Mastering AR Ending Verbs in Spanish: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

In Spanish, verbs that end in ‘AR’ are crucial if you want to speak the language well. They make up a big part of the Spanish vocabulary and are key to learning how to conjugate verbs in different situations, like past, present, or future. These verbs change form depending on the context, such as when giving an order, asking a question, or expressing a possibility.

Understanding how to use ‘AR’ ending verbs can really improve your Spanish. They get tricky when you add negatives or questions. Let’s dive into that and see how it works.

Spanish Verbs

Spanish verbs typically end in -ar, -er, or -ir. These endings shape how the verb changes to fit different situations, which is key to getting Spanish right.

Knowing how these patterns work helps you communicate clearly and understand the language better, whether you’re chatting casually or speaking more formally.

Indicative mood

The indicative mood in Spanish helps you talk about facts and certainties. It includes several tenses for verbs ending in -AR, like talking in the present, past, and future. These tenses help you describe actions at different times, making your conversations in Spanish clearer and more effective.

Now, mastering these conjugations really boosts your ability to communicate well. You can share past stories, explain current situations, or discuss future plans—all in Spanish. It’s a great skill to have, right?

Present AR verb conjugation

To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the present tense, you start by taking off the -ar ending. Then, you add different endings based on who’s doing the action. Let’s take the verb ‘hablar’ as an example:

• For ‘I speak,’ it’s ‘hablo.’
• For ‘you speak,’ it’s ‘hablas.’
• For ‘he or she speaks,’ it’s ‘habla.’
• For ‘we speak,’ it’s ‘hablamos.’
• For ‘you all speak,’ it’s ‘habláis.’
• For ‘they speak,’ it’s ‘hablan.’

Subject	Verb (Hablar)	Sentence
Yo	hablo	Yo hablo con mi madre todos los días.
Tú	hablas	Tú hablas demasiado rápido.
Él/Ella/Usted	habla	Ella habla tres idiomas.
Nosotros	hablamos	Nosotros hablamos sobre el proyecto.
Vosotros	habláis	Vosotros habláis en la reunión.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	hablan	Ellos hablan sobre su viaje.

Imperfect AR verb conjugation

To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect indicative mood, start by dropping the -ar ending. Then, add the right endings depending on who is doing the action. Here are the endings: use -aba for ‘I,’ -abas for ‘you’ (informal), -aba for ‘he,’ ‘she,’ or ‘you’ (formal), -ábamos for ‘we,’ -abais for ‘you all’ (informal), and -aban for ‘they’ or ‘you all’ (formal). This tense is used to talk about actions that were ongoing or usual in the past.

Subject	Verb (Bailar)	Sentence
Yo	bailaba	Yo bailaba en la fiesta.
Tú	bailabas	Tú bailabas salsa muy bien.
Él/Ella/Usted	bailaba	Ella bailaba en la escuela de danza.
Nosotros	bailábamos	Nosotros bailábamos todas las noches.
Vosotros	bailabais	Vosotros bailabais en el teatro.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	bailaban	Ellos bailaban en la competencia.

Preterite AR verb conjugation

Conjugating -ar verbs in the past tense is straightforward. It’s all about changing the verb endings to show that something was completed in the past.

Here’s how it works: for ‘I’ (yo), you add ‘-é’. For ‘you’ (tú), it’s ‘-aste’. The ‘he/she/you formal’ (él/ella/usted) form ends in ‘-ó’, and ‘we’ (nosotros) use ‘-amos’. If you’re talking about ‘you all’ in Spain (vosotros), you’ll use ‘-asteis’, and for ‘they’ or ‘you all formal’ (ellos/ellas/ustedes), it ends in ‘-aron’.

This makes it easy to tell it’s past tense, different from other tenses.

Subject	Verb (Cantar)	Sentence
Yo	canté	Yo canté en el concierto.
Tú	cantaste	Tú cantaste una canción hermosa.
Él/Ella/Usted	cantó	Ella cantó muy bien en la boda.
Nosotros	cantamos	Nosotros cantamos en el coro.
Vosotros	cantasteis	Vosotros cantasteis juntos en el evento.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	cantaron	Ellos cantaron en la fiesta.

Future AR verb conjugation

After we looked at how -ar verbs change in the preterite tense for past actions, let’s now check out their future tense forms in the indicative mood.

To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the future tense, you just add the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, and -án right to the infinitive form. For instance, ‘hablar’ turns into ‘hablaré,’ ‘hablarás,’ ‘hablará,’ ‘hablaremos,’ ‘hablaréis,’ and ‘hablarán.’

Simple, right?

Subject	Verb (Viajar)	Sentence
Yo	viajaré	Yo viajaré a España el próximo mes.
Tú	viajarás	Tú viajarás con tu familia.
Él/Ella/Usted	viajará	Ella viajará a París en verano.
Nosotros	viajaremos	Nosotros viajaremos en tren.
Vosotros	viajaréis	Vosotros viajaréis juntos en diciembre.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	viajarán	Ellos viajarán por todo el mundo.

Present perfect AR verb conjugation

The present perfect tense in Spanish is pretty straightforward. You just need to use the verb ‘haber’ along with the past participle of an -ar verb. Here’s how you do it: start with ‘haber’ in its various forms—’he’, ‘has’, ‘ha’, ‘hemos’, ‘habéis’, ‘han’. Then, attach the past participle of the verb you’re dealing with, which for -ar verbs ends in ‘-ado’. Take ‘hablar’ as an example: it turns into ‘hablado’. So, you get combinations like ‘he hablado’ which means ‘I have spoken’.

It’s like piecing together a simple puzzle. First, pick the correct form of ‘haber’ depending on who you’re talking about—I, you, he/she, we, you all, or they. Then just tack on the right ending to your main verb. That’s all there is to it!

Subject	Verb (Trabajar)	Sentence
Yo	he trabajado	Yo he trabajado en esa empresa.
Tú	has trabajado	Tú has trabajado mucho esta semana.
Él/Ella/Usted	ha trabajado	Él ha trabajado en un hospital.
Nosotros	hemos trabajado	Nosotros hemos trabajado en el campo.
Vosotros	habéis trabajado	Vosotros habéis trabajado juntos.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	han trabajado	Ellos han trabajado en una oficina.

Past perfect AR verb conjugation

The past perfect tense in Spanish builds on the present perfect tense. It uses the verb ‘haber’ and adds the past participle of an -ar verb, like ‘hablar’ for ‘to speak.’ So, ‘había hablado’ translates to ‘had spoken.’ This form is used to talk about something that was completed before another event in the past.

Subject	Verb (Mirar)	Sentence
Yo	había mirado	Yo había mirado esa película antes.
Tú	habías mirado	Tú habías mirado la luna anoche.
Él/Ella/Usted	había mirado	Él había mirado todas las fotos.
Nosotros	habíamos mirado	Nosotros habíamos mirado el partido.
Vosotros	habíais mirado	Vosotros habíais mirado las noticias.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	habían mirado	Ellos habían mirado la televisión.

Anterior perfect AR verb conjugation

The anterior perfect tense for -ar verbs in Spanish shows that something was finished before another past event.

You use the past form of ‘haber’ plus the past participle.

For example, ‘había hablado’ means ‘had spoken.’

It helps make the timeline clear when you tell a story.

Future perfect AR verb conjugation

After looking at the anterior perfect tense, let’s dive into how we use the future perfect tense for AR verbs in everyday conversation.

It’s pretty straightforward: this tense is all about talking about things that haven’t happened yet but will be finished by a certain time in the future.

You just need the future tense of ‘haber’ plus the past participle. So, if you say ‘habré hablado,’ it means ‘I will have spoken.’ Simple, right?

Subject	Verb (Comprar)	Sentence
Yo	habré comprado	Yo habré comprado un coche nuevo.
Tú	habrás comprado	Tú habrás comprado ese libro.
Él/Ella/Usted	habrá comprado	Ella habrá comprado comida.
Nosotros	habremos comprado	Nosotros habremos comprado boletos.
Vosotros	habréis comprado	Vosotros habréis comprado la entrada.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	habrán comprado	Ellos habrán comprado una casa.

Irregular Preterite Verbs in Spanish – Explore other irregular verbs like ser, hacer, and tener.

Conditional mood

In the conditional mood, Spanish -AR verbs have special ways of changing to express what might happen or what could be imagined. You start with the verb’s base form and add certain endings to form the simple conditional. For the perfect conditional, you use the auxiliary verb ‘haber’ in its conditional form plus the past participle of the main verb.

By mastering these forms, you can talk about events that aren’t real, which really helps you get better at Spanish.

Simple conditional AR verb conjugation

In Spanish, when you want to talk about what might happen or what could be, you use the conditional mood.

It’s pretty simple with regular -ar verbs. Just add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían right to the end of the infinitive.

Take ‘hablar,’ which means ‘to talk.’ If you want to say ‘I would talk,’ you just say ‘hablaría.’

This pattern works the same way with other subjects, helping you express different future possibilities that depend on certain conditions.

Subject	Verb (Bailar)	Sentence
Yo	bailaría	Yo bailaría si tuviera tiempo.
Tú	bailarías	Tú bailarías en la fiesta.
Él/Ella/Usted	bailaría	Ella bailaría con su novio.
Nosotros	bailaríamos	Nosotros bailaríamos juntos.
Vosotros	bailaríais	Vosotros bailaríais toda la noche.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	bailarían	Ellos bailarían si la música fuera buena.

Perfect conditional AR verb conjugation

When you dive into the perfect conditional conjugation of -ar verbs, you get to play with the idea of ‘what might have been’ in Spanish. Here’s how it works: you take the conditional form of ‘haber’ and add the past participle. So, you end up with phrases like ‘habría hablado,’ which translates to ‘would have spoken.’

This tense is great for talking about things that could have happened but didn’t. It adds a really interesting twist to regular conversations.

Subject	Verb (Trabajar)	Sentence
Yo	habría trabajado	Yo habría trabajado más horas.
Tú	habrías trabajado	Tú habrías trabajado en el restaurante.
Él/Ella/Usted	habría trabajado	Él habría trabajado con su hermano.
Nosotros	habríamos trabajado	Nosotros habríamos trabajado en el campo.
Vosotros	habríais trabajado	Vosotros habríais trabajado juntos.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	habrían trabajado	Ellos habrían trabajado en el proyecto.

Master the Spanish Conditional Tense: When & How to Use It

Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood in Spanish for verbs ending in -AR shows different levels of uncertainty or wishes. It includes the present subjunctive, which we use for actions that might be happening now or are influenced by feelings.

Then there’s the present perfect subjunctive, which talks about past actions but considers how they impact the present, kind of like guessing or imagining.

Also, it’s important to get the hang of the past perfect and both future subjunctive forms. These help you express more complex ideas about time and emotion in your sentences.

Present subjunctive AR verb conjugation

Learning how to use the present subjunctive for -AR verbs in Spanish is really important when you want to talk about doubts, wishes, or things that might happen. This mood changes the verb endings to -e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. These are different from the usual endings. You’ll see it a lot after ‘que’ when someone is talking about what they hope or doubt will happen.

Subject	Verb (Estudiar)	Sentence
Yo	estudie	Quiero que yo estudie más.
Tú	estudies	Dudo que tú estudies lo suficiente.
Él/Ella/Usted	estudie	Espero que ella estudie mucho.
Nosotros	estudiemos	Ojalá que nosotros estudiemos juntos.
Vosotros	estudiéis	Es posible que vosotros estudiéis hoy.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	estudien	Necesito que ellos estudien para el examen.

Present perfect subjunctive AR verb conjugation

In Spanish, when you want to talk about -AR verbs and actions that might have happened, you use the present perfect subjunctive. It’s about mixing ‘haya’ with the past participle.

This way of speaking is key when you’re unsure or feeling uncertain about things that happened in the past but still matter now. It’s really handy in situations where your feelings or doubts play a big role.

Subject	Verb (Hablar)	Sentence
Yo	haya hablado	Dudo que yo haya hablado con ella.
Tú	hayas hablado	Me alegra que tú hayas hablado con el profesor.
Él/Ella/Usted	haya hablado	Es posible que ella haya hablado con su jefe.
Nosotros	hayamos hablado	Espero que nosotros hayamos hablado lo suficiente.
Vosotros	hayáis hablado	Ojalá que vosotros hayáis hablado en la reunión.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	hayan hablado	No creo que ellos hayan hablado con claridad.

Past perfect subjunctive AR verb conjugation

In Spanish, to form the past perfect subjunctive of AR verbs, you use ‘hubiera’ or ‘hubiese’ followed by the past participle of the verb. This tense is used to talk about things that might have happened but didn’t, or to express uncertainty or regret about past actions.

Subject	Verb (Cantar)	Sentence
Yo	hubiera/hubiese cantado	Ojalá que yo hubiera cantado mejor.
Tú	hubieras/hubieses cantado	Si tú hubieras cantado, habría sido genial.
Él/Ella/Usted	hubiera/hubiese cantado	Dudaba que él hubiera cantado en público.
Nosotros	hubiéramos/hubiésemos cantado	Si nosotros hubiéramos cantado, la gente habría bailado.
Vosotros	hubierais/hubieseis cantado	No creía que vosotros hubierais cantado tan bien.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	hubieran/hubiesen cantado	Me sorprendió que ellos hubieran cantado juntos.

Future imperfect subjunctive AR verb conjugation

The future imperfect subjunctive of -ar verbs is quite a mouthful, right? It’s not used all the time, but it’s really handy for talking about ‘what ifs’ or wishes concerning the future. Think of it as the tense for the big ‘if’ situations.

You’ll mostly see it in very formal writing or in legal stuff where things need to be super precise about conditions.

Subject	Verb (Bailar)	Sentence
Yo	bailare	Si yo bailare bien, ganaría el concurso.
Tú	bailares	Si tú bailares mañana, te aplaudirán.
Él/Ella/Usted	bailare	Si ella bailare en la final, será increíble.
Nosotros	bailáremos	Si nosotros bailáremos juntos, la coreografía será perfecta.
Vosotros	bailareis	Si vosotros bailareis en la fiesta, todos se divertirán.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	bailaren	Si ellos bailaren en la competencia, ganarán.

Future perfect subjunctive

When we dive into the future perfect subjunctive in Spanish, we see it’s used to talk about what might happen, but only as a guess or a maybe. It’s a way of using the helper verb ‘haber’ in a special mood with the main verb’s past part. You’ll mostly find it in sentences that start with words showing uncertainty or conditions about things that could happen down the line.

Subject	Verb (Estudiar)	Sentence
Yo	hubiere estudiado	Si yo hubiere estudiado más, habría pasado el examen.
Tú	hubieres estudiado	Si tú hubieres estudiado, no habrías fallado.
Él/Ella/Usted	hubiere estudiado	Si él hubiere estudiado, no tendría dudas.
Nosotros	hubiéremos estudiado	Si nosotros hubiéremos estudiado, el resultado sería mejor.
Vosotros	hubiereis estudiado	Si vosotros hubiereis estudiado, estaríais listos.
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	hubieren estudiado	Si ellos hubieren estudiado, ya serían expertos.

Imperative mood

The imperative mood helps you give direct commands or requests in Spanish.

For regular -AR verbs, drop the -AR and add -a for tú commands, -e for usted, -ad for vosotros, and -en for ustedes.

You need this to give clear instructions or make requests in everyday talk.

Subject	Verb (Caminar)	Sentence
Tú	camina	Camina rápido.
Usted	camine	Camine por esta calle.
Nosotros	caminemos	Caminemos juntos al parque.
Vosotros	caminad	Caminad hasta la plaza.
Ustedes	caminen	Caminen con cuidado.

Conclusion

Knowing how to use AR ending verbs in Spanish is key for clear communication.

You need to understand how these verbs change in different situations—like when giving facts, making requests, or talking about possibilities.

This helps you express a variety of actions and feelings clearly.

Once you get this down, you’ll communicate more effectively, whether you’re speaking or writing in Spanish.

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