Comprar means 'to buy', and it is a regular -ar verb that earns heavy use in the shopping, money and daily-life topics that show up at GCSE. Compro pan (I buy bread), compré un regalo (I bought a present) — the forms are entirely predictable, which makes comprar a low-effort, high-reward verb to have ready. Because it is regular, it doubles as practice for the whole -ar family. Pair it with shopping vocabulary and you can build a convincing role-play or paragraph quickly. The usual care point is the preterite accents (compré, compró), which distinguish 'I bought' from related forms.
Quick facts
Comprar (to buy) is a regular -ar verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
Compro pan (I buy bread).
Le compré un regalo (I bought him a present).
Pairs with money and shopping vocabulary for role-plays.
Vender (to sell) is the opposite.
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
comprar is a regular -ar verb — it follows the standard -ar pattern in every tense. That makes it a good one to drill: if you know comprar, you know the template for all regular -ar verbs.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice comprar now →Three questions, no account needed. Type the form, then press Enter or tap Check.
yo: compro, tú: compras, él: compra, nosotros: compramos, vosotros: compráis, ellos: compran
The past participle is comprado (he comprado) and the gerund is comprando (estoy comprando).
Comprar is on the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas GCSE Spanish vocabulary lists. Compare the exam boards.
Written by Daniel Holmes for GCSE & A-Level Spanish students.