Regar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of regar — "to water (plants)" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for regar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Regar means to water plants: regar las plantas, regar el jardín. It takes the plants or the garden as its direct object. To see it in a real sentence: Yo riego las plantas del balcón — "I water the plants on the balcony".
Present tense conjugation table: regar
Every person of regar in the present tense. The gerund is regando and the past participle is regado.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | riego |
| tú | riegas |
| él/ella/Ud. | riega |
| nosotros/as | regamos |
| vosotros/as | regáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | riegan |
How the present of regar is formed
The present of regar is built from the stem reg- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.
| Person | Ending | Form |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | riego |
| tú | -as | riegas |
| él/ella/Ud. | -a | riega |
| nosotros/as | -amos | regamos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | regáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -an | riegan |
The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: riego, riegas, riega and riegan — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: regamos, regáis.
The gerund of regar is regando and the past participle is regado. Both are the forms you need with estar and haber respectively.
When to use the present tense of regar
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and regar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.
Habits and routines
The present describes things that happen regularly, as a habit or routine.
"Cada día, yo riego las plantas del balcón" — "Every day, I water the plants on the balcony"
General truths
The present states facts that are always true, not just true today.
"Mi amigo riega el jardín por la mañana" — "My friend waters the garden in the morning"
What is happening now
The present describes an action in progress right now.
"Ahora, yo riego las flores del patio" — "Right now, I water the flowers in the courtyard"
Near-future plans
Spanish often uses the present for a plan that is already fixed.
"Mañana, nosotros regamos el huerto en verano" — "Tomorrow, we water the vegetable garden in summer"
Timetables and scheduled events
The present is the tense for timetables, programmes and things that happen on a schedule.
"Ellos riegan el césped cada tarde" — "They water the lawn every evening"
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: {'pre_es': 'Cada día, ', 'pre_en': 'Every day, '}yo riego las plantas del balcón — "I water the plants on the balcony"
- Preterite — one finished occasion: {'pre_es': 'Ayer, ', 'pre_en': 'Yesterday, '}yo regué las plantas del balcón — "I watered the plants on the balcony"
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add "used to" in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: {}tú riegas el jardín por la mañana — "You water the garden in the morning"
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: {}tú regabas el jardín por la mañana — "You used to water the garden in the morning"
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: {'subj_es': 'Mi amigo', 'subj_en': 'My friend'}él riega las flores del patio — "He waters the flowers in the courtyard"
- Future — what will happen: {'subj_es': 'Mi amigo', 'subj_en': 'My friend'}él regará las flores del patio — "He will water the flowers in the courtyard"
Examples: regar in the present tense
Seven sentences that show regar in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Yo riego las plantas del balcón — "I water the plants on the balcony"
- Tú riegas el jardín por la mañana — "You water the garden in the morning"
- Él riega las flores del patio — "He waters the flowers in the courtyard"
- Nosotros regamos el huerto en verano — "We water the vegetable garden in summer"
- Vosotros regáis el césped cada tarde — "You water the lawn every evening"
- Ellos riegan las plantas del balcón — "They water the plants on the balcony"
- Yo riego el jardín por la mañana — "I water the garden in the morning"
Common mistakes with regar in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with regar in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ *Yo rego las plantas del balcón.
✓ Correct: Yo riego las plantas del balcón.
regar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie): the stem vowel changes in the stressed present forms, so the yo form is riego, not rego.
✗ *Tú riega el jardín por la mañana.
✓ Correct: Tú riegas el jardín por la mañana.
The tú form and the él form are different: tú takes riegas, él takes riega.
✗ *Cada día, yo regué las flores del patio
✓ Correct: Cada día, yo riego las flores del patio
Cada día describes a habit, so it needs the present, not the preterite.
✗ *Vosotros regais el huerto en verano.
✓ Correct: Vosotros regáis el huerto en verano.
The vosotros present form carries a written accent: regáis, not regais.
Quiz: regar in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of regar. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
Which is the correct present form of regar for tú? A. riego B. riega C. regamos D. riegas
Complete the sentence: Yo ______ las plantas del balcón — "I water the plants on the balcony" (present) A. riegas B. riega C. regamos D. riego
Complete the sentence: Él ______ el jardín por la mañana — "He waters the garden in the morning" (present) A. regamos B. riega C. riego D. riegas
Which is the correct present form of regar for nosotros? A. riega B. riegan C. regamos D. riegas
Which sentence uses regar correctly in the present? A. Mi amigo riega las flores del patio B. Mi amigo riegas las flores del patio C. Mi amigo regaba las flores del patio D. Mi amigo regamos las flores del patio
Complete the sentence: Vosotros ______ el huerto en verano — "You water the vegetable garden in summer" (present) A. riega B. regáis C. riego D. riegas
Complete the sentence: Ellos ______ el césped cada tarde — "They water the lawn every evening" (present) A. riego B. riegas C. riega D. riegan
What is the gerund of regar? A. regué B. regando C. regado D. riego
Answer key
- riegas — The tú form in the present is riegas.
- riego — The present form for yo is riego.
- riega — The present form for él/ella/Ud. is riega.
- regamos — The nosotros form in the present is regamos.
- Mi amigo riega las flores del patio — Mi amigo riega las flores del patio is correct: the verb agrees with its subject and the tense is the present.
- regáis — The present form for vosotros/as is regáis.
- riegan — The present form for ellos/ellas/Uds. is riegan.
- regando — The gerund is regando. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive, and it is not the past participle regado.
Frequently asked questions
Is regar regular in the present tense?
No — in the present the stem changes: The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: riego, riegas, riega and riegan — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: regamos, regáis. The nosotros and vosotros forms keep the plain stem.
What is the gerund and the past participle of regar?
The gerund is regando and the past participle is regado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say "I water" in the present tense?
Say riego. For example: Yo riego las plantas del balcón — "I water the plants on the balcony".
What is the difference between the present and the preterite of regar?
The present describes a habit or what happens now: Yo riego las plantas del balcón — "I water the plants on the balcony". The preterite reports one finished occasion: Ayer, yo regué las plantas del balcón — "Yesterday, I watered the plants on the balcony". Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once.
Related links
- Full conjugation of regar — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- regar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.