This document discusses Spanish verb tenses for verbs ending in -ar. It explains the present, future, preterite, and imperfect tenses and provides examples of conjugations for the verbs hablar and practicar in each tense. Practice activities have readers conjugate additional -ar verbs in the future, preterite, and imperfect tenses.

1. LOS VERBOS –AR
PRESENTE
FUTURO
PASADO

2. UNDERSTANDING TENSES
 So far we have only used the PRESENT
tense when conjugating verbs – this is what
happens now. I watch tv.
 To talk about things that will happen
tomorrow, next week, next month, etc. use
the FUTURE tense. I will watch tv
tomorrow.
 To talk about things that happened yesterday,
last week, last year, etc. use the PAST tense.
 Spanish has 2 past tenses: (more on this later)
Preterite = I watched tv last night.
Imperfect = I used to watch tv every day.

3. WORDS THAT INDICATE TENSES
• Presente - any words that indicate the present moment
• Hoy =today
• Ahora = now
• Ahora mismo = right now
• Futuro = any words that indicate a future time
• Mañana = tomorrow
• Próximo = next
• ex. El próximo día = the next day
• Pasado = any words that indicate a past time
• Ayer = yesterday
• Anoche = last night
• Anteayer = day before yesterday
• Pasado = past, last
ex. La semana pasada = last week

4. LOS VERBOS –AR
PRESENTE
Yo – -o Nosotros – -amos
Tú – -as Vosotros – -áis
Él-
Ellos –
Ella - -a
Ellas - -an
Ud.
Uds.
Remember: drop the –AR and add the appropriate ending!
Ex. Yo hablo español bien.

5. HABLAR– FUTURO
WILL SPEAK/TALK
Yo – hablaré Nosotros – hablaremos
I will speak we will speak
Tú – hablarás Vosotros – hablaréis
you will speak y’all will speak
Él-
Ella - hablará
Ud. He/she/you will speak
Ellos –
Ellas - hablarán
Uds. They/You all will
speak
To form the future of MOST –AR verbs, add the RED
Endings to the infinitive (unconjugated form).
DO NOT DROP THE -AR

6. EJEMPLOS DEL FUTURO:
 Mañana viajaré a Costa Rica.
 Tomorrow I will travel to Costa Rica.
 Ellos estudiarán en la biblioteca el viernes.
 They will study in the library on Friday.
 Nosotros llegaremos a las nueve.
We will arrive at 9:00.

7. Práctica A
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb
in parentheses in the FUTURE tense.
(Write these in your notebook)
1. Los estudiantes ______(visitar) a Venezuela en abril.
2. Marta y Rosa _______ (comprar) el almuerzo el
lunes.
3. Mañana, nosotros __________ (llegar) a casa a la
una.
4. Yo _______(celebrar) la fiesta de Marcos el sábado.
5. Tú ________ (ayudar) a los bomberos mucho.

8. -AR – PRETÉRITO
Yo – -é Nosotros – -amos
Tú – -aste Vosotros – -asteis
Él-
Ellos –
Ella - -ó
Ellas - -aron
Ud.
Uds.
To form:
•Drop –AR
•Add appropriate
Ex. Yo hablé español ayer. preterite ending
I spoke Spanish yesterday.
The preterite tense is used to express:
• An completed action at a given point in the past
• An action or state that occupies a limited period of time
• An action with a specific and indicated beginning or ending

9. VERBOS QUE TERMINAN CON –CAR, -GAR, -ZAR
Verbs that end in -car, -gar, and -zar have a
spelling change in the preterite YO form.
**All other forms of these verbs are regular.
 -CAR  -qué Ex. tocar  yo toqué
 -GAR  -gué Ex. llegar  yo
llegué
 -ZAR  -cé Ex. cruzar  yo crucé
This spelling change ONLY happens in the YO form!

10. EJEMPLOS DEL PRETÉRITO:
 Ayer Paco buscó el mercado y yo busqué el
banco.
 Yesterday Paco looked for the market and I looked
for the bank.
 Ellos bailaron en la fiesta anoche.
 They danced at the party last night.
 Yo estudié por una hora.
 I studied for an hour.
Note: these have a definite period of time.

11. 6. Anoche nosotros _____ (escuchar) la radio.
7. Marta y Rosa no _____ (practicar) ayer.
8. El viernes pasado, tú ________(mirar) una
película.
9. Una vez, yo ______(jugar) al ajedrez con el rey.
10.Marta _______ (contestar) tres veces ayer en
clase.
Práctica B
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb
in parentheses in the PRETERITE tense.
(Write these in your notebook)

12. -AR – IMPERFECTO
Yo – -aba Nosotros – -ábamos
Tú – -abas Vosotros – -abáis
Él-
Ellos –
Ella - -aba
Ellas - -aban
Ud.
Uds.
To form:
•Drop –AR
•Add
appropriate
ending
The imperfect tense is used to express:
• A habitual action in the past (describes things that USED to happen)
• INCOMPLETE /interrupted actions in the past (was/were ….-ing)
• Descriptions of people, places, time, weather, age, etc. in past.

13. EJEMPLOS DEL IMPERFECTO:
 Manuel nadaba todos los días.
 Manuel used to swim every day.
 Tú mirabas la tele cuando llegó la familia.
 You were watching TV when the family arrived.
 Nosotros bailábamos todos los fines de
semana.
We used to dance every weekend.

14. 11. Yo _______ (repasar) los verbos todos los días.
12. Ellas ________(viajar) a la playa cada verano.
13. Todos los días, tú ______(usar) computadora 9.
14. Cada año, Pablo ______ (cantar) en el coro.
15. Nosotros _______ (llamar) a mi abuela cada
noche.
Práctica C
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb
in parentheses in the IMPERFECT tense.
(Write these in your notebook)