Present Tense of Regular –AR Verbs

An infinitive tells the meaning of a verb without naming any subject or tense.

There are three kinds of infinitives, ◦Those that end in AR◦Those that end in IR◦Those that end in ER

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/She sings They sing

IN SPANISHThe verb endings tells you who the subject is.

CANTO CANTAMOSCANTAS CANTAISCANTA CANTAN

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

To form the stem of any ar, er or ir verb, all you have to do is drop the last two letters (the ar, er or ir).

Hablar – hablComer – comEscribir - escrib

What is the stem of trabajar?

A. trabB. trabajC. ar

[Default][MC Any][MC All]

What is the ending of nadar?

A. nadB. darC. ar

What does the stem of the verb tell?

A. The subjectB. The tenseC. The meaning of the verb

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.

(YO) o (NOSOTROS/AS) amos

(TU) as (VOSOTROS/AS) áis

(EL/ELLA/USTED) a (ELLOS/ELLAS/USTEDES) an

Conjugations

¿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) cantáis

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

To conjugate the verb cantar, the first thing you do is drop the ar, then you add the following endings for each subject.

Who is the subject of nadamos?

A. YoB. NosotrosC. Ellos

Who is the subject of trabajo?

A. TúB. UstedC. Yo

Who is the subject of cantan?

A. UstedesB. UstedC. Vosotros

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.

What subjects have the same meaning and therefore need to have subject pronouns included to clarify?

A. Yo and TúB. Usted, Él, and EllaC. Ustedes and Ellos(as)D. Nostros and VosotrosE. B and C

[Default][MC Any][MC All]

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)