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When conjugating verbs in Spanish, both -ir and -er verbs have similar endings in certain forms. However, they do differ in the endings for some specific pronouns.
For -ir verbs:
- In the present tense, the endings for -ir verbs are "o", "es", "e", "imos", "ís", and "en". For example, finir (to finish) conjugated: yo fin-o, tú fin-es, él/ella/usted fin-e, nosotros/nosotras fin-imos, vosotros/vosotras fin-ís, ellos/ellas/ustedes fin-en.
- In the preterite tense, the endings for -ir verbs are "í", "iste", "ió", "imos", "isteis", and "ieron". For example, finir (to finish) conjugated: yo fin-í, tú fin-iste, él/ella/usted fin-ió, nosotros/nosotras fin-imos, vosotros/vosotras fin-isteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes fin-ieron.
For -er verbs:
- In the present tense, the endings for -er verbs are "o", "es", "e", "emos", "éis", and "en". For example, comer (to eat) conjugated: yo com-o, tú com-es, él/ella/usted com-e, nosotros/nosotras com-emos, vosotros/vosotras com-éis, ellos/ellas/ustedes com-en.
- In the preterite tense, the endings for -er verbs are "í", "iste", "ió", "imos", "isteis", and "ieron". For example, comer (to eat) conjugated: yo com-í, tú com-iste, él/ella/usted com-ió, nosotros/nosotras com-imos, vosotros/vosotras com-isteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes com-ieron.
As you can see, the main difference lies in the endings for the first and second person singular forms (yo and tú) in the preterite tense. Other than that, the endings for -ir and -er verbs are quite similar.