The verb in Spanish changes when it is conjugated. In English, the verb remains substantially the same. Because of this, English is a relatively simple language to learn to speak, albeit in a primitive sort of way. Primitive, or "pidgin", English is spoken widely throughout the world because, once a verb is learned, it can be easily conjugated with little or no modification. However, writing and reading English is a different matter altogether!
Let's look at an example:

English	Spanish
run	correr [to run]
I run	Yo corro
You run	Tú corres
He runs	Él corre
She Runs	Ella corre
We run	Nosotros corremos
They run	Ellos corren [m]
They run	Ellas corren [f]

Horrors!, you say. How could anyone ever learn the language?! You were probably thinking the very same thing before you picked up this book, and now....well, let's take a look:
In the above example, you will see that we have modified the verb ending. The verb "correr" ends in ...er, and all verbs with that ending would be modified (conjugated) the very same way.
In Spanish there are only three different verb endings.
[In English there are dozens!]
Let's extract a verb from one of the Rules we've learned. In Chapter Three we learned that English words ending in ....ate are translated to Spanish by substituting with.... ar.

Let's try Elevate.

We know that, in Spanish, it's Elevar. [to Elevate]
To conjugate this verb in Spanish, we will modify the ending (...ar) thus:

English	Spanish
Yo Elevo	I elevate
Tú Elevas	You elevate
Él eleva	He elevates
Ella eleva	She elevates
Nosotros elevamos	We elevate
Ellos elevan	They elevate [m]
Ellas elevan	They elevan [f]

Spanish is a POLITE Language

When referring to you, the familiar form in Spanish is tú. However, if,I don't know you very well, I will refer to you as usted.
This is called the polite form. (pronounced OOS-TETH, soft "th" sound as in They)
Usted can be abbreviated as Ud., always with a capital "U".
lf I am addressing a GROUP of people (the English plural is also you") Usted becomes ustedes.
The abbreviation for ustedes, is Uds., with a capital "U".
The abbreviated forms (of course) are used only in written Spanish.
To conjugate the verb elevar using usted it looks like this:

Usted eleva	You elevate
Ustedes elevan	You elevate

Usted is Neuter, which means it can be used for either Masculine or Feminine subjects.

Although it is a bit tiresome to remember all of this,it does have its advantages. Let's go back to the verb run and we'll learn a shortcut.
It's true that in English the conjugation is simple, but we must always attach the subject to the verb, as in I run, or We run.
In Spanish we modify the verb by changing its ending (Yo corro, Nosotros corremos).

By saying "corro", we imply that it is I who runs.

By saying "corremos", we imply that it is we who run.

Therefore, we can effectively eliminate the subject from the sentence by the treatment of the verb ending. We can state, simply:

(Yo) corro	I run
(Tú) corres	You run
Él corre	He runs
Ella corre	She runs
(Usted) corre	You run
(Nosotros) corremos	We run
(Ellos) corren	They run
(Ellas) corren	They run

Of course, if the subject is feminine (ladies, for example) and we want to get the point across that "they" refers specifically to a group of lady joggers, we would say "Ellas corren". We would attach the subject only if we wanted to specify the gender of the subject, male or female.

There are only three verb endings in Spanish:

...ar	imitar [to imitate]
...er	comer [to eat]
...ir	sufrir [to suffer]

To conjugate verbs ending in ...ar, as in the Spanish verb imitar [to imitate], we substitute the ending with:

(Yo) imito	I imitate
(Tú) imitas	You imitate
(Él) imita	He imitates
(Ella) imita	She imitates
(Usted) imita	You imitate
(Nosotros) imitamos	We imitate
(Ustedes) imitan	You imitate
(Ellos, Ellas) imitan	They imitate

To conjugate verbs ending in ...er, as in the Spanish verb comer [to eat], we substitute the ending with:

(Yo) como	I eat
(Tú) comes	You eat
(Él) come	He eats
(Ella) come	She eats
(Usted) come	You eat
(Nosotros) comemos	We eat
(Ustedes) comen	You eat
(Ellos, Ellas) comen	They eat

To conjugate verbs ending with ...ir, as in the Spanish verb sufrir [to suffer], we substitute the ending with:

(Yo) sufro	I suffer
(Tú) sufres	You suffer
(Él) sufre	He suffers
(Ella) sufre	She suffers
(Usted) sufre	You suffer
(Nosotros) sufrimos	We suffer
(Ustedes) sufren	You suffer
(Ellos, Ellas) sufren	They suffer

That pretty well covers the PRESENT tense.

Most of the Spanish verbs that you have learned in the previous Chapters (Three & Four) end in...ar, so at this point you should be able to conjugate nearly two thousand different Spanish verbs, depending on your command of English. In the Appendix, you will find many verbs, with all three endings.
If you add a few thousand nouns, adjectives and adverbs, you can see that you are well on your way to expressing yourself in Spanish!
Don't forget that the subject (Yo, Tú, Él, etc.) does not need to be included, except in cases where you want to specify that the subject is masculine or feminine or you are using the polite form (Usted), in which case it is optional (when you want to specify that you are being polite).

Let's take a look now at the Past Tense

We will use the same verbs as we used in the Present Tense, "imitar" [to imitate], "comer" [to eat] and "sufrir" [to suffer] for a clearer illustration.
For verbs ending in ...ar we subsitute the ending with:

(Yo) imité	I imitated
(Tú) imitaste	You imitated
(Él) imitó	He imitated
(Ella) imitó	She imitated
(Usted) imitó	You imitated
(Nosotros) imitamos	We imitated
(Ustedes) imitaron	You imitated
(Ellos, Ellas) imitaron	They imitated

For verbs ending in ...er we substitute the ending with:

(Yo) comí	I ate
(Tú) comiste	You ate
(Él) comió	He ate
(Ella) comió	She ate
(Usted) comió	You ate
(Nosotros) comimos	We ate
(Ustedes) comieron	You ate
(Ellos, Ellas) comieron	They ate

For verbs ending in ...ir, we substitute the ending with:

(Yo) sufrí	I suffered
(Tú) sufriste	You suffered
(Él) sufrió	He suffered
(Ella) sufrió	She suffered
(Usted) sufrió	You suffered
(Nosotros) sufrimos	We suffered
(Ustedes) sufrieron	You suffered
(Ellos, Ellas) sufrieron	They suffered

Finally, with the same verbs, let's look at the Future Tense

For verbs ending in ...ar, we add the following to the ending:

(Yo) imitaré	I will imitate
(Tú) imitarás	You will imitate
(Él) imitará	He will imitate
(Ella) imitará	She will imitate
(Usted) imitará	You will imitate
(Nosotros) imitaremos	We will imitate
(Ustedes) imitarán	You will imitate
(Ellos, Ellas) imitarán	They will imitate

For verbs ending in ...er, we add the followingto the ending:

(Yo) comeré	I will eat
(Tú) comerás	You will eat
(Él) comerá	He will eat
(Ella) comerá	She will eat
(Usted) comerá	You will eat
(Nosotros) comeremos	We will eat
(Ustedes) comerán	You will eat
(Ellos, Ellas) comerán	They will eat

For verbs ending in ...ir, we add the following to the ending:

(Yo) sufriré	I will suffer
(Tú) sufrirás	You will suffer
(Él) sufrirá	He will suffer
(Ella) sufrirá	She will suffer
(Usted) sufrirá	You will suffer
(Nosotros) sufriremos	We will suffer
(Ustedes) sufrirán	You will suffer
(Ellos, Ellas) sufrirán	They will suffer

Once again, remember that by saying sufriré, we are implying that it is I who will suffer. We need not attach the subject [yo] to get the meaning across. This, naturally, is true for all the verb tenses!
There are other tenses, of course, such as past-perfect, future-perft etc., that you will want to include in further studies. For the purpose of this web, however, we've covered the ground!