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Learn elegir conjugation in Presente

elegir means: to choose, to elect, to vote
Click to see all conjugation charts of elegir in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will learn how to conjugate the verb elegir 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 elegir verb conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation check 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 see additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Presente to English

Notice 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:
    ella elige
    she chooses
  • The English Present Progressive (also called Present Continuous) tense, for instance:
    ahora mismo vosotros elegís
    (plural) you are choosing right now

    Notice however, that the Spanish equivalent of the Present Progressive also exists and is in common use – that’s Presente Progresivo (a.k.a. Presente Continuo).
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Note the timeline

The ability to accurately locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for the right use 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’ll be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.timeline presente how to conjugate spanish verbs

Step by step instructions

Presente belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of its conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each inflected form consists of two words.
The verb elegir has an irregular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood.
Multiple changes are necessary in the first person singular

1st This verb belongs to the group which gets a change of the last e in the stem into an i.

It’s convenient to think about this change as happening only in:
  • persons 1st, 2nd, 3rd singular and 3rd plural of Presente Indicativo
  • 3rd person singular & plural of Pretérito Perfecto Simple
  • Gerundio
but influencing all the grammatical persons of all the Imperative and simple Subjunctive tenses. That’s because their forms are created based on either the 3rd person singular of Presente de Indicativo or the 3rd person plural of Pretérito Perfecto Simple de Indicativo.

The 1st person singular may also be entirely irregular here, and in such case it doesn’t follow this model. And when the first person of the Present tense is irregular, all the above mentioned tenses, which normally use the 3rd person’s form as the basis of their conjugation, use the 1st person’s form instead.

2nd Because the pronunciation is different when the letter g is followed by a/o/u and different when followed by e/i, we need to change the spelling of the stem to preserve the pronunciation of the infinitive. The letter j when followed by a/o/u is pronounced like the letter g when followed by e/i.

So in the regular stem eleg change e to i and change g to j to get elij.
But at least the ending is regular for this person. It is -o as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:
  • yo elijo – I choose
The second person singular has an irregular stem in this tense.

This verb belongs to the group which gets a change of the last e in the stem into an i.

It’s convenient to think about this change as happening only in:
  • persons 1st, 2nd, 3rd singular and 3rd plural of Presente Indicativo
  • 3rd person singular & plural of Pretérito Perfecto Simple
  • Gerundio
but influencing all the grammatical persons of all the Imperative and simple Subjunctive tenses. That’s because their forms are created based on either the 3rd person singular of Presente de Indicativo or the 3rd person plural of Pretérito Perfecto Simple de Indicativo.

The 1st person singular may also be entirely irregular here, and in such case it doesn’t follow this model. And when the first person of the Present tense is irregular, all the above mentioned tenses, which normally use the 3rd person’s form as the basis of their conjugation, use the 1st person’s form instead.

So in the regular stem eleg change e to i to get elig.
Like previously the ending is regular for this person. It is -es as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:
  • tú eliges – you choose
The third person singular also has an irregular stem in this tense.

So as explained before we need to change e to i in the regular stem eleg to get elig.
Similarly the ending is regular for this person. It is -e as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:
  • él elige – he chooses
  • ella elige – she chooses
  • usted elige – (formal) you choose
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The first person plural has a regular stem. So we need to use eleg- as the basis for this person’s form.
Add the regular ending -imos for this person to get elegimos:
  • nosotros elegimos – we choose
  • nosotras elegimos – (feminine) we choose
Similarly the second person plural has a regular stem. So we need to use eleg- as the basis for this person’s form.
Again add the regular ending -ís for this person to get elegís:
  • vosotros elegís – (plural) you choose
  • vosotras elegís – (feminine, plural) you choose
The third person plural also has an irregular stem in this tense.

So as explained before we need to change e to i in the regular stem eleg to get elig.
And once more the ending is regular for this person. It is -en as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:
  • ellos eligen – they choose
  • ellas eligen – (feminine) they choose
  • ustedes eligen – (formal, plural) you choose

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

yoelijoI choose
eligesyou choose
él/ella/ustedeligehe/she/it chooses
nosotros/nosotraselegimoswe choose
vosotros/vosotraselegísyou choose
ellos/ellas/ustedeseligenthey choose
Click to see all conjugation charts of elegir in every tense

But do not end your session yet – it is very important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for some links.

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:  
  • For exercises and examples related to elegir visit our Exercise section
  • To see conjugation charts in all tenses for elegir visit the Conjugator
  • To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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