5 AR ending verbs part 2
-AR ending verbs: a pattern
The conjugation pattern that we saw for the verb “tomar = to take” can be applied to all regular -ar ending verbs. The idea of “taking off the verb ending” and then adding other endings to give the verb a subject (yo, tú, ella, etc.) is fundamental to Spanish. The column in the table below “regular -ar verb endings” is what you need to make sentences with -ar ending verbs:
Regular -ar ending verbs
| Subject pronouns | Regular -ar verb endings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | yo | -o | I ___ | |
| tú | -as | you ___ | familiar | |
| él | -a | he ___s | ||
| ella | -a | she ___s | ||
| Ud. | -a | you ___ | formal | |
| Plural | nosotros | -amos | we ___ | |
| vosotros | -áis | you ___ | fam. (Spain) | |
| ellos | -an | they ___ | masculine | |
| ellas | -an | they ___ | feminine | |
| Uds. | -an | you ___ |
As we saw before, taking off the -ar ending of tomar and adding the “yo” form ending -o, gives us “I take”: tomo. We can do the same for all regular –ar ending verbs and we’ll have “I ___”:
-Ar verbs: yo form examples
| Infinitive | Infinitive | yo form: o | Possible translations to English |
|---|---|---|---|
| tomar | to take | tomo | I take, I’m taking, do I take |
| hablar | to speak | hablo | I speak, I’m speaking, do I speak |
| trabajar | to work | trabajo | I work, I’m working, do I work |
Taking off the -ar and adding -as gives us the tú form, or “you” (familiar):
-Ar verbs: tú form examples
| Infinitive | Infinitive | tú form: -as | Possible translations to English |
|---|---|---|---|
| tomar | to take | tomas | you take, you’re taking, do you take |
| hablar | to speak | hablas | you speak, you’re speaking, do you speak |
| trabajar | to work | trabajas | you work, you’re working, do you work |
The idea is the same for all subjects: take off the -ar and add the appropriate ending that matches the subject:
| Ella habla español muy bien. | She speaks Spanish very well. |
| Uds. trabajan mañana. | You guys are working tomorrow. |
| Nosotros hablamos inglés. | We speak English. |
| ¿Él toma clases los sábados? | Does he take classes on Saturdays? |
| Ellos no hablan de ella. | They don’t talk about her. |
| Vosotras trabajáis mucho. | You (pl./f. Spain) work a lot. |
| ¿Toma Ud. un taxi? | Are you (formal) taking a taxi? |
Note (ojo): in the examples above, I put the subject pronouns (ella, Uds., etc.) in italics as a reminder that it is not necessary to use them if it is clear who we are speaking about from the context. When the context is clear you can omit the subject pronouns and the meaning doesn’t change:
| Habla español muy bien. | She speaks Spanish very well. |
Context: you asked me about María’s Spanish and the above was my answer.
| Trabajan mañana. | You guys are working tomorrow. |
Context: someone in your group asked me when you all are working and the above was my response.
Common -ar ending verbs
| Infinitivo | Infinitive | Infinitivo | Infinitive |
|---|---|---|