The Present Tense of Regular -ir Verbs

Edgar Degas, La Classe de danse, 1871-1874

In a previous topic, you learned how to use (or conjugate) verbs that end in –er. For obvious reasons, these are called –er verbs. In this topic, you are going to learn how to use (or conjugate) verbs that end in –ir. As you probably guessed, these are referred to as –ir verbs.

You should already know the difference between a regular and an irregular verb, but let’s do a quick review just to be sure. A regular verb is one that follows a pattern when you use it. An irregular verb does not follow a pattern. To use it, you must memorize the form it takes depending on the subject or subject pronoun you are using.

Essential Question

• How are –ir verbs used?