Beber means to drink, and it is the textbook example of a regular -er verb. Every form follows the standard -er pattern with no stem changes, no spelling tricks, no irregular participle — making it the perfect anchor for understanding all -er conjugations. The catch for learners of peninsular Spanish is not the conjugation but the lexicon: in everyday speech at a Spanish bar or restaurant, you will hear tomar (literally to take) far more often than beber (¿qué vais a tomar? — una caña y un café). Both verbs are correct, but they live in slightly different registers.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | beber | to drink |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber bebido | to have drunk |
| Gerundio | bebiendo | drinking |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo bebido | having drunk |
| Participio | bebido | drunk (the participle, not the adjective for intoxicated) |
Note that English collapses "drunk" (the participle) and "drunk" (intoxicated) into one form, while Spanish keeps them apart: he bebido vino (I have drunk wine) vs está borracho (he is drunk).
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bebo | bebes | bebe | bebemos | bebéis | beben |
The vosotros form bebéis takes an obligatory accent on the é; without it the spelling would suggest a different stress pattern.
¿Tú bebes café por la mañana o prefieres té?
Do you drink coffee in the morning, or do you prefer tea?
Pretérito perfecto simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bebí | bebiste | bebió | bebimos | bebisteis | bebieron |
The accents on bebí and bebió mark stress on the final syllable; without them, the stress would default elsewhere and the form would be misread.
En la cena de Navidad bebimos un Ribera del Duero buenísimo.
At the Christmas dinner we drank an amazing Ribera del Duero.
Pretérito imperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bebía | bebías | bebía | bebíamos | bebíais | bebían |
Unlike -ar verbs, -er and -ir verbs build the imperfect on -ía-. Every form carries a written accent on the í.
De niño no bebía leche, no la soportaba.
As a kid I didn't drink milk, I couldn't stand it.
Futuro simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beberé | beberás | beberá | beberemos | beberéis | beberán |
Esta noche no beberé nada de alcohol, conduzco yo.
Tonight I won't drink any alcohol, I'm driving.
Condicional
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bebería | beberías | bebería | beberíamos | beberíais | beberían |
Me bebería un agua bien fría ahora mismo.
I could really go for a nice cold glass of water right now.
The reflexive form beberse (with the dative me, te, se) gives a sense of completeness or eagerness — me bebí toda la cerveza means I drank the whole beer, with emphasis on finishing it. This is hugely common in colloquial Spanish.
Indicative — compound tenses
All compound tenses pair the auxiliary haber with the perfectly regular participle bebido.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he bebido | has bebido | ha bebido | hemos bebido | habéis bebido | han bebido |
This is the default Spain choice for actions earlier today or within an open time frame. Hoy he bebido demasiado café is natural in Madrid; the equivalent in Mexico would tend toward Hoy bebí demasiado café.
Hoy he bebido tres cafés y todavía estoy medio dormido.
I've had three coffees today and I'm still half-asleep.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había bebido | habías bebido | había bebido | habíamos bebido | habíais bebido | habían bebido |
Cuando llegó la policía, ya había bebido demasiado para conducir.
By the time the police arrived, he'd already drunk too much to drive.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré bebido | habrás bebido | habrá bebido | habremos bebido | habréis bebido | habrán bebido |
Para fin de año habremos bebido el último cava de la bodega.
By the end of the year we'll have finished the last cava in the cellar.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría bebido | habrías bebido | habría bebido | habríamos bebido | habríais bebido | habrían bebido |
No habría bebido tanto si hubiera sabido que íbamos a conducir.
I wouldn't have drunk so much if I'd known we were going to drive.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| beba | bebas | beba | bebamos | bebáis | beban |
The present subjunctive of -er and -ir verbs swaps the indicative -e- core for -a-. The vosotros form bebáis keeps an accent on the á.
El médico me ha dicho que no beba alcohol durante el tratamiento.
The doctor told me not to drink alcohol during the treatment.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | bebiera | bebieras | bebiera | bebiéramos | bebierais | bebieran |
| -se | bebiese | bebieses | bebiese | bebiésemos | bebieseis | bebiesen |
Both endings are interchangeable; -ra dominates in spoken Spain, while -se sounds more formal or literary.
Le pidió que no bebiera más, pero no le hizo caso.
She asked him not to drink any more, but he ignored her.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya bebido | hayas bebido | haya bebido | hayamos bebido | hayáis bebido | hayan bebido |
Espero que no hayáis bebido demasiado en la fiesta.
I hope you haven't drunk too much at the party.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera bebido | hubieras bebido | hubiera bebido | hubiéramos bebido | hubierais bebido | hubieran bebido |
| -se | hubiese bebido | hubieses bebido | hubiese bebido | hubiésemos bebido | hubieseis bebido | hubiesen bebido |
Si no hubieras bebido tanto, no estarías así de mal.
If you hadn't drunk so much, you wouldn't feel this awful.
Imperative
The affirmative vosotros imperative bebed is mandatory in Spain. The negative imperative across all forms borrows from the present subjunctive.
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | bebe | no bebas |
| usted | beba | no beba |
| nosotros | bebamos | no bebamos |
| vosotros | bebed | no bebáis |
| ustedes | beban | no beban |
¡Bebed agua, que hace mucho calor!
(to a group) Drink water — it's really hot!
No bebas el agua del grifo si tienes el estómago delicado.
Don't drink the tap water if your stomach is sensitive.
When you attach a pronoun to an affirmative imperative, you may need a written accent: bébelo, bébetelo. The reflexive vosotros form drops the -d: bebeos (a glass of wine, jokingly: bebeos esto).
Bébete el café antes de que se enfríe.
Drink your coffee before it gets cold.
Beber vs tomar: the practical Spain note
In Spain, when you order something to drink at a bar, restaurant, or someone's home, the natural verb is almost always tomar, not beber:
- ¿Qué quieres tomar? — What would you like to drink?
- Voy a tomar una caña. — I'll have a small draft beer.
- Nos tomamos algo y nos vamos. — We'll have a drink and head off.
Beber survives in this domain mostly in three contexts: (1) when you contrast eating and drinking (come y bebe bien), (2) when you talk about drinking as a habit or vice (ha empezado a beber otra vez), and (3) in fixed idioms (beber los vientos por alguien). For ordering and casual mention, default to tomar — your Spanish will sound noticeably more natural.
Vamos a tomar una cerveza al salir del trabajo, ¿te apuntas?
We're going to grab a beer after work — you in?
Su padre bebe demasiado, está empezando a preocuparnos.
Her father drinks too much, it's starting to worry us.
High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spanish
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| beber a sorbos / a tragos | to sip / to gulp |
| beber de un trago | to down in one go |
| beber con moderación | to drink in moderation |
| beber como un cosaco | (informal) to drink like a fish |
| beber los vientos por alguien | (literary) to be madly in love with someone |
| dar de beber | to give (someone) something to drink |
| beberse las palabras | to mumble; to swallow one's words |
| beber a la salud de alguien | to drink to someone's health |
Se bebió el chupito de un trago y pidió otro.
He downed the shot in one go and ordered another.
Bebamos a la salud de los novios.
Let's drink to the health of the newlyweds.
The classic English-speaker error
English routinely uses drink on its own to mean to consume alcohol habitually: he drinks, she doesn't drink, don't drink and drive. Spanish makes the same move with beber, but the connotation is stronger and more accusatory in everyday speech — bebe without further qualification usually implies has a drinking problem. If you mean simply consumes drinks (alcoholic or not), Spaniards use tomar or specify what is being drunk:
- No bebo — I don't drink (i.e., I'm teetotal, or there's a recovery story behind it).
- No tomo alcohol / No bebo alcohol — I don't drink alcohol (neutral, factual).
- Bebe — (with a meaningful pause) he's a drinker, in the problem sense.
Common Mistakes
❌ He bebido tres bebidos hoy.
The participle is bebido, but the noun for a drink is una bebida — confusing the two is a transfer error.
✅ Me he tomado tres bebidas hoy. / He bebido tres veces.
I've had three drinks today. / I've drunk three times today.
❌ Bebéis el café, está listo.
The vosotros affirmative imperative is bebed, not bebéis.
✅ Bebed el café, está listo. / No bebáis ese café, está frío.
Drink the coffee, it's ready. / Don't drink that coffee, it's cold.
❌ Quiero que bebes más agua.
Querer que triggers the subjunctive — bebas, not bebes.
✅ Quiero que bebas más agua.
I want you to drink more water.
❌ ¿Qué quieres beber? (in a Spanish bar)
Grammatical but unnatural — Spaniards say tomar in this context.
✅ ¿Qué quieres tomar?
What would you like to drink?
❌ Anoche he bebido demasiado vino.
With anoche (closed past frame), peninsular Spanish prefers the simple preterite.
✅ Anoche bebí demasiado vino.
Last night I drank too much wine.
Key Takeaways
- Beber is a fully regular -er verb — use its endings as your template for comer, aprender, vender, correr, and the rest.
- The vosotros affirmative imperative is bebed; the negative is no bebáis.
- Written accents on bebéis, bebí, bebió, bebía, bebería are mandatory.
- In a Spanish bar, tomar is the natural verb; beber used alone often implies a drinking problem.
- The reflexive beberse (me bebí toda la copa) emphasizes finishing or consuming the whole thing — a high-frequency colloquial pattern.
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