beber means: to drink
Click to see all conjugation charts of beber in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to inflect the verb beber 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 beber conjugation. For a general overview of Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at the 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 will find additional information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Presente to English

Note that the English phrases 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 example:
  ellos beben

  they drink
• The English Present Progressive (or Present Continuous) tense, for example:
  ahora mismo él bebe

  he is drinking right now
  
  Note that the Spanish equivalent of the Present Progressive also exists and is in common use – that’s Presente Progresivo (also called Presente Continuo).

Note the timeline

The ability to properly locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for the right choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, writing and reading. After some practice you’ll 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 its 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 beber has an entirely regular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb simply follows the basic rules for its conjugation group (-er) without any exceptions or spelling corrections. The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we start by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s easy to do. Just remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

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

Use the stem beb- in each subject as the basis for 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 shapes and colors 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 bebo:

• yo bebo – I drink

And one more time add the regular ending -es for the second person singular to create bebes:

• tú bebes – you drink

One more time add the regular ending -e for the third person singular to create bebe:

• él bebe – he drinks
• ella bebe – she drinks
• usted bebe – (formal) you drink

Like in the previous case add the regular ending -emos for the first person plural to create bebemos:

• nosotros bebemos – we drink
• nosotras bebemos – (feminine) we drink

Again add the regular ending -éis for the second person plural to create bebéis:

• vosotros bebéis – (plural) you drink
• vosotras bebéis – (feminine, plural) you drink

One more time add the regular ending -en for the third person plural to create beben:

• ellos beben – they drink
• ellas beben – (feminine) they drink
• ustedes beben – (formal, plural) you drink

This is it! The conjugation is now finished. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	bebo	I drink
tú	bebes	you drink
él/ella/usted	bebe	he/she/it drinks
nosotros/nosotras	bebemos	we drink
vosotros/vosotras	bebéis	you drink
ellos/ellas/ustedes	beben	they drink

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

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your skills check 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 beber visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for beber visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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