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 comer, 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).

Comer (kohm-ehr) (to eat) is a regular -er verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Here it is in the present tense:

The Present Tense of Comer
Conjugation Translation
yo como I eat
tú comes You (informal) eat
él/ella/ello/uno come He/she/one eats
usted come You (formal) eat
nosotros comemos We eat
vosotros coméis You all (informal) eat
ellos/ellas comen They eat
ustedes comen You all (formal) eat

The following examples show you comer in action:

  • ¿Come usted tres veces al día? (Do you eat three times a day?)

  • Sí. Como tres veces al día todos los días. (Yes. I eat three times a day every day.)

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

The Preterit Tense of Comer
Conjugation Translation
yo comí I ate
tú comiste You (informal) ate
él/ella/ello/uno comió He/she/one ate
usted comió You (formal) ate
nosotros comimos We ate
vosotros comisteis You all (informal) ate
ellos/ellas comieron They ate
ustedes comieron You all (formal) ate

You use the preterit tense like this:

  • ¿Comiste pizza esta tarde? (Did you eat pizza this afternoon?)

  • Sí. Comí pizza y estaba muy buena. (Yes. I ate pizza and it was very good.)

The Imperfect Tense of Comer
Conjugation Translation
yo comía I used to eat
tú comías You (informal) used to eat
él/ella/ello/uno comía He/she/one used to eat
usted comía You (formal) used to eat
nosotros comíamos We used to eat
vosotros comíais You all (informal) used to eat
ellos/ellas comían They used to eat
ustedes comían You all (formal) used to eat

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

  • ¿Comían ustedes queso todos los días? (Did you used to eat cheese every day?)

  • No. Comíamos queso solo tres veces por semana. (No. We used to eat cheese only three times a week.)

The Future Tense of Comer
Conjugation Translation
yo comeré I will eat
tú comerás You (informal) will eat
él/ella/ello/uno comerá He/she/one will eat
usted comerá You (formal) will eat
nosotros comeremos We will eat
vosotros comeréis You all (informal) will eat
ellos/ellas comerán They will eat
ustedes comerán You all (formal) will eat

The following samples put the future tense to work:

  • ¿Comerás pizza con tus amigos este fin de semana? (Will you eat pizza with your friends this weekend?)

  • Sí. Comeremos mucha pizza este fin de semana. (Yes. We will eat a lot of pizza this weekend.)

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