the present except in the we form (and Spain's vosotros form), so learning one nearly gives you the other.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | como | |
| tú | comes | |
| él, ella, usted | come | |
| nosotros | comemos | |
| ellos, ustedes | comen | |
| vosotros, Spain only | coméis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | comí | |
| tú | comiste | |
| él, ella, usted | comió | |
| nosotros | comimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | comieron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | comisteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | comía | |
| tú | comías | |
| él, ella, usted | comía | |
| nosotros | comíamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | comían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | comíais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | comeré | |
| tú | comerás | |
| él, ella, usted | comerá | |
| nosotros | comeremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | comerán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | comeréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he comido | |
| tú | has comido | |
| él, ella, usted | ha comido | |
| nosotros | hemos comido | |
| ellos, ustedes | han comido | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis comido |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | comiendo | |
| participle | comido | |
| command, to tú | come | |
| command, to usted | coma |
In a sentence
no como carne
I do not eat meat
comemos a las dos
we eat at two