Present
Presente · now, habits and facts
- yo I drink
- tú you drink
- usted, él, ella he/she drinks
- nosotros we drink
- vosotros Spain you all drink
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they drink
SPANISH VERB
beber
to drink
- #320 most used
- Regular -er verb
- Gerund: bebiendo
- Past participle: bebido
Conjugation
Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.
Past
Pretérito indefinido · finished actions
- yo I drank
- tú you drank
- usted, él, ella he/she drank
- nosotros we drank
- vosotros Spain you all drank
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they drank
Imperfect
Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”
- yo I used to drink
- tú you used to drink
- usted, él, ella he/she used to drink
- nosotros we used to drink
- vosotros Spain you all used to drink
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to drink
Future
Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common
- yo I will drink
- tú you will drink
- usted, él, ella he/she will drink
- nosotros we will drink
- vosotros Spain you all will drink
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they will drink
Conditional
Condicional · “would”
- yo I would drink
- tú you would drink
- usted, él, ella he/she would drink
- nosotros we would drink
- vosotros Spain you all would drink
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they would drink
Present subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”
- yo (that) I drink
- tú (that) you drink
- usted, él, ella (that) he/she drink
- nosotros (that) we drink
- vosotros Spain (that) you all drink
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they drink
Past subjunctive
Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”
- yo (if) I drank
- tú (if) you drank
- usted, él, ella (if) he/she drank
- nosotros (if) we drank
- vosotros Spain (if) you all drank
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they drank
Imperative
Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)
- tú drink!
- usted drink! (formal)
- nosotros drink! (let’s)
- vosotros Spain drink! (all of you)
- ustedes drink! (all of you)
How to use beber
One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.
-
Present
Bebo dos litros de agua al día en verano.
I drink two litres of water a day in summer.
-
Past
Anoche bebimos demasiado vino en la cena.
Last night we drank too much wine at dinner.
-
Imperfect
De pequeño bebía leche con cacao todas las mañanas.
As a kid I drank chocolate milk every morning.
-
Future
¿Beberás algo o conduces esta noche?
Will you have a drink or are you driving tonight?
-
Conditional
Yo bebería un zumo de naranja bien frío ahora mismo.
I'd drink a nice cold orange juice right now.
-
Present subjunctive
Es importante que bebas mucha agua con este calor.
It's important that you drink lots of water in this heat.
-
Past subjunctive
El médico me recomendó que bebiera menos café.
The doctor recommended I drink less coffee.
-
Imperative
Bebe despacio, que el café está muy caliente.
Drink slowly, the coffee is very hot.
Good to know
- In Spain "tomar" is common too, but "beber" is the plain word for drinking; "una caña" is a small draught beer.
Where you hear beber
The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.
Spanish · Advanced Level 1
- Bebo agua con la comida. I drink water with my meal.
- Ayer bebimos chocolate caliente. Yesterday we drank hot chocolate.
- Después vamos a beber un poco de agua. Afterwards we're going to drink some water.
Spanish · Advanced Level 3
- En verano bebo agua con limón. In summer I drink water with lemon.
- En la boda bebí mezcal por primera vez. At the wedding I drank mezcal for the first time.
- Esta noche vamos a beber chocolate caliente. Tonight we're going to drink hot chocolate.
Verbs like this one
The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.