Present Tense of -ar Verbs
VERBS A verb usually names the action in a sentence. We call the verb that ends in -r the INFINITIVE
VERBS The INFINITIVE is the form you would find in a Spanish dictionary. In English it means “to + (verb)”
These are some INFINITIVES you already know: hablar comprar mirar necesitar buscar pagar
IN SPANISH: The last letter or letters of the verb tell you who does the action.
IN SPANISH: To change an INFINITIVE to a form that tells who is doing the action, remove the -ar and add the appropriate ending.
IN SPANISH: This action is called CONJUGATION
TO TALK (English) I talk You talk He She talks it We talk You all talk They talk
Hablar (Spanish) Yo hablo Tú hablas Ud. Él habla Ella Nosotros hablamos Nosotras Vosotros habláis Vosotras Uds. Ellos hablan Ellas
STEM / ENDING For every INFINITIVE in Spanish there is a STEM and an ENDING.
STEM / ENDING For example, for “hablar,”…”habl” is the stem. “ar” is the ending.
STEM / ENDING So, the endings for -ar verbs are: o, as, a, amos, áis, an
THE VOSOTROS Verb forms ending in áis, such as habláis, are used mainly in the country of Spain only.
Let’s CONJUGATE Some more -ar verbs!
Comprar Yo compro Tú compras Ud. Él compra Ella Nosotros compramos nosotras Vosotros compráis vosotras Uds. Ellos Ellas compran
Mirar Nosotros miramos Yo miro Vosotros miráis Tú miras Uds. Ud. Ellos miran Ellas Yo miro Tú miras Ud. Él mira Ella
NEGATING A SENTENCE When you want to say that you do not do something, use no before the verb form
NEGATING A SENTENCE Yo no cocino en la clase de educación física.
ASKING A QUESTION When we ask a question in Spanish, we usually put the subject after the verb or sometimes at the end of the sentence.
ASKING A QUESTION Verb Subject ¿Cocina Juan en la clase de ciencias? ¿Estudia mucho Paulina? Verb Subject