Spanish verbs are mostly regular—i.e., they not only keep the endings the same, but also the stem. See the verb estudiar below, for example. In the present tense, I remove the ending (-ar), leaving me only with the stem estudi-. Then I add the endings for the present tense: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.
The hardest thing about learning how to conjugate a verb is postponing the learning itself—thinking that a miracle will happen and you’ll wake up one day (hopefully before your exam) knowing it all. Well, I’ve never heard of such a thing. We all had to do it, regardless of being a native or not.
Once you learn the endings for each verbal tense, you can apply them to any other verb—as long as they’re regular too. The tables below show examples you wouldn’t normally see being used, but they work just the same.
Estudiar
| Pronoun | Present | Preterite | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | estudio | estudié | estudiaré |
| tú | estudias | estudiaste | estudiarás |
| él/ella/usted | estudia | estudió | estudiará |
| nosotros/as | estudiamos | estudiamos | estudiaremos |
| vosotros/as | estudiáis | estudiasteis | estudiaréis |
| ellos/ellas | estudian | estudiaron | estudiarán |
| Participles | estudiando / estudiado | ||
Aprender
| Pronoun | Present | Preterite | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | aprendo | aprendí | aprenderé |
| tú | aprendes | aprendiste | aprenderás |
| él/ella/usted | aprende | aprendió | aprenderá |
| nosotros/as | aprendemos | aprendimos | aprenderemos |
| vosotros/as | aprendéis | aprendisteis | aprenderéis |
| ellos/ellas | aprenden | aprendieron | aprenderán |
| Participles | aprendiendo / aprendido | ||
Escribir
| Pronoun | Present | Preterite | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | escribo | escribí | escribiré |
| tú | escribes | escribiste | escribirás |
| él/ella/usted | escribe | escribió | escribirá |
| nosotros/as | escribimos | escribimos | escribiremos |
| vosotros/as | escribís | escribisteis | escribiréis |
| ellos/ellas | escriben | escribieron | escribirán |
| Participles | escribiendo / escrito | ||