Here is good news for learners: in the preterite, regular -er and -ir verbs share exactly the same endings. You only need to learn one set of forms and you can apply it to both verb classes.
The Shared Endings
Drop the -er or -ir ending of the infinitive and add the preterite endings below.
| Subject | Ending | comer → | vivir → |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -í | comí | viví |
| tú | -iste | comiste | viviste |
| él / ella / usted | -ió | comió | vivió |
| nosotros / nosotras | -imos | comimos | vivimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ieron | comieron | vivieron |
Notice how comer and vivir have identical endings. Once you know comí and comieron, you already know viví and vivieron. This is very different from the present indicative, where -er and -ir verbs have different nosotros forms.
Written Accents
Two forms carry a written accent: the yo form (-í) and the él/ella/usted form (-ió). The accent shows that the stress falls on the final vowel.
Ella escribió una novela fantástica.
She wrote a fantastic novel.
More Examples
| Subject | beber | aprender | abrir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | bebí | aprendí | abrí |
| tú | bebiste | aprendiste | abriste |
| él / ella / usted | bebió | aprendió | abrió |
| nosotros / nosotras | bebimos | aprendimos | abrimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | bebieron | aprendieron | abrieron |
Aprendí español en México.
I learned Spanish in Mexico.
Abrieron la tienda a las nueve.
They opened the store at nine.
Bebimos limonada en el parque.
We drank lemonade in the park.
Common -er and -ir Verbs
Most everyday verbs belong to this group. Here are some you will reach for constantly:
- comer — to eat
- beber — to drink
- correr — to run
- aprender — to learn
- comprender — to understand
- vender — to sell
-ir verbs
- vivir — to live
- escribir — to write
- abrir — to open
- recibir — to receive
- subir — to go up
- decidir — to decide
Decidieron viajar a la costa.
They decided to travel to the coast.
A Note on Irregularities
Some -ir verbs that look regular actually have stem changes in the third-person forms of the preterite. For example, pedir conjugates as pedí, pediste, *pidió, pedimos, pidieron*. And verbs with a vowel before -er/-ir (like leer, oír) use a y in the third-person forms. Those patterns are covered in Stem Change: E to I and Other Spelling Changes.
Common mistakes
❌ Yo comió mucho ayer.
Wrong: -ió is the él/ella ending, not yo.
✅ Yo comí mucho ayer.
Correct: the yo ending is -í.
❌ Ella escribí una carta.
Wrong: -í is the yo ending, not the ella ending.
✅ Ella escribió una carta.
Correct: the ella ending is -ió.
❌ Nosotros comemos mucho ayer.
Wrong: using the present tense with a past time marker.
✅ Nosotros comimos mucho ayer.
Correct: -imos for the preterite nosotros form.
❌ Ellos viviron en Chile.
Wrong: the ending is -ieron, not -iron.
✅ Ellos vivieron en Chile.
Correct: vivieron with the full -ieron ending.
Related Topics
- Regular -ar VerbsA2 — Regular -ar verbs in the preterite take the endings -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron, with written accents on the yo and él forms.
- Stem Change: E to IB1 — Stem-changing -ir verbs with e in the stem shift to i in the third-person preterite forms: pidió, pidieron.
- Other Spelling Changes (-eer, -oír to Y)B1 — Verbs whose stem ends in a vowel use y instead of i in the third-person preterite forms, as in leyó and oyeron.