De Tapas y Cañas - Tapas and Beers
Comer y Beber - Eating and Drinking
In Module 5 you locked in regular -ar verbs — the biggest verb family in Spanish. Now you meet the other two: -er and -ir. The good news is they're nearly identical. Once you know -er, the -ir family only changes two endings. By the end of this lesson, you can talk about everything you eat, drink, share and open in a Spanish bar — which is exactly where you'll want this vocabulary first.
The -er Endings
Take comer ("to eat"). Chop off the -er to get the stem com-, then add the endings:
| Pronoun | Ending | Comer | Pronounced |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | como | KOH-mo |
| tú | -es | comes | KOH-mes |
| él / ella / usted | -e | come | KOH-meh |
| nosotros / nosotras | -emos | comemos | ko-MEH-mos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -éis | coméis | ko-MEH-ees |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -en | comen | KOH-men |
A few patterns to lock in:
- The yo ending is still -o, just like with -ar verbs. Como, bebo, vivo — the yo form never gives you trouble.
- Vosotros -éis carries an accent over the e. Coméis, bebéis, leéis. This is the form you'll hear from a Spanish friend asking you and your partner ¿qué coméis? at a bar.
- The nosotros -emos form rolls off the tongue: comemos, bebemos, compartimos… wait, that last one is an -ir verb. We'll get there.
The -ir Endings
Take vivir ("to live"). The stem is viv-. Now compare the endings to -er — only two are different:
| Pronoun | comer (-er) | vivir (-ir) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | como | vivo |
| tú | comes | vives |
| él/ella | come | vive |
| nosotros | comemos | vivimos |
| vosotros | coméis | vivís |
| ellos | comen | viven |
Only nosotros (vivimos, not vivemos) and vosotros (vivís, not vivéis) change. The other four forms are identical. So if you know your -er endings, you already know two-thirds of -ir.
The Same Pattern, Four Verbs
Now apply both patterns to four high-frequency verbs you'll use at the bar and beyond:
| Pronoun | beber (drink) | compartir (share) | abrir (open) | leer (read) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | bebo | comparto | abro | leo |
| tú | bebes | compartes | abres | lees |
| él/ella | bebe | comparte | abre | lee |
| nosotros | bebemos | compartimos | abrimos | leemos |
| vosotros | bebéis | compartís | abrís | leéis |
| ellos | beben | comparten | abren | leen |
Try a few real sentences:
- Como una tortilla con mis amigos. – I'm eating a tortilla with my friends.
- ¿Bebéis vino o cerveza? – Are you all drinking wine or beer?
- Compartimos una ración de jamón. – We're sharing a portion of ham.
- Mi hermano vive en Sevilla. – My brother lives in Seville.
- El bar abre a las ocho de la tarde. – The bar opens at eight in the evening.
A small Castilian note on pronunciation: words like aceitunas, cerveza and cinco carry the theta sound — that c before e or i sounds like the English th in think. So the order cinco cervezas comes out THIN-ko ther-VEH-thas. You'll hear it dozens of times a night in any Madrid bar.
A Tapas Bar Vocabulary
Before we practise, lock in the food and drink. A caña is a small draft beer, around 200 ml — the default order in Spain. Ask for a cerveza and you'll often get a confused look back; ask for a caña and the camarero already knows what to do. A tapa is a small plate, often shared. A ración is the same dish but bigger, made for the table. A tortilla in Spain is the potato omelette, not the Mexican flatbread.
Practice
Words to Remember
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| comer | to eat |
| beber | to drink |
| compartir | to share |
| vivir | to live |
| abrir | to open |
| una tapa | a small dish |
| una ración | a larger portion to share |
| una caña | a small draft beer |
| un vino tinto / blanco | a red / white wine |
| una tortilla | Spanish potato omelette |
| el jamón | cured ham |
| las croquetas | croquettes |
| las patatas bravas | potatoes in spicy sauce |
| las aceitunas | olives |
| el pan | bread |
| el camarero / la camarera | the waiter / waitress |
Conversation
At the bar
Marta: ¿Qué bebéis vosotros? What are you drinking?
Javi: Yo bebo una caña. I'll have a caña.
Diego: Y yo un vino tinto. And I'll have a red wine.
Sharing a tapa
Marta: ¿Compartimos una tapa de tortilla? Shall we share a tortilla tapa?
Javi: Vale, la compartimos. Sure, we'll share it.
Marta: Y unas aceitunas también. And some olives too.
Asking the waiter
Diego: Camarero, ¿abrís a las ocho? Waiter, do you open at eight?
Camarero: Sí, abrimos a las ocho de la tarde. Yes, we open at eight in the evening.
Diego: Perfecto, cenamos aquí. Perfect, we'll eat here.
Practice
Recall
Type the Spanish for each English meaning. Leave a row blank if you draw a blank — that counts as a miss.
Practice
Translation Exercise
Translate each English sentence into Spanish.
Cultural Note
The word tapa changes meaning depending on which Spanish city you're in. In Granada, León and parts of Asturias, every drink comes with a free tapa — order a caña and a small plate of something arrives without you asking. In Madrid, Barcelona and most of Spain, tapas are paid for, ordered separately, and shared around the table. A pincho (or pintxo in the Basque Country) is a small bite usually held together with a toothpick on a slice of bread, often laid out on the bar for you to grab. A ración is the larger, table-sized portion of the same dish — order one when you're a group of four and actually hungry. Knowing the difference saves you from ordering six tapas for four people and ending up with way too much food, or worse, ordering a single ración thinking it's a starter and getting a plate the size of a frisbee.