comer means: to eat
Click to see all conjugation charts of comer in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will learn how to conjugate the verb comer 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 comer verb conjugation. For an overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation see our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

We also have a Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Presente. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you can get more detailed information on conjugation in this tense as well as 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 instance:
  ellas comen

  (feminine) they eat
• The English Present Progressive (or Present Continuous) tense, for example:
  ahora mismo tú comes

  you are eating right now
  
  Notice 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 correctly locate the intended 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 listening, speaking, reading or writing. After a bit 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 the conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each conjugated form consists of two words.The verb comer has a completely regular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb 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 need to begin 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 form to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So for comer:

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

Use the stem com- in each person as the basis for the conjugations, the common prefix 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. Notice both the shapes and colors of the letters. It will 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 como:

• yo como – I eat

And similarly add the regular ending -es for the second person singular to create comes:

• tú comes – you eat

Once more add the regular ending -e for the third person singular to create come:

• él come – he eats
• ella come – she eats
• usted come – (formal) you eat

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

• nosotros comemos – we eat
• nosotras comemos – (feminine) we eat

And similarly add the regular ending -éis for the second person plural to create coméis:

• vosotros coméis – (plural) you eat
• vosotras coméis – (feminine, plural) you eat

And again add the regular ending -en for the third person plural to create comen:

• ellos comen – they eat
• ellas comen – (feminine) they eat
• ustedes comen – (formal, plural) you eat

Hurray! The conjugation is now finished. The final result looks as follows:

yo	como	I eat
tú	comes	you eat
él/ella/usted	come	he/she/it eats
nosotros/nosotras	comemos	we eat
vosotros/vosotras	coméis	you eat
ellos/ellas/ustedes	comen	they eat

Click to see all conjugation charts of comer 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 example sentences and some links.

Example sentences

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

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