Transcript

The majority of verbs in Spanish end in - ar , for instance hablar – to speak

You have already come across a few like llamar – to call, mirar – to see/to look.

They are said to belong to the first conjugation.

There are also verbs that end in - er or - ir.

These belong to the second and third conjugations respectively.

This form of the verb, that ends in - ar, - er or - ir, is called the infinitive. The form you will find in dictionaries and which is preceded by ‘to’ in English, like ‘to speak’.

To conjugate a verb in Spanish, that is to form the right form, the adequate form in the sentence, you need to remove the - ar, - er or - ir ending from the infinitive.

What is left is called the stem, which does not change in the vast majority of Spanish verbs.

The stem serves as the base to which we add endings. There is a different ending for each person. These are the endings in the singular for all regular verbs ending in - ar.

Hablar is the infinitive – to speak.

Yo – hablo – I speak, or as an example: Hablo japonés – I speak Japanese.

Hablas – tú – the second person, you informal: Hablas gallego – you speak Galician

Usted habla galés – you (formal) speak Welsh

Juan habla griego – John speaks Greek . Habla – él or ella.

You will have noticed that the verb form for usted (you formal) takes the same ending as the third person, third person singular, él or ella – he or she. This happens with all verbs and in all tenses. So from now on you will find the usted form in the verb tables listed together with the third person – he or she.