Unit 1 - Present Tense - Regular Forms
Lesson 1.1 - Present Tense: Regular -ar Verbs
Exercises 1.1 Quiz 1.1
Topic:

How to conjugate regular -ar verbs in the Present Tense.

Welcome to Unit 1!

You've finished the introduction, so now let's get to work. In this unit you will learn how to use regular verbs in the present tense. Do you remember from the introduction that there are three types of Spanish verbs, -ar, -er, and -ir?

Let's begin with verbs whose infinitive ends in -ar.

Normal -ar Conjugation

The most common verbs in Spanish are those that end in -ar, and many of them follow the normal rules for conjugation. We will begin now with the regular form, and postpone coverage of irregular verbs until a later unit.

Our first example is the verb hablar Play Audio , which means to speak. If you remove the -ar ending, you are left with the verb root "habl".

To form a regular conjugation of an -ar verb, start with the root and add the following endings based on the desired subject.

Conjugation of hablar

Subject
Ending
Verb Form
Subject
Ending
Verb Form
Yo
-o
Play Audio
hablo
Nosotros
-amos
Play Audio
hablamos
-as
Play Audio
hablas
Vosotros
-áis
Play Audio
habláis
Él/Ella
-a
Play Audio
habla
Ellos
-an
Play Audio
hablan

So the sentence Hablo español Play Audio means I speak Spanish, while Hablas español Play Audio means You speak Spanish.

As we noted in the introductory unit, the subject pronoun is implied. It is usually omitted from the sentence, although it sometimes appears for added emphasis. It can also be added in cases where it is not obvious what subject is intended, such as he or she (él / ella).

Conjugation Details

Take a close look at the normal forms above.

Note that the 1st person singular ends in -o. You will soon see that this is the case for all present tense regular verbs, not just the -ar variety.

Also notice that the other five forms each begin with the letter "a", left over from the verb's original -ar ending. This too is a common pattern that you will see again.

Learn, then practice!

If these verb forms are new to you, you will need to spend some time committing the endings to memory. Then you can take as much time as you need to practice them in the exercises. Before you begin, let's talk about one of the endings that you do not need to worry about for now.

About Vosotros

You may be aware that the vosotros Play Audio pronoun and the corresponding verb forms are used almost exclusively in Spain, and not in the many other Spanish-speaking countries of the world.

Vosotros is the informal plural version of "you", sort of like you all. Outside Spain, ustedes Play Audio , (the formal form for plural you) is used in both formal and informal conversations. The ustedes form uses the same conjugation as ellos Play Audio (they) in the table above.

Although VerbMaestro will show you how to form the vosotros conjugations, those forms will not appear in the exercises or quizzes, so for now you can ignore them.

Another example

Just to be sure you understand how the pattern works, let's look at one more verb: comprar Play Audio , which means to buy.

Conjugation of comprar

Subject
Ending
Verb Form
Subject
Ending
Verb Form
Yo
-o
Play Audio
compro
Nosotros
-amos
Play Audio
compramos
-as
Play Audio
compras
Vosotros
-áis
Play Audio
compráis
Él/Ella
-a
Play Audio
compra
Ellos
-an
Play Audio
compran

Additional Resources

In addition to the VerbMaestro lessons, we also provide recommendations of other learning resources on each topic. These carefully curated lists include free videos, free lessons on other websites, and recommended books.

Visiting them is of course optional, but if you find that you still need further help understanding a topic, this list at the bottom of each lesson will give you a push in the right direction.

Scroll down past the resource list to find buttons to access the practice exercises and the quiz for this lesson.


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Additional Study Resources

Videos:
The Spanish Dude's quick intro to -ar verb conjugation. (5:25)
Short video of examples of conjugation of regular -ar verbs. (3:53)
Dr Danny Evans covers regular conjugation of Spanish -ar verbs. (19:08)
Websites:
See the section titled "Verbs that End in -ar".
Brief explanation of -ar verb conjugation, with short quiz.
Short explanation of -ar verbs, and a quiz.
Books:
This definitive work on all the tenses will be a regular feature in our recommended readings. For this subject, see Chapter 1 "Conjugation of Regular Verbs", the section "Regular -ar Verbs". (4th edition, page 5)
Disclosure: As an Amazon associate, we earn a commission on purchases made via the links marked as affiliate links.