Verb · regular -ar
comprar
to buy
The thing that catches people out
A model regular -ar verb. comprar algo a alguien can mean buying from someone or for someone; context sorts it out.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | compro | |
| tú | compras | |
| él, ella, usted | compra | |
| nosotros | compramos | |
| ellos, ustedes | compran | |
| vosotros, Spain only | compráis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | compré | |
| tú | compraste | |
| él, ella, usted | compró | |
| nosotros | compramos | |
| ellos, ustedes | compraron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | comprasteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | compraba | |
| tú | comprabas | |
| él, ella, usted | compraba | |
| nosotros | comprábamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | compraban | |
| vosotros, Spain only | comprabais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | compraré | |
| tú | comprarás | |
| él, ella, usted | comprará | |
| nosotros | compraremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | comprarán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | compraréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he comprado | |
| tú | has comprado | |
| él, ella, usted | ha comprado | |
| nosotros | hemos comprado | |
| ellos, ustedes | han comprado | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis comprado |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | comprando | |
| participle | comprado | |
| command, to tú | compra | |
| command, to usted | compre |
In a sentence
quiero comprar un boleto
I want to buy a ticket
compré pan
I bought bread