Spanish Spanish Present Tense AR Verb Conjugation

In this section you will learn present tense Spanish "ar" verb conjugation. When trying to learn a language, it is very important to conjugate verbs properly in order to be come fluent in that foreign language. Don't forget to use our free Spanish Learning Lounge!

Spanish mini-course

We’ll start with “ar”-ending verbs and use the verb “tomar” as an example. To conjugate “tomar”, you change the “ar” ending for the person you’re talking about.

I take would be – Yo tomo we take would be - nosotros tomamos
(María) you take would be - Tú tomas Remember when you’re on a first-name basis with someone, you use “tú” instead of “usted”. Also, when you use “tú”, you always add what I like to call, the “friendly s”. Once more “tú tomas” you (plural) or all of you take = vosotros tomáis

(remember, this is only used in Spain)
he takes would be – Él toma
Ella toma
usted toma
(talking about a mixed group of males and females) they take - ellos toman
ellas toman
Uds toman
she takes would be – (talking about a group of females) they take –
Dr. Garcia, you take would be – you (plural) or all of you take =

When you conjugate in the present tense and say “Yo tomo” in Spanish, it means “I take, I do take, or I am taking”. However, to simplify it for you, we’ll just say “I take”.

Now, if you look at the conjugation chart, you’ll notice that there’s a pattern. These are the verb endings for ar verbs.

Let’s take a look and see how this works for the verb “estudiar” which means “to study”.

I study would be – Yo estudio we study would be - nosotros estudiamos
(Juan) you study would be - Tú estudias

Remember when you’re on a first-name basis with Juan, you add the friendly “s”
you (plural) or all of you study = vosotros estudiáis

(remember, this is only used in Spain)
he studies would be Él estudia
Ella estudia
Ud. estudia
(talking about group of males) they study - ellos estudian
ellas estudian
Uds. estudian
she studies would be (talking about a group of females) they study
Dr. Garcia, you study would be – you (plural) or all of you study =

AR Spanish Practice

Now we’ll practice the conjugations you’ve learned person by person. If you are already familiar with this you may move on to the next topic. I suggest you read the verb conjugations aloud.

I answer Yo contesto
I arrive    Yo llego
I ask         You pregunto
I buy                 Yo compro
I dance              Yo bailo
I listen               Yo escucho
I invite              Yo invito
I watch             Yo miro
I need               Yo necesito
I practice           Yo practico

Now we’ll work on “tú” which is the “informal” way of saying “you”. Just remember, if you are on a first-name basis with someone like José or María, you would call them “tú” and add the “friendly s” at the end of the verb. Let’s try a few.

Juan, you answer Tú contestas
María, you arrive Tú llegas
Juan, you ask Tú preguntas
María, you buy Tú compras
Juan, you dance Tú bailas
María, you listen Tú escuchas
Juan, you invite Tú invitas
María, you watch Tú miras
Juan, you need Tú necesitas
María, you practice Tú practicas

Now let’s move to “he”. Remember that “he, she, and you formal” all end in an “a” for “ar” verbs. Are you ready to practice a few?

he rests Él descansa
he sings Él canta
he talks Él habla
he studies Él estudia
he cooks Él cocina
he takes Él toma
he visits Él  visita
he walks Él camina
he works Él trabaja
he travels Él viaja

Next we’ll practice with “she”. She is conjugated just like “he” with an “a” on the end.

She answers Ella contesta
She arrives Ella llega
She asks Ella pregunta
She buys Ella compra
She dances Ella baila
She listens Ella escucha
She invites Ella invita
She watchs Ella mira
She needs Ella necesita
She practices Ella practica

Continuing, we’ll practice “You” formal which is “usted”. Remember that you use “usted” if you would use a title when speaking with someone. For example, “Dr. Garcia” or “Mrs. Fernandez”.  Also, the word “usted” in Spanish is often abbreviated to “Ud.”. Let’s try a few.

 (Mrs. Garcia) You  rest Usted descansa
(Dr. Méndez) You sing Usted canta
(Mrs. Garcia) You  talk Usted habla
(Dr. Méndez) You study Usted estudia
(Mrs. Garcia) You  cook Usted cocina
(Dr. Méndez) You take Usted toma
(Mrs. Garcia) You  visit Usted  visita
(Dr. Méndez) You walk Usted camina
(Mrs. Garcia) You  work Usted trabaja
(Dr. Méndez) You travel Usted viaja

Now, we’ll move on to “we” Remember, in Spanish the “we” conjugation ends with “amos” for “ar” verbs.

We answer Nosotros contestamos
We arrive Nosotros llegamos
We ask Nosotros preguntamos
We buy Nosotros compramos
We dance Nosotros bailamos
We listen Nosotros escuchamos
We invite Nosotros invitamos
We watch Nosotros miramos
We need Nosotros necesitamos
We practice Nosotros practicamos

Next, we’ll practice “they” if we’re talking about a group of males or mixed males and females. Remember, the “ar” verb ending for “ellos” is “an”.

They (males and females) rest Ellos descansan
They (males and females) sing Ellos cantan
They (males and females) talk Ellos hablan
They (males and females) study Ellos estudian
They (males and females) cook Ellos cocinan
They (males and females) take Ellos toman
They (males and females) visit Ellos  visitan
They (males and females) walk Ellos caminan
They (males and females) work Ellos trabajan
They (males and females) travel Ellos viajan

Continuing, we’ll practice “they” if we’re talking about a group of females only. Remember, the “ar” verb ending for “ellas” is “an”.

They (males and females) answer Ellas contestan
They (males and females) arrive Ellas llegan
They (males and females) ask Ellas preguntan
They (males and females) buy Ellas compran
They (males and females) dance Ellas bailan
They (males and females) listen Ellas escuchan
They (males and females) invite Ellas invitan
They (males and females) watch Ellas miran
They (males and females) need Ellas necesitan
They (males and females) practice Ellas practican

Finally, we’ll practice the conjugation for “All of You” or “ustedes”. Remember, that the “ar” verb ending changes to an “an”. The word “ustedes” in Spanish is abbreviated to “U-d-s- period”.

All of you rest Uds. descansan
All of you sing Uds. cantan
All of you talk Uds. hablan
All of you study Uds. estudian
All of you cook Uds. cocinan
All of you take Uds. toman
All of you visit Uds. visitan
All of you walk Uds. caminan
All of you work Uds. trabajan
All of you travel Uds. viajan

Let’s go over the “ar” endings one last time to help you remember them.

Yo o nosotros amos
as vosotros (used only in Spain) áis
Él a ellos an
Ella ellas
usted ustedes (uds.)

Here are the endings: o, as, a, amos, an   Look at them one more time and repeat aloud: o, as, a amos, an. Notice that we didn’t go over the “vosotros form” used in Spain. Basically, we wanted to show it for those of you going to Spain – so you’ll have an idea of how it works. But since all of the other endings are common wherever you go in Latin America, including Spain we’ll practice them the most in this course.

Now that you’ve learned the “Present Tense” conjugations for “ar” verbs, you can either review what we’ve gone over, or continue on to the ER/IR Verbs.