How to Conjugate…

SPANISH VERBS

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

MemorizationMemorization is the key to conjugating regular verbs in

Spanish

P u z z l e d

o= BaseInfinitive -AR Habl

verbs in Spanish

Conjugating regular

is a pattern.

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.

We’re not finished yet.

Not any more!

We still have two more verbs: –ER and –IR.

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.

Time is up, so now we’re done.

Let’s go have some fun!