Comer conjugation: main tenses of "to eat" in Spanish
Comer means "to eat". Regular -er verb (the model verb). Present tense: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. Preterite: comí, comiste, comió… The past participle is comido and the gerund is comiendo.
Infinitive
comer
Pronunciation
koh-MEHR
IPA
/koˈmeɾ/
Meaning
to eat
Type
Regular -er verb (the model verb)
Gerund
comiendo
Past participle
comido
Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Every form of this verb is regular, so nothing is highlighted. Tap any form to hear it.
Comer in the indicative
PresentePresent
what happens now or usually
yo
como
tú
comes
él / ella / usted
come
nosotros
comemos
vosotros
coméis
ellos / ellas / ustedes
comen
Pretérito indefinidoPreterite
a finished action in the past
yo
comí
tú
comiste
él / ella / usted
comió
nosotros
comimos
vosotros
comisteis
ellos / ellas / ustedes
comieron
Pretérito imperfectoImperfect
an ongoing or repeated action in the past
yo
comía
tú
comías
él / ella / usted
comía
nosotros
comíamos
vosotros
comíais
ellos / ellas / ustedes
comían
Futuro simpleFuture
what will happen
yo
comeré
tú
comerás
él / ella / usted
comerá
nosotros
comeremos
vosotros
comeréis
ellos / ellas / ustedes
comerán
Condicional simpleConditional
what would happen
yo
comería
tú
comerías
él / ella / usted
comería
nosotros
comeríamos
vosotros
comeríais
ellos / ellas / ustedes
comerían
Pretérito perfectoPresent perfect
haber + past participle: what has happened
yo
he comido
tú
has comido
él / ella / usted
ha comido
nosotros
hemos comido
vosotros
habéis comido
ellos / ellas / ustedes
han comido
Compound tenses of comer
The helper verb is conjugated while comer stays in one form: the participle comido, the gerund comiendo or the infinitive.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto Past perfect
había comido, habías comido, había comido, habíamos comido, habíais comido, habían comido
voy a comer, vas a comer, va a comer, vamos a comer, vais a comer, van a comer
Presente continuo (estar + gerundio) Present continuous
estoy comiendo, estás comiendo, está comiendo, estamos comiendo, estáis comiendo, están comiendo
Comer in the subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivoPresent subjunctive
after quiero que, espero que, cuando
yo
coma
tú
comas
él / ella / usted
coma
nosotros
comamos
vosotros
comáis
ellos / ellas / ustedes
coman
Imperfecto de subjuntivoImperfect subjunctive
after si and quería que
yo
comiera
tú
comieras
él / ella / usted
comiera
nosotros
comiéramos
vosotros
comierais
ellos / ellas / ustedes
comieran
The imperfect subjunctive has a second, equally correct set of forms in -se; swap -ra for -se: comiera → comiese.
Comer in the imperative
Imperativoaffirmative
telling someone to do it
tú
come
usted
coma
nosotros
comamos
vosotros
comed
ustedes
coman
Imperativo negativonegative
telling someone not to: no + the subjunctive
tú
no comas
usted
no coma
nosotros
no comamos
vosotros
no comáis
ustedes
no coman
How comer is conjugated
Comer is completely regular and serves as the model for all -er verbs: drop -er and add -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en in the present and -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron in the preterite. Unlike -ar and -ir verbs, it has different nosotros forms in the two tenses: comemos, comimos. The present subjunctive swaps e for a: coma, comas. The same endings work for beber, aprender, correr, vender.
Conjugated the same way: beber, aprender, correr, vender, comprender.
Common mistakes with comer
Ayer comemos en casa.→Ayer comimos en casa.
For -er verbs the nosotros form changes with the tense: comemos is present, comimos is preterite. Only -ar and -ir verbs use one form for both.
yo comé, él comó→yo comí, él comió
The endings -é and -ó belong to -ar verbs (hablé, habló). Verbs in -er and -ir take -í and -ió.
comeba, comébamos→comía, comíamos
The imperfect in -aba is for -ar verbs only (hablaba). Verbs in -er and -ir take -ía, with a written accent in every person: comía, comías, comíamos.
When to use comer
Comer is "to eat" in general, and in Spain also "to have lunch", the main midday meal: ¿A qué hora comemos? The reflexive comerse stresses that something was eaten up: Se comió toda la pizza.
Comer in sentences
Como fruta todos los días. I eat fruit every day.
Ayer comimos en casa de mis abuelos. Yesterday we ate at my grandparents' house.
De niño no comía verduras. As a child I didn't eat vegetables.
Hoy comeremos fuera. We'll eat out today.
Come despacio. Eat slowly.
How to remember comer
comer[koh-MEHR] sounds like the English “comb air”. Picture this:
You comb the air over the plate, catching floating spaghetti and eating it strand by strand.
A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method: the sound pulls the meaning along. How it works.
Practice the comer conjugation
Practice comer
Six quick questions on this verb: pick the right form. Nothing to sign up for, nothing is saved.
FAQ
Is comer a regular or irregular verb?
Regular: every form of comer follows the standard -er pattern.
Tables: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and UniMorph, CC BY-SA 3.0, cross-checked on September 30, 2026. Notes on mistakes and the examples were written with the help of our model (AI); every form in the examples is matched against the chart, and the text was proofread separately. How we make it.