Verb · regular -ar
estudiar
to study
The thing that catches people out
¿estudias o trabajas? is a standard opening question between people meeting for the first time, roughly where English would ask what do you do.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | estudio | |
| tú | estudias | |
| él, ella, usted | estudia | |
| nosotros | estudiamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | estudian | |
| vosotros, Spain only | estudiáis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | estudié | |
| tú | estudiaste | |
| él, ella, usted | estudió | |
| nosotros | estudiamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | estudiaron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | estudiasteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | estudiaba | |
| tú | estudiabas | |
| él, ella, usted | estudiaba | |
| nosotros | estudiábamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | estudiaban | |
| vosotros, Spain only | estudiabais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | estudiaré | |
| tú | estudiarás | |
| él, ella, usted | estudiará | |
| nosotros | estudiaremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | estudiarán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | estudiaréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he estudiado | |
| tú | has estudiado | |
| él, ella, usted | ha estudiado | |
| nosotros | hemos estudiado | |
| ellos, ustedes | han estudiado | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis estudiado |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | estudiando | |
| participle | estudiado | |
| command, to tú | estudia | |
| command, to usted | estudie |
In a sentence
estudio español
I study Spanish
estudiamos juntos
we study together