aprender means: to acquire, to learn
Click to see all conjugation charts of aprender in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to conjugate the verb aprender in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the aprender conjugation. For a general overview of Simple Tenses conjugation see our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see the Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Presente. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you can see more detailed information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Presente to English

Note that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

The Spanish Presente de Indicativo tense translates to one of the following:

• The English Present tense, for instance:
  yo aprendo

  I acquire
• The English Present Progressive (or Present Continuous) tense, for instance:
  hoy usted aprende

  (formal) you are acquiring today
  
  Notice though, that the Spanish equivalent of the Present Progressive also exists and is in common use – that’s Presente Progresivo (a.k.a. Presente Continuo).

Note the timeline

The ability to accurately locate the desired position on the timeline is a crucial skill for the right choice of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After a bit practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Presente belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each inflected form consists of two words.The verb aprender has regular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means that this verb just follows the general rules for its conjugation group (-er) without any exceptions. The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we need to start by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s very easy to do. Just remove two letters from the end of the infinitive and you have the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

• the stem is: aprend-
• and the ending is: -er

Use the stem aprend- in each person as the basis for the conjugations, the common prefix or root that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Check out the image showing all the endings. Note the colors and shapes of the letters. They are arranged to help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -o for the first person singular to create aprendo:

• yo aprendo – I acquire

Also as in the previous case add the regular ending -es for the second person singular to create aprendes:

• tú aprendes – you acquire

And again add the regular ending -e for the third person singular to create aprende:

• él aprende – he acquires
• ella aprende – she acquires
• usted aprende – (formal) you acquire

Again add the regular ending -emos for the first person plural to create aprendemos:

• nosotros aprendemos – we acquire
• nosotras aprendemos – (feminine) we acquire

And once more add the regular ending -éis for the second person plural to create aprendéis:

• vosotros aprendéis – (plural) you acquire
• vosotras aprendéis – (feminine, plural) you acquire

Like in the previous case add the regular ending -en for the third person plural to create aprenden:

• ellos aprenden – they acquire
• ellas aprenden – (feminine) they acquire
• ustedes aprenden – (formal, plural) you acquire

That’s it! The conjugation is now done. The final result looks as follows:

yo	aprendo	I acquire
tú	aprendes	you acquire
él/ella/usted	aprende	he/she/it acquires
nosotros/nosotras	aprendemos	we acquire
vosotros/vosotras	aprendéis	you acquire
ellos/ellas/ustedes	aprenden	they acquire

Click to see all conjugation charts of aprender in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to retain it. Check below for examples and some links.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test yourself try this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PretéritoImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to aprender visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for aprender visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

---