ANTE TODO In order to talk about activities, you need to use verbs. Verbs express actions or states of being. In English and Spanish, the infinitive is the base form of the verb. In English, the infinitive is preceded by the word to: to study, to be. The infinitive in Spanish is a one-word form and can be recognized by its endings: –ar, –er, or –ir.

Present tense of estudiar estudiar (to study) SINGULAR FORMS yo estudio I study tú estudias you study (fam.) Ud. / él / ella estudia you (form.) / he / she studies

Present tense of estudiar estudiar (to study) PLURAL FORMS nosotros/as estudiamos we study vosotros/as estudiáis you study (fam.) Uds. / ellos / ellas estudian you (form.) / they study

Conjugation of –ar verbs To create the forms of most regular verbs in Spanish, you drop the infinitive endings (–ar, –er, –ir). You then add to the stem the endings that correspond to the different subject pronouns. INFINITIVE VERB STEM CONJUGATED FORM estudiar  estudi-  yo estudio bailar  bail-  tú bailas trabajar  trabaj-  nosotros trabajamos

Common –ar verbs bailar desayunar buscar descansar caminar to dance desayunar to have breakfast buscar to look for descansar to rest caminar to walk desear (+ inf.) to desire; to wish cantar to sing dibujar to draw cenar to have dinner enseñar to teach comprar to buy escuchar to listen (to) contestar to answer esperar (+ inf.) to wait (for); to hope conversar to converse, to chat estudiar to study

Common –ar verbs explicar preguntar hablar preparar llegar regresar to explain preguntar to ask (a question) hablar to talk; to speak preparar to prepare llegar to arrive regresar to return llevar to carry terminar to end; to finish mirar to look (at); to watch tomar to take; to drink necesitar (+ inf.) to need trabajar to work practicar to practice viajar to travel

¡ATENCIÓN! Busco la tarea. Escucho la música. The Spanish verbs buscar, escuchar, esperar, and mirar do not need to be followed by prepositions as they do in English. Busco la tarea. Escucho la música. I’m looking for the homework. I’m listening to the music. Espero el autobús. Miro la pizarra. I’m waiting for the bus. I’m looking at the blackboard.

Compare and contrast Paco trabaja en la cafetería. Compare the verbs in the English sentences to the verb in the Spanish equivalent. Paco trabaja en la cafetería. 1. Paco works in the cafeteria. 2. Paco is working in the cafeteria. 3. Paco does work in the cafeteria. English uses three sets of forms to talk about the present: 1) the simple present (Paco works), 2) the present progressive (Paco is working), 3) the emphatic present (Paco does work). In Spanish, the simple present can be used in all three cases.

Compare and contrast In both Spanish and English, the present tense is also sometimes used to express future action. Marina viaja a Madrid mañana. 1. Marina travels to Madrid tomorrow. 2. Marina will travel to Madrid tomorrow. 3. Marina is traveling to Madrid tomorrow.

Necesitamos comprar cuadernos. In Spanish, as in English, when two verbs are used together with no change of subject, the second verb is generally in the infinitive. Deseo hablar con don Francisco. I want to speak with Don Francisco. Necesitamos comprar cuadernos. We need to buy notebooks.

Ellos no miran la televisión. To make a sentence negative in Spanish, the word no is placed before the conjugated verb. In this case, no means not. Ellos no miran la televisión. They don’t watch television. Alicia no desea bailar ahora. Alicia doesn’t want to dance now.

Clarification / Contrast Spanish speakers often omit subject pronouns because the verb endings indicate who the subject is. In Spanish, subject pronouns are used for emphasis, clarification, or contrast. Clarification / Contrast —¿Qué enseñan ellos? —Ella enseña arte y él enseña física. What do they teach? She teaches art, and he teaches physics. Emphasis —¿Quién desea trabajar hoy? —Yo no deseo trabajar hoy. Who wants to work today? I don’t want to work today.

¡INTÉNTALO! Provide the present tense forms of these verbs. (hablar) 1. Yo ____ español. 2. Ellos ____ español. 3. Inés ____ español. 4. Nosotras ____ español. 5. Tú ____ español. 6. Los estudiantes ____ español. 7. Usted ____ español. 8. Javier y yo ____ español. 1 of 3

¡INTÉNTALO! Provide the present tense forms of these verbs. (trabajar) 1. Ustedes ____ mucho. 2. Juanita y yo ____ mucho. 3. Nuestra profesora ____ mucho. 4. Tú ____ mucho. 5. Yo ____ mucho. 6. Las chicas ____ mucho. 7. Él ____ mucho. 8. Tú y Álex ____ mucho. 2 of 3

¡INTÉNTALO! Provide the present tense forms of these verbs. (desear) 1. Usted ___ viajar. 2. Yo ___ viajar. 3. Nosotros ___ viajar. 4. Lourdes y Luz ___ viajar. 5. Tú ___ viajar. 6. Ella ___ viajar. 7. Marco y yo ___ viajar. 8. Ustedes ___ viajar. 3 of 3