AR Verbs

Conjugating Regular Verbs

Group 1

Infinitives

• Infinitives are the words ‘to + a verb’, such as :

» To run, to play, to read, to study

• In Spanish, infinitives end in the letters AR, ER or IR.– Hablar to speak– Comer to eat– Escribir to write

What is Conjugation?

• In English or Spanish, Conjugation is the act of changing the verb from the infinitive, to having a subject perform the action:– Examples:

• To speak He speaks– Hablar Él habla.

Spanish Conjugation Step 1

• The first step in conjugating in Spanish is to find the Stem of the verb.

• In order to find the Stem, first remove the AR from the end of the infinitive:

– Hablar – Ar = Habl

Spanish Conjugation Step 2

• The second step is to bring the stem down to each pronoun:

• Yo habl• Tú habl• Él, Ella, Ud. habl• Nosotros/as habl• Vosotros/as habl• Ellos, Ellas, Uds. habl

Spanish Conjugation Step 3

• The third step is to add the correct endings to the Stem for each form:

• Yo hablo• Tú hablas• Él, Ella, Ud. habla• Nosotros hablamos• Vostoros habláis• Ellos, Ellas, Uds. hablan

Important points to remember

• In English we tend to say that some “is doing” an action. In Spanish there is no reason to translate the words for “doing”, they are implied.

• For example:•Ella habla

– She speaks; She is speaking

Important Points to remember (continued)

• It is important to pay attention to the number of subjects that you have, in order to choose the right ending:– For example:

• Miguel y Enrique hablan español.– Michael and Henry speak Spanish.

Important points to remember (continued)

• Whenever “Yo” is used with another subject in a sentence, the verb form used must always be the “nosotros” form:– Example:

• Teresa y yo visitamos la playa.– Teresa and I visit the beach.

Important points to remember (continued)

• When “Tú” is used with another subject in the sentence, the “Vosotros” ending must be used on the verb.– Example:

• Tú y los niños estudiás.– You and the boys study.

Using AR Verbs Negatively

• When we want to express that one is not performing an action, the word no is place between the subject and the verb:– Examples:

• Nosotros no hablamos frances.• We do not speak French.• La chica no trabaja en la tienda.• The girl does not work in the store.