Do you recall how to conjugate ‒ar verbs?
Think back to when you learned the verbs estudiar, cantar, and bailar. These verbs are all in their infinitive (unconjugated) form. You can tell because they all end in ‒ar. Without conjugating these verbs, you can only express "to study," "to sing," and "to dance."T o say "Lauren studies," "I sing," and "the girls dance," the verbs must be conjugated.
To conjugate an ‒ar verb, simply follow these steps:
- Drop the ‒ar from the infinitive to find the stem.
- estudiar (infinitive): estudi‒ (stem)
- cantar (infinitive): cant‒ (stem)
- bailar (infinitive): bail‒ (stem)
-
Add the appropriate ending to the stem based on the subject/subject pronoun.
Appropriate Endings yo ‒o ‒amos nosotros
nosotrastú ‒as ‒áis vosotros
vosotrasél
ella
Ud.‒a ‒an ellos
ellas
Uds.
Many Spanish verbs end in ‒ar. Do you remember how to conjugate a verb ending in ‒ar, such as bailar?
The first step is to remove the ‒ar before conjugating. Then add the verb endings for the different forms.
See if you can guess what the correct conjugation is for bailar ("to dance") in each case.
bailar
yo |
bailo |
Tú |
bailas |
él/ella/usted |
baila |
nosotros/nosotras |
bailamos |
ellos/ellas/ustedes |
bailan |
Nice work! Let’s try another one--the verb escuchar, "to listen." See if you can say the correct conjugation of the present tense verb before I do.
escuchar
yo |
escucho |
Tú |
escuchas |
él/ella/usted |
escucha |
nosotros/nosotras |
escuchamos |
ellos/ellas/ustedes |
escuchan |
Great job! Let’s do one more. Can you remember how to conjugate the Spanish verb trabajar? Trabajar means "to work."
trabajar
yo |
trabajo |
Tú |
trabajas |
él/ella/usted |
trabaja |
nosotros/nosotras |
trabajamos |
ellos/ellas/ustedes |
trabajan |
All right! Keep practicing conjugation for verbs ending in ‒ar.
Question
If a question is asked in the Uds. form, how do you answer?
In the nosotros form
Question
¿Cómo se dice "to explain" en español?
You use explicar, which is another useful verb for talking about class activities.