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Lesson 6: Present Tense Verbs – Regular AR Verb Conjugation

🎯 Goal

Master present tense conjugation for regular –AR verbs like hablar, estudiar, and trabajar.

🧠 Why You Need This

Verbs are how you express action. With AR verbs alone, you can already start describing what you do, what others do, and talk about daily life.

🚀 Why This Matters:

If you want to say more than just “Hola” or “¿Cómo estás?”, you need verbs — and not just the dictionary form. You need to know how to change them based on who’s doing the action.

This is called conjugation. In this lesson, we’ll start with regular verbs ending in –AR (like hablar, estudiar, trabajar) in the present tense — the most commonly used form in everyday Spanish.

🔧 1. What is Conjugation?

Conjugation means changing a verb so it matches the subject (who is doing the action).

In English:

  • I speak

  • She speaks

  • They speak

In Spanish, we do the same — but by changing the verb ending, not just the subject word.

🧱 2. The Regular –AR Verb Pattern (Present Tense)

All regular –AR verbs follow this pattern.

Take the verb hablar (to speak):

  1. Remove the –AR ending → habl

  2. Add the right ending depending on the subject:

Subject Pronoun Ending Example Translation
yo –o hablo I speak
tú –as hablas you speak
él/ella/usted –a habla he/she/you (formal) speak
nosotros/as –amos hablamos we speak
vosotros/as –áis habláis you all (Spain) speak
ellos/ellas/ustedes –an hablan they/you all speak

🧠 Use tú for informal “you” and usted for formal “you”
🧠 Use vosotros/as only in Spain — skip it for now if you're focusing on Latin America

📝 3. Step-by-Step Conjugation Example: Estudiar (to study)

  1. Remove –ar → estudi

  2. Add endings:

  • yo estudio

  • tú estudias

  • él/ella/usted estudia

  • nosotros estudiamos

  • ellos/ellas/ustedes estudian

🧠 Subject pronouns can be dropped:
Estudio español = I study Spanish
Estudiamos juntos = We study together

🧠 4. Most Common Regular –AR Verbs to Start With:

Spanish English
hablar to speak
estudiar to study
trabajar to work
bailar to dance
caminar to walk
escuchar to listen
enseñar to teach
mirar to look at / watch
comprar to buy
cocinar to cook

⚠️ 5. Things Beginners Often Get Wrong:

  • ❌ Saying yo habla instead of yo hablo

  • ❌ Forgetting to remove “–ar”

  • ❌ Adding the wrong endings (like hablas for “we speak” → should be hablamos)

Remember: the verb must always match the subject!

🗣️ 6. Practice Time

✏️ Part A: Conjugate the following –AR verbs for yo (I):

  1. bailar → __________

  2. trabajar → __________

  3. estudiar → __________

  4. cocinar → __________

  5. caminar → __________

✏️ Part B: Fill in the blank with the correct verb form:

  1. Nosotros __________ español. (hablar)

  2. Ella __________ mucho. (trabajar)

  3. Tú __________ en casa. (estudiar)

  4. Yo __________ pizza. (cocinar)

  5. Ellos __________ música. (escuchar)

🧠 Bonus: Translate these into Spanish:

  1. I speak Spanish.

  2. She works on weekends.

  3. We dance a lot.

  4. They study every day.

  5. You cook very well. (informal)

📌 Final Tips:

  • Practice with just 1–2 verbs per day

  • Write your own sentences daily using –AR verbs

  • Pay attention to verb endings when listening to native speakers

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