Learn the basics of Spanish verb tenses by using audio books and cheat sheets. Identify the infinitive form of the verb. For example, "to be" rather than "was" is the infinitive verb. You need this to be able to start manipulating it into different tenses.
Recognize the three different Spanish verb endings. These are -ar, -ir and -er. For example, "hablar" means "to speak" and "vivir" means "to live," and the verb endings are -ar and -ir respectively. Learning this means you can simply remove the ending from the infinitive verb form, and add the appropriate verb ending to create a new tense.
Check what person you want the verb to refer to. For example, "I" or "you" or "they".
Add the appropriate ending for the person and tense. Present tense endings for regular -ar verbs are conjugated as: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -ais, -an for I, You (singular), he/she/it, we, you (plural, polite form) and they, respectively.
Add different endings for -ir and -er verbs in the present tense. These are -o (I), -es (you, singular), -a (she) or -o (he), -emos (we), -eis (you, plural masculine), -as (you, plural feminine) and -en (they).
Continue to learn the different endings for the alternative tenses. Dummies.com provides a comprehensive cheat sheet that conjugates simple, regular verbs into all the tenses. The BBC Languages website provides interactive online activities for you to practice using and recognizing the verb tenses.