The Present Tense

Even people who have been learning Spanish for years forget the basics from time to time so I thought that a recap of the basic tenses would be useful; starting with the present tense.

The present tense is fairly simple, it describes an action or state that is currently happening.

In regular verbs it is formed by adding these endings to the stem of the verb:

Verbs with an -ER ending

Yo - O 
Tú - ES
Él, ella - E
Nostros - EMOS
Vosotros - ÉIS
Ellos, ellas - EN

For example; 

"Como mi bocadillo con mis amigos durante la hora de la comida." - "I eat my sandwich with my friends during the lunch hour."

Verbs with an -AR ending

Yo - O 

Tú - AS

Él, ella - A

Nostros - AMOS

Vosotros - ÁIS

Ellos, ellas - AN

For example;

"Mis amigas terminan sus deberes antes de la clase." - "My friends are finishing their homework before the class."

Verbs with an -IR ending

Yo - O 

Tú - ES

Él, ella - E

Nostros - IMOS

Vosotros - ÍS

Ellos, ellas - EN

For example;

"Vivimos en una casa cerca de la universidad." - "We live in a house close to the university."

However, there are irregular verbs which do not follow the rule. Below are the most commonly used and their present tense forms.

IR - to go

Voy

Vas

Va

Vamos

Vais

Van

SER - to be (for more permanent states)

Soy

Eres

Es

Somos

Sois

Son

ESTAR - to be (for more temporary states)

Estoy

Estás

Está

Estamos

Están

HACER - to do or make (the only irregular part of this verb is the yo form but it's worth knowing)

Hago

Haces

Hace

Hacemos

Hacéis

Hacen

TENER - to have (this is a stem changing verb)

Tengo

Tienes

Tiene

Tenemos

Tenéis

Tienen