1. Present tense of regular –ar verbs

2. In English In English, most verbs have only two forms in the present tense so subject pronouns can’t be left out. I singWe sing You singyou sing He singsThey sing IN SPANISH The verb endings tells you who the subject is. CANTO CANTAS CANTA

3. Habl-ar Com-er Escrib -ir Every verb has a stem followed by an ending. The stem tells the verbs meaning. An infinitive ending doesn’t name a subject or a tense Verb stems Infinitive endings

4. Conjugations To give the verb a subject, you conjugate it. To conjugate a regular –ar verb in the present tense, drop the –ar ending of the infinitive and add these endings. Each ending goes with a particular subject pronoun. ¿Cantan ustedes mucho? No, casi nunca cantamos. Do you sing a lot? No, we hardly ever sing. Yo cantoNosotros (as) cantamos Tu cantasVosotros (as) cantais El, ella, usted cantaEllos, Ellas, Uds. cantan

5. Since most of the time the ending of the verb tells the subject, the subject pronoun is normally left out. Use the subject pronouns to add emphasis, or when it wouldn’t otherwise be clear who the subject is. ¿Patinan ustedes mucho? Ellos patinan. Yo nunca patino. Do you skate a lot? They skate. I never skate.

6. Your turn Conjugate the following verbs for the subject pronouns given. 1. Yo (cantar) 2. Ustedes (bailar) 3. Nosotras (patinar) 4. Mario y Mario (hablar) 5. Juan (descansar) 6. Tu (estudiar) 7. El y Ella (trabajar) 8. Usted y yo (practicar deportes)