Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like comprar, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).
Comprar (kohm-prahr) (to shop/buy) is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Here it is in the present tense:
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo compro | I shop |
| tú compras | You (informal) shop |
| él/ella/ello/uno compra | He/she/one shops |
| usted compra | You (formal) shop |
| nosotros compramos | We shop |
| vosotros compráis | You all (informal) shop |
| ellos/ellas compran | They shop |
| ustedes compran | You all (formal) shop |
The following examples show you comprar in action:
Compro regalos para tu familia. (I buy gifts for your family.)
Patricia compra libros en la librería. (Patricia buys books at the bookstore.)
Need to know how to conjugate comprar in another tense? The following tables show you the preterit, imperfect, and future forms.
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo compré | I shopped |
| tú compraste | You (informal) shopped |
| él/ella/ello/uno compró | He/she/one shopped |
| usted compró | You (formal) shopped |
| nosotros compramos | We shopped |
| vosotros comprasteis | You all (informal) shopped |
| ellos/ellas compraron | They shopped |
| ustedes compraron | You all (formal) shopped |
You use the preterit tense like this:
¿Compraste una tarjeta para tu mamá? (Did you buy a card for your mom?)
Ustedes compraron todo lo que estaba en venta. (You bought everything that was on sale.)
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo compraba | I used to shop |
| tú comprabas | You (informal) used to shop |
| él/ella/ello/uno compraba | He/she/one used to shop |
| usted compraba | You (formal) used to shop |
| nosotros comprábamos | We used to shop |
| vosotros comprabais | You all (informal) used to shop |
| ellos/ellas compraban | They used to shop |
| ustedes compraban | You all (formal) used to shop |
Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:
Mi hermano compraba papel para su impresora (My brother used to buy paper for his printer)
¿Compraban ellos siempre en la misma tienda? (Did they use to always buy at the same store?)
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo compraré | I will shop |
| tú comprarás | You (informal) will shop |
| él/ella/ello/uno comprará | He/she/one will shop |
| usted comprará | You (formal) will shop |
| nosotros compraremos | We will shop |
| vosotros compraréis | You all (informal) will shop |
| ellos/ellas comprarán | They will shop |
| ustedes comprarán | You all (formal) will shop |
The following samples put the future tense to work:
Lo compraré aunque sea muy caro (I will buy it even if it is too expensive.)
¿Comprarán ustedes todo lo que les muestre? (Will you buy everything I show you?)