📖LearnModule 2 · Lesson 4 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, completedUnit 1 · El presente — the full present tense
Comer, vivir — the -er and -ir families
Module 2 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 4 of 30: The second family ends in -er: como, comes, come, comemos, comen. On this page: 10 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
comer
to eat
koh-MEHR
yo como
I eat
yoh KOH-moh
nosotros comemos
we eat
noh-SOH-trohs koh-MEH-mohs
vivir
to live
bee-BEER
yo vivo
I live
yoh BEE-boh
ella vive en la ciudad
she lives in the city
EH-yah BEE-beh ehn lah syoo-DAHD
con
with
kohn
solo
alone
SOH-loh
leer
to read
leh-EHR
escribir
to write
ehs-kree-BEER
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
The second family ends in -er: como, comes, come, comemos, comen. The third ends in -ir: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven. Look closely — the two families differ in ONE form only, the nosotros: comemos against vivimos.
Y también · And also
Vivo en la ciudad — I live in the city. Vivo con mi familia — I live with my family. Comemos a mediodía. Beber (to drink), leer (to read), escribir (to write) and abrir (to open) all follow these two shapes.
Ojo · Watch out
The -er and -ir families share every form except nosotros: comemos but vivimos. Everything else matches, so learn the pair as one pattern with one exception.
comer, presente — the table
yo como · tú comes · él/ella/usted come · nosotros comemos · ustedes comen · ellos/ellas comen
vivir, presente — the table
yo vivo · tú vives · él/ella/usted vive · nosotros vivimos · ustedes viven · ellos/ellas viven
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with comer.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out comer, presente and vivir, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.