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2A Grammar: Conjugating Regular Present Tense –AR, -ER & -IR Verbs and Regular
Comparatives
Conjugating Regular Present Tense -AR Verbs:
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The first type of verbs that you will learn how to conjugate is regular present indicative tense -AR
ending verbs.
Conjugating a verb means changing the verb ending so that we know who is doing the action. For
example in English we say: "I speak" and "she speaks." Note how the verb changes when the
person doing the action changed from "I" to "she."
Remember that verbs that have not been conjugated are called “infinitives.” This means that it is a
potential action – we don’t know who is doing the action. Conjugation lets us know who is!
Infinitives are easy to spot in Spanish because they end in -AR, -ER or –IR. In English we add a “to”
in front of the verb. For example, hablar = to speak.
Regular, present tense verbs are the easiest to conjugate because all you have to do is drop and
then change the infinitive ending (the –AR, -ER or -IR) to show who is doing the action.
The verb endings below match the subject pronoun chart with ONE MAJOR EXCEPTION:
Since tú and usted both mean "you," it would be impossible to tell the difference between someone
formal and informal if they were sharing the same chant/verb ending and we were talking directly
to them. What we have to do in order to show a difference in formality is that we bring down the
usted and the ustedes form from 2nd person to 3rd person.
*The vosotros form is highlighted because even though you will learn that ending and be aware of
it, we do not typically use it in this part of the world.
Present Tense Verb Endings for Regular -AR Verbs (Chant): - o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, an
Singular:
Plural:
-o
- amos
-as
- áis*
-a
- an
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We are now going to conjugate the verb hablar - to speak. Note how usted and ustedes is
now positioned in 3rd person because they are sharing that verb/chant ending with the
other 3rd person subject pronouns.
Hablar is an "-AR" infinitive. Drop the infinitive ending (the -AR) and plug in the
verb/chant endings in its place.
The stem of the verb stays the same (habl-), only the verb ending changes.
Just by looking at the way the verb ends, we now know who is doing the action.
Singular:
Yo hablo - I speak
Tú hablas - You (informal) speak
Él/Ella/Usted habla - He/She and You
(formal) speaks
Plural:
Nosotros/as hablamos - We speak
Vosotros/as habláis – You all (informal in
Spain) speak*
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes hablan - They/You all
formal speak
Conjugating Regular Present Tense -ER & -IR Verbs:
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Now that you've learned how to conjugate -AR verbs, conjugating -ER & -IR verbs will be
a piece of cake!
Drop the infinitive ending (the -ER or -IR) and plug in the verb/chant endings in its place.
The stem of the verb stays the same, only the verb ending changes.
Just by looking at the way the verb ends, we now know who is doing the action.
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Here are the major differences between the three chants:
The -ER chant is just like the -AR chant except that it's all e's instead of a's.
The -ER chant is exactly like the -IR chant except for the nosotros/nosotras 1st person plural form.
-ER infinitives will use -emos whereas -IR infinitives will use -imos.
Present Tense Verb Endings for Regular -ER Verbs (Chant): - o, -es, -e, -emos, éis, -en
Singular:
-o
- es
-e
Plural:
- emos
- éis*
- en
Present Indicative Tense Verb Endings for Regular -IR Verbs (Chant): - o, -es, -e, imos, -ís, en
Singular:
-o
- es
-e
Plural:
- imos
- ís*
- en
Regular Comparatives:
There are 3 ways we can compare things…
1. más + adjective, noun or adverb + que = more + adjective + than
2. menos + adjective, noun or adverb + que = less + adjective + than
3. tan + adjective, noun or adverb + como = as + adjective + as
In English, if something is more or less we add –er to the adjective (bigger, smaller, etc.). In
Spanish, we don’t have many one word –er words. We literally have to say that something is
“more big” or “more small.”
At this level, you will be using adjectives when using the regular comparatives.