Spanish -ar Verb Conjugations

​Spanish -ar Verb Conjugations

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.​

​Spanish Verbs Basics​

​Infinitives

• All verbs in Spanish come from an “infinitive” or the base form of a verb that you’d find in a dictionary.

• Spanish infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir.

• All verbs in Spanish need to be conjugated, or have their ending changed to match the new ending based on the subject category.

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.​

Match

Match the following subject pronouns.

• yo

• tú

• usted

• él

• ella

I

you (informal)

you (formal)

he

she

• I

• you (informal)

• you (formal)

• he

• she

Match

Match the following subject pronouns.

• nosotr@s

• vosotr@s

• ustedes

• ell@s

• elle

we

you (plural, informal, Spain only)

you (plural, formal only in Spain, informal everywhere else)

they (plural)

they (singular/gender neutral)

• we

• you (plural, informal, Spain only)

• you (plural, formal only in Spain, informal everywhere else)

• they (plural)

• they (singular/gender neutral)

​How to conjugate a verb

​Let’s look at how to conjugate regular -ar verbs to match with a subject. We call these verbs regular because they all follow the same pattern.

1. ​Remove the -ar ending from the infinitive.

2. Decide which conjugated ending matches with the subject.

3. Add the new ending to the stem (the part of the verb remaining after the ending suffix is removed)

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.​

• estudiar to study

• escuchar to listen (to)

• hablar to speak, to talk

• necesitar to need

• terminar to end, to finish

​Spanish English

​Example -ar verbs

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.​

Match

Match the following

• estudiar

• escuchar

• hablar

• necesitar

• terminar

to study

to listen (to)

to talk

to need

to end, to finish

• to study

• to listen (to)

• to talk

• to need

• to end, to finish

​Conjugation Endings

​These endings on the verb hablar are used for all regular -ar verbs!

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.

​Subject	​Verb ending	​Conjugated verb	​Subject	Verb ending​	Conjugated verb​
​yo	​-o	​hablo	​nosotr@s	​-amos	hablamos
​tú	-as​	hablas	vosotr@s​	-áis​	habláis
​Ud./él/ella/elle	-a​	habla	Uds./ell@s​	-an​	hablan

Multiple Choice

Which conjugated verb would go in the blank?

Yo _______ (estudiar) español.

• estudias

• estudia

• estudio

• estudiamos

Multiple Choice

Which conjugated verb would go in the blank?

Ellas _______ (estudiar) español.

• estudian

• estudia

• estudio

• estudiamos

Multiple Choice

Which conjugated verb would go in the blank?

Nosotros _______ (estudiar) español.

• estudian

• estudia

• estudio

• estudiamos

Multiple Choice

Which conjugated verb would go in the blank?

Tú _______ (estudiar) español.

• estudian

• estudias

• estudio

• estudiamos

Multiple Choice

Which conjugated verb would go in the blank?

Vosotras _______ (estudiar) español.

• estudian

• estudias

• estudiáis

• estudiamos

Multiple Choice

Which conjugated verb would go in the blank?

Ella _______ (estudiar) español.

• estudian

• estudias

• estudiáis

• estudia

​Compared to English

​Verb meaning

• A present-tense Spanish verb may have several different meanings.

  • Hablo español.

    • I speak Spanish.

    • I do speak Spanish.

    • I am speaking Spanish.

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.

​Compared to English

​Sentence Structure

• Verbs may be used with or without subject pronouns. Subject pronouns may not be needed if:

  • ​the verb form itself identifies the subject.

    • (Nosotros) Necesitamos unos cuadernos.

    • (Yo) Estudio matemáticas.

  • the subject is already known from the context.

    • A: Hablo español. ¿Y él?

      B: (Él) Habla inglés.

I will be able to talk about activities done at school in Spanish.

​Vocabulario

• Context question:

  • ¿Qué haces en la clase de…? What do you do in … class?

• Responses Examples:

  • Yo canto en la clase de coro.

  • Yo escucho en la clase de ciencias sociales.

  • Yo uso mi calculadora en la clase de matemáticas.

I will be able to talk about activities done in school in Spanish.

​Spanish	English​	Spanish​	English​	Spanish​	English​
​caminar	​to walk	​estudiar	​to study	​practicar	to practice​
​cantar	​to sing	​hablar	to speak, to talk​	terminar​	​to end, to finish
​dibujar	​to draw	​llegar	to arrive​	​tocar	to play (an instrument)​
​enseñar	​to teach	mirar​	to look (at)​, to watch	tomar​	to take, to drink​
​escuchar	​to listen (to)	​necesitar	to need​	​trabajar	to work​
​estar	​to be	pasar​	to pass, to spend (time)​	​usar	to use​

​Vocabulario