Present tense of regular –ar verbs

In EnglishIn English, most verbs have only two forms in the present tense so subject pronouns can’t be left out.

I sing We singYou sing you singHe sings They sing

IN SPANISHThe verb endings tells you who the subject is.

CANTOCANTASCANTA

Habl -arCom -erEscrib -ir

Every verb has a stem followed by an ending. The stem tells the verbs meaning. An infinitive ending doesn’t name a subject or a tense

Verb stemsInfinitive endings

Conjugations To give the verb a subject, you conjugate it. To conjugate

a regular –ar verb in the present tense, drop the –ar ending of the infinitive and add these endings. Each ending goes with a particular subject pronoun.

¿Cantan ustedes mucho? No, casi nunca cantamos.

Do you sing a lot? No, we hardly ever sing.

Yo canto Nosotros (as) cantamos

Tu cantas Vosotros (as) cantais

El, ella, usted canta Ellos, Ellas, Uds. cantan

Since most of the time the ending of the verb tells the subject, the subject pronoun is normally left out. Use the subject pronouns to add emphasis, or when it wouldn’t otherwise be clear who the subject is.

¿Patinan ustedes mucho? Ellos patinan. Yo nunca patino. Do you skate a lot? They skate. I never skate.

Your turn

Conjugate the following verbs for the subject pronouns given.

1. Yo (cantar)2. Ustedes (bailar)3. Nosotras (patinar)4. Mario y Mario (hablar)5. Juan (descansar)6. Tu (estudiar)7. El y Ella (trabajar)8. Usted y yo (practicar deportes)