First, let’s review the subject pronouns.
• yo I• tú you
• usted you• él he• ella she
Singular PluralPerson
1st
2nd
3rd
• nosotros m.
we• nosotras f.• vosotros m.
you• vosotras f.• ustedes you• ellos m. they• ellas f.
1. Grammar. To inflect a verb in its forms for distinctions such as number, person, voice, mood, and tense.
Examples of a conjugation…
–I run.
–You have.
–She walks.
–We are.
–You see.
–They speak.
• not having inflections to indicate tense n : the uninflected (or unconjugated) form of the verb
• the “to” form of a verb: to run, to walk, to have
There are three types of verbs in Spanish.
• -AR verbs are verbs that end in –ar. Hablar, mirar.
• -ER verbs end in –er. Comer, beber.
• -IR verbs end in –ir. Vivir, ofrir.
Types of verbs
-AR -ER
-IR
* Verbs ending in –ar, -er, and –ir in Spanish are known as infinitives.
Let’s get started…Conjugating regular –AR verbs.
• To conjugate a regular –AR verb, one must first remove the –AR ending from the infinitive. This will leave you with the base.
hablar – ar = habl
Use the infinitive, hablar
habl is your base
Add the regular –AR verb endings
to your base• o• as• a
• amos• áis• an
hablar – ar = habl
infinitive – ending = base
habl
habl
habl
habl
habl
habl
o
as
a
amos
áis
an
Singular PluralPerson
1st
2nd
3rd
These endings correspond with the following subject pronouns.
• yo = • amos
• a • an
• o• as• tú =
• Ud.• él =• ella
• nosotros/as =
• vosotros/as =
• Uds.• ellos =• ellas
• áis
Once you have learned to conjugate one regular –AR verb…
…you can conjugate all regular –AR verbs.
nadar – ar = nad
infinitive – ending = base
nad
nad
nad
nad
nad
nad
o
as
a
amos
áis
an
caminar – ar = camin
infinitive – ending = base
camin
camin
camin
camin
camin
camin
o
as
a
amos
áis
an
add your subject pronouns
cocinar – ar = cocincoci
n
cocin
cocin
cocin
cocin
cocin
o
as
a
amos
áis
an
yo
tú
Ud. él ella
nosotros/as
vosotros/as
Uds. ellos ellas
Conjugating Spanish –AR verbs is like
learning your 123’s and your ABC’s.
Once you know the pattern, you can conjugate every regular –AR verb. Also, you can tell if it is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person singular or plural.
infinitive – ending = base
As with regular –AR verbs,
regu
lar
Spa
nish
–E
R
and –IR verbs
have
a p
atte
rn.
Don’t sweat it though!
The pattern is:
hablhablarar
infinitive
infinitive
- en
din
g-
end
ing
= base= base
comcomerer
infinitive
infinitive
- en
din
g-
end
ing
= base= base
vivvivirir
infinitive
infinitive
- en
din
g-
end
ing
= base= base
infinitive – ending = base
infinitive – ending = base
hablar – ar = hablcomer – er = comvivir – ir = viv
Now you know the pattern!
Now all you need are the endings…
Once you know how to conjugate the regular –AR verb, conjugating –ER and –IR
verbs are simple.
-ER verbs are like –AR verbs. The only difference is the “A” and the “E”.
-IR verbs are sister verbs to the –ER verbs. They share four of the same endings.
Here are the regular verb endings…
Person
-AR -ER -IRSingular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st -o -amos -o -emos -o -imos
2nd -as -áis -es -éis -es -ís
3rd -a -an -e -en -e -en
Get your pencil ready!
comer – er = comcom
com
com
com
com
com
o
es
e
emos
éis
en
yo
tú
Ud. él ella
nosotros/as
vosotros/as
Uds. ellos ellas
vivir – ir = vivviv
viv
viv
viv
viv
viv
o
es
e
imos
ís
en
yo
tú
Ud. él ella
nosotros/as
vosotros/as
Uds. ellos ellas
Now ready for the next step
Don’t get tired yet,
Now wipe away all those tears,
there is nothing more to fear.
You have now learned how to
conjugate regular Spanish verbs.