Comer: Full Conjugation | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Comer means "to eat" and is one of the most useful model verbs in Spanish: it is perfectly regular across every tense and mood, so whatever ending you learn for comer will also work for hundreds of other regular -er verbs like beber, aprender, and correr.

In everyday Latin American Spanish, comer covers both "to eat" in general and, in many countries, "to have lunch" specifically. When people say vamos a comer, they usually mean the midday meal.

Present Indicative

Subject	Form
yo	como
tú	comes
él / ella / usted	come
nosotros / nosotras	comemos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comen

Como fruta todas las mañanas.

I eat fruit every morning.

Preterite

Subject	Form
yo	comí
tú	comiste
él / ella / usted	comió
nosotros / nosotras	comimos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comieron

Ayer comimos en un restaurante peruano.

Yesterday we ate at a Peruvian restaurant.

Imperfect

Subject	Form
yo	comía
tú	comías
él / ella / usted	comía
nosotros / nosotras	comíamos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comían

De niño comía mucho pan.

As a child I used to eat a lot of bread.

Future

Subject	Form
yo	comeré
tú	comerás
él / ella / usted	comerá
nosotros / nosotras	comeremos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comerán

Conditional

Subject	Form
yo	comería
tú	comerías
él / ella / usted	comería
nosotros / nosotras	comeríamos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comerían

Comería cualquier cosa ahora mismo.

I'd eat anything right now.

Present Subjunctive

Subject	Form
yo	coma
tú	comas
él / ella / usted	coma
nosotros / nosotras	comamos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	coman

Quiero que comas algo antes de salir.

I want you to eat something before leaving.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Subject	Form
yo	comiera
tú	comieras
él / ella / usted	comiera
nosotros / nosotras	comiéramos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comieran

Imperative

Person	Form
tú (affirmative)	come
tú (negative)	no comas
usted	coma
nosotros	comamos
ustedes	coman

¡Come despacio!

Eat slowly!

Non-Finite Forms

Infinitive: comer
Gerund: comiendo
Past participle: comido

Common Uses

Comer is the default verb for eating food. Spanish also uses desayunar (to have breakfast), almorzar (to have lunch), and cenar (to have dinner), but comer can stand in for any of them when the context is clear.

No he comido nada desde el desayuno.

I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.

Los niños están comiendo en la cocina.

The kids are eating in the kitchen.

💡

In Mexico, Colombia, and much of Central America, comer used alone often means specifically "to have lunch." If you want to be unambiguous about eating in general, you can say comer algo ("to eat something").