-ar verbs

Noun – a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea. In order to read and write in Spanish, we need to be able to make sentences. Sentences in Spanish are made up of the same elements as in English: Noun – a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronoun – a word that takes the place of a noun. Verb – an action word. A sentence must have at least a noun (or pronoun) and a verb!* * In Spanish only a verb is needed!

Sentences can be written from 1 of 3 points of view: 1st person: Used to talk about yourself. 2nd person: Used to talk to someone else. 3rd person: Used to talk about someone else.

There are 10 subject pronouns in Spanish: singular plural nosotros/as = we yo = I vosotros/as = you tú = you (2 or more people, familiar - Spain only!) (1 person, familiar) usted (Ud.) = you ustedes (Uds.)= you (2 or more people, polite in Spain) (1 person, polite) ellos = they él = he (all males OR males and females) ella = she ellas = they (all females)

We do this a little bit in English: To put a verb in to a sentence in Spanish, you must conjugate (or change it) to go with the subject. We do this a little bit in English: I jump. You jump. But: She jumps.

To conjugate a regular –ar verb: You drop off the –ar at the end of the infinitive. ( the unconjugated form; also the form found in the dictionary) This gives you the stem. Then, you add the verb ending which matches the subject.

Verb endings: yo –o tú – as él –a ella – a usted – a nosotros – amos vosotros – áis ellos –an ellas – an Uds. – an

A conjugated verb chart looks like this: Hablar = to speak Yo hablo Nosotros/as hablamos Tu hablas Vosotros/as habláis Ud. El habla Ella Uds. Ellos hablan Ellas

Now, you are ready to start using sentences in Spanish!