1. Hoy vamos a estudiar Estructura 2.1:
The present tense of regular –ar verbs

2. Verbs express actions, events or states:
I work everyday.
The class is in Building P.
I am tired.

3. In English and Spanish, the infinitive is the base form of the verb.
It is also the form you find listed in dictionaries.

4. In English, the infinitive is usually preceded by to:
to study

5. In Spanish, the infinitive is a one-word form that ends in one of these endings:
-ar / -er / -ir
estudiar
comer
escribir

6. When we talk, however, we normally don’t just use the infinitive:
* I to work a lot yesterday.
* She to study Spanish.

7. Rather, we conjugate these verbs:
I worked a lot yesterday.
She studies Spanish.

8. In Spanish we do this (conjugating a verb) by providing an ending that expresses:
subject (I, you ...)
tense (present, future …)

9. Estudio español.
Subject: yo
Tense: present

10. To conjugate a verb in the present indicative tense follow these 3 steps:

11. 2. Drop the –ar (infinitive) ending to get the stem: estudi-
Take the infinitive form of the verb:
estudiar
2. Drop the –ar (infinitive) ending to get the stem:
estudi-
3. Add present endings to the stem for the desired form

12. Present endings for –ar verbs
yo o
tú as
usted/él/ella -a
nosotros/-as -amos
vosotros/-as -áis
ustedes/ellos/ellas -an

13. -Yo estudio español. Y tú, ¿estudias español?
-No, no estudio español. Estudio inglés y biología.
(Subject pronouns in Spanish are normally used only for emphasis, clarification or contrast)

14. Now, go to page 41 of Panorama and read “Compare and contrast.”

15. Necesito estudiar para el examen de biología.
2 verbs together with no change of subject  2nd verb normally in the infinitive
V1 + V2  V2 inf.