comen

Comen is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Spanish verb comer, meaning to eat. It is used with the subjects ellos, ellas, or ustedes to indicate that they eat in the present tense. Examples include “Ellos comen en la cafetería” and “Ustedes comen temprano.”

Etymology and nature: Comer comes from Latin comedere and is a regular -er verb in Spanish. Its meaning is simple: to eat, consume food, or eat in a habitual or current action.

Conjugation: As a regular -er verb, its present indicative forms are: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. The vosotros form coméis carries the acute accent on é. For example: “Nosotros comemos juntos” and “Vosotros coméis pizza.”

Usage notes: In Spanish, the form comen covers both ustedes (you all) and ellos/ellas (they) in standard present-tense usage. With collective nouns such as la gente, the verb is singular (la gente come), so agreement depends on the subject's grammatical number and perception of sangha or group as a unit.

See also: comer; Spanish verb conjugation; Latin roots of common Spanish verbs.