The Three Verb Classes (-ar, -er, -ir) | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Every Spanish infinitive ends in one of three endings: -ar, -er, or -ir. These three endings define the three verb classes (also called conjugations). Each class has its own set of endings in every tense. Learn the patterns for one class, and you have a template for hundreds of verbs.

The -ar class

The -ar class is the largest by far. Roughly 90% of Spanish verbs end in -ar, and almost every new verb added to the language follows this pattern. If Spanish borrows a verb from English or invents a new one, it joins the -ar class automatically.

Common -ar verbs:

Verb	Meaning
hablar	to speak
trabajar	to work
estudiar	to study
cantar	to sing
caminar	to walk
tomar	to take, drink
escuchar	to listen

Mis hermanos trabajan en una fábrica y estudian por la noche.

My siblings work in a factory and study at night.

The -er class

The -er class is much smaller but contains many essential, high-frequency verbs. Learners meet -er verbs early even though the class is smaller.

Common -er verbs:

Verb	Meaning
comer	to eat
beber	to drink
leer	to read
aprender	to learn
correr	to run
vender	to sell
comprender	to understand

Aprendemos español y leemos libros cada semana.

We learn Spanish and read books every week.

The -ir class

The -ir class is the smallest of the three, but it includes many everyday verbs. In several tenses, -ir verbs share endings with -er verbs, which simplifies things.

Common -ir verbs:

Verb	Meaning
vivir	to live
escribir	to write
abrir	to open
recibir	to receive
subir	to go up, climb
decidir	to decide
compartir	to share

Vivo en Medellín y escribo en mi diario todos los días.

I live in Medellín and I write in my journal every day.

Comparing present tense endings

Here are the endings for all three classes in the present indicative, side by side:

Subject	-ar (hablar)	-er (comer)	-ir (vivir)
yo	hablo	como	vivo
tú	hablas	comes	vives
él / ella / usted	habla	come	vive
nosotros	hablamos	comemos	vivimos
ellos / ustedes	hablan	comen	viven

Notice the patterns:

The yo form is always -o across all three classes.
-er and -ir verbs share endings except in the nosotros form (comemos vs vivimos).
The -ar class is the "odd one out" — its vowel is always a.

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If you remember only one thing: the vowel of the ending almost always matches the class. -ar verbs have a vowels (hablamos), -er verbs have e vowels (comemos), and -ir verbs mix e and i depending on the form.

Why the classes exist

The three classes are inherited from Latin, which had four verb conjugations. Over centuries, Spanish merged and simplified them into three. The -ar class descends from Latin's -are verbs, -er from -ere, and -ir from -ire. That's why the same pattern repeats across Romance languages — French, Italian, and Portuguese all have the same three (or four) classes with similar endings.

Hablar, comer, vivir: tres clases, un sistema.

Hablar, comer, vivir: three classes, one system.

How this helps you

When you learn a new verb, the first thing to notice is its class. That tells you:

Which set of endings to use.
Which patterns it probably follows.
Which tenses are likely to behave like other verbs you know.

Si conoces caminar, ya sabes conjugar la mayoría de los verbos nuevos.

If you know caminar, you already know how to conjugate most new verbs.

Most -ar verbs are regular, so knowing hablar unlocks hundreds of others. -er and -ir verbs have more irregularities, but still follow families. See Regular vs Irregular Verbs next.

Frequency matters more than size

Even though the -ar class is by far the largest, the -er and -ir classes punch above their weight because of frequency. Many of the most-used verbs in everyday Spanish are -er or -ir verbs: ser, tener, hacer, ver, ir, venir, decir, saber, vivir. You will meet them in your very first lessons.

Tengo hambre y quiero comer algo.

I'm hungry and I want to eat something.

Vivimos aquí desde hace cinco años.

We've been living here for five years.

If you only counted distinct verbs, -ar would dominate. But if you counted verb usages in real text, -er and -ir verbs show up again and again. That's why learners can't ignore them — and why learning their patterns early pays off so much.

A quick identification habit

Whenever you see a new Spanish verb, look at its last two letters. That tells you the class, which tells you the endings, which tells you how to conjugate it. This habit becomes automatic quickly.

Bailar → -ar class. Leer → -er class. Escribir → -ir class.

With the three classes clearly in view, the rest of the verb system starts to make sense. Every tense you learn from here on will have its own set of endings, but they'll all sort themselves by class.