-ar Verbs in the present I
Review
Before moving on, make sure you are familiar with subject pronouns, infinitives, and what it means to conjugate a verb. Having a firm grasp on all of that content will make it much easier for you to understand this section.
Conjugating regular -ar verbs
There are three types of verbs in Spanish; -ar, -er, and -ir verbs all have their own conjugation endings. Let's start with -ar verbs. There are four steps to conjugating any verb:
Now let's take a look at the conjugation endings that you will attach to the stem of a verb to conjugate it.
Examples
More Examples
yo (bailar) [bailar = "to dance"]
Subject and subject pronoun: yo
Verb and stem: bailar → bail-
Conjugation ending that matches subject: -o
Final sentence: yo bailo
ellos (cantar) [cantar = "to sing"]
Subject and subject pronoun: ellos
Verb and stem: cantar → cant-
Conjugation ending that matches subject: -an
Final sentence: ellos cantan
Juan (caminar) [caminar = "to walk"]
Subject and subject pronoun: Juan → él
Verb and stem: caminar → camin-
Conjugation ending that matches subject: -a
Final sentence: Juan camina
Marta y Elena (gritar) [gritar = "to shout"]
Subject and subject pronoun: Marta y Elena → ellas
Verb and stem: gritar → grit-
Conjugation ending that matches subject: -an
Final sentence: Marta y Elena gritan
nosotros (llegar) [llegar = "to arrive"]
Subject and subject pronoun: nosotros
Verb and stem: llegar → lleg-
Conjugation ending that matches subject: -amos
Final sentence: nosotros llegamos
tú (estudiar) [estudiar = "to study"]
Subject and subject pronoun: tú
Verb and stem: estudiar → estudi-
Conjugation ending that matches subject: -as
Final sentence: tú estudias
Practice
Next topics:
Conjugation:
1. Identify subject.
2. Drop infinitive ending.
3. Choose conjugation based on subject.
4. Add ending to verb stem.
yo: -o
tú: -as
él/ella/Ud: -a
nosotros/nosotras: -amos
ellos/ellas/Uds.: -an
Quick reference:
1.Identify the subject. If necessary, choose the subject pronoun that would replace it (if the subject is Marta, the pronoun you want is ella).
2. Identify the verb and drop the infinitive ending (get rid of the -ar on the end). This leaves you with the stem.
3. Choose the right conjugation ending, based on the subject pronoun from step 1.
4. Add the ending onto the verb. Voila! (Sorry. That's French. You get the point. Once you've added the ending, your conjugation is complete.)
 Example 1 |  Example 2 |
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 Example 3 |  Example 4 |
 Example 5 |