Spanish For Dummies
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Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like beber, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).

Beber (bveh-bvehr) (to drink) is a regular -er verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Here it is in the present tense:

The Present Tense of Beber
Conjugation Translation
yo bebo I drink
tú bebes You (informal) drink
él/ella/ello/uno bebe He/she/one drinks
usted bebe You (formal) drink
nosotros bebemos We drink
vosotros bebéis You all (informal) drink
ellos/ellas beben They drink
ustedes beben You all (formal) drink

The following examples show you beber in action:

  • ¿Bebes agua todos los días? (Do you drink water every day?)

  • Sí. Bebo mucha agua todos los días. (Yes. I drink a lot of water every day.)

Need to know how to conjugate beber in another tense? The following tables show you its preterit, imperfect, and future forms.

The Preterit Tense of Beber
Conjugation Translation
yo bebí I drank
tú bebiste You (informal) drank
él/ella/ello/uno bebió He/she/one drank
usted bebió You (formal) drank
nosotros bebimos We drank
vosotros bebisteis You all (informal) drank
ellos/ellas bebieron They drank
ustedes bebieron You all (formal) drank

You use the preterit tense like this:

  • ¿Bebieron ustedes vino en la fiesta? (Did you drink wine at the party?)

  • No. Bebimos cerveza pero no bebimos vino. (No. We drank beer but we did not drink wine.)

The Imperfect Tense of Beber
Conjugation Translation
yo bebía I used to drink
tú bebías You (informal) used to drink
él/ella/ello/uno bebía He/she/one used to drink
usted bebía You (formal) used to drink
nosotros bebíamos We used to drink
vosotros bebíais You all (informal) used to drink
ellos/ellas bebían They used to drink
ustedes bebían You all (formal) used to drink

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

  • ¿Bebían tus hermanos cuando eran jóvenes? (Did your brothers used to drink when they were young?)

  • Sí. Ellos bebían, pero no mucho. (Yes. They used to drink, but not much.)

The Future Tense of Beber
Conjugation Translation
yo beberé I will drink
tú beberás You (informal) will drink
él/ella/ello/uno beberá He/she/one will drink
usted beberá You (formal) will drink
nosotros beberemos We will drink
vosotros beberéis You all (informal) will drink
ellos/ellas beberán They will drink
ustedes beberán You all (formal) will drink

The following samples put the future tense to work:

  • ¿Beberás conmigo este fin de semana? (Will you drink with me this weekend?)

  • Sí. Beberé contigo este sábado. (Yes. I will drink with you this Saturday.)

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