Presente de indicativo: verbos regulares en -ar | Spanish (Spain) Grammar

About nine out of every ten Spanish verbs end in -ar. Master the six endings on this page and you can conjugate thousands of verbs in the present indicative — including every new verb that enters the language (tuitear, googlear, wasapear: all -ar). This page covers the peninsular paradigm in full, with particular attention to the vosotros form, which you will hear in every café, classroom and WhatsApp chat in Spain.

How the paradigm works

To conjugate a regular -ar verb, drop the -ar of the infinitive to get the stem, then add one of six personal endings. The endings carry the person and number information English packs into pronouns.

The six endings, in peninsular order, are: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.

Subject	Ending	hablar (to speak)
yo	-o	hablo
tú	-as	hablas
él / ella / usted	-a	habla
nosotros / nosotras	-amos	hablamos
vosotros / vosotras	-áis	habláis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	-an	hablan

Notice the written accent on habláis. It is not decorative — the stress falls on the á, and without the accent the word would be misread as ha-BLAIS (with the diphthong ai taking the stress). Throughout the -ar paradigm, the only form that carries a written accent in the present indicative is vosotros.

Hablo español, pero todavía me cuesta mucho.

I speak Spanish, but it's still really hard for me.

¿Tú trabajas los sábados?

Do you work on Saturdays?

Mi hermana estudia Medicina en Granada.

My sister studies Medicine in Granada.

The vosotros form is non-negotiable in Spain

If you have studied Spanish with Latin American materials, vosotros may feel like an extra. In Spain it is the opposite: vosotros is the everyday form for addressing two or more people you know — friends, family, classmates, anyone you would address as tú individually. Ustedes exists in Spain, but it is reserved for formal situations (addressing strangers, customers, a job interview panel) and even there it is increasingly rare.

This means that skipping vosotros in Spain is not a small omission. A learner who says ¿Ustedes hablan inglés? to a group of Spanish friends sounds either weirdly formal or — more often — clearly trained on Latin American materials. Neither is wrong, but neither is what you want.

¿Habláis inglés vosotros?

Do you guys speak English?

Trabajáis demasiado, ¿no os parece?

You all work too much, don't you think?

💡

The written accent on -áis is obligatory. Habláis, trabajáis, estudiáis — never hablais, trabajais, estudiais. The rule that puts it there is the same one that puts an accent on adiós: a word ending in -s with stress on the final syllable carries an accent. (See diacritical accents.)

Ten high-frequency model verbs

These ten -ar verbs cover an enormous slice of everyday peninsular speech. Each follows the hablar pattern exactly — drop -ar, add the six endings.

Infinitive	Meaning	yo	tú	él/ella	nosotros	vosotros	ellos
hablar	to speak	hablo	hablas	habla	hablamos	habláis	hablan
trabajar	to work	trabajo	trabajas	trabaja	trabajamos	trabajáis	trabajan
estudiar	to study	estudio	estudias	estudia	estudiamos	estudiáis	estudian
comprar	to buy	compro	compras	compra	compramos	compráis	compran
escuchar	to listen	escucho	escuchas	escucha	escuchamos	escucháis	escuchan
mirar	to look at	miro	miras	mira	miramos	miráis	miran
llegar	to arrive	llego	llegas	llega	llegamos	llegáis	llegan
cantar	to sing	canto	cantas	canta	cantamos	cantáis	cantan
bailar	to dance	bailo	bailas	baila	bailamos	bailáis	bailan
tomar	to take / to drink	tomo	tomas	toma	tomamos	tomáis	toman

A note on llegar: in the present indicative there is no spelling change, but in the preterite yo form the g becomes gu (llegué) to keep the hard /g/ sound before -e. That is a different page; for now, the present is fully regular.

A note on tomar: in Spain, tomar is the default verb for drinking — tomar una cerveza, tomar un café. The verb beber exists but is more clinical, used in fixed phrases and on dietary advice.

Estudio Filosofía y trabajo de camarero los fines de semana.

I study Philosophy and I work as a waiter on weekends.

Tomamos algo cuando salgas, ¿vale?

Let's grab a drink when you finish, OK?

Mis padres miran las noticias mientras cenan.

My parents watch the news while they have dinner.

What the present indicative actually does

One conjugated form, like hablo, covers a wider range of meaning than English's I speak. In context, hablo can translate as I speak (habitual), I am speaking (right now), or I do speak (emphatic). Spanish does have a separate progressive (estoy hablando), but it is reserved for genuinely ongoing action and is used far less often than the English continuous. For the everyday "what are you doing?" question, the simple present is usually the most natural answer.

—¿Qué haces? —Preparo la cena.

—What are you doing? —I'm making dinner.

Mi vecino canta en la ducha todas las mañanas.

My neighbour sings in the shower every morning.

The same form also covers near-future scheduled events with a time expression: Mañana hablo con mi jefe ("Tomorrow I'm talking to my boss"). For the full inventory of uses, see usos del presente de indicativo.

Subject pronouns are usually dropped

Because each ending uniquely identifies the subject, Spanish speakers usually omit yo, tú, nosotros, and vosotros. You include them only for contrast, emphasis, or genuine ambiguity (which arises mainly in third person, where él, ella and usted share the same verb form).

Yo trabajo en una oficina, pero ella trabaja desde casa.

I work in an office, but she works from home.

💡

If you find yourself writing yo before every verb, you sound like a textbook. The natural default is the bare verb (Trabajo en Madrid); add the pronoun only when it does real work (Yo trabajo en Madrid, ella en Sevilla).

A short peninsular dialogue

The vosotros form is so frequent in Spain that you cannot really converse without it. Here is a casual exchange between three friends meeting at a bar.

—¡Hola, chicas! ¿Qué tomáis?

—Hi, girls! What are you having (to drink)?

—Yo tomo una caña. ¿Y tú, Marta?

—I'll have a small draught beer. And you, Marta?

—Una tinto de verano. ¿Vosotros no cenáis aquí?

—A tinto de verano. Aren't you guys eating here?

—No, cenamos en casa de Javi. Pero charlamos un rato primero.

—No, we're having dinner at Javi's place. But we'll chat for a bit first.

Notice how vosotros shows up twice (¿Qué tomáis?, ¿Vosotros no cenáis aquí?) and the speakers freely switch between yo, tú, nosotros. The pronouns are added only where the speaker wants to single someone out or contrast groups.

Common mistakes

These are the recurring errors English speakers make with -ar verbs in Spain. Each one has a clear underlying cause; once you see it, it becomes easy to avoid.

❌ Estoy hablando español todos los días.

Wrong: the progressive overreaches what English's 'I am speaking' covers.

✅ Hablo español todos los días.

Correct: habitual or general action takes the simple present, not estar + gerund.

❌ ¿Hablais inglés vosotros?

Wrong: the obligatory accent on -áis is missing.

✅ ¿Habláis inglés vosotros?

Correct: -áis always carries a written accent on the á.

❌ Ustedes hablan inglés muy bien, chicos.

Wrong in Spain: ustedes addressed to friends sounds either formal or LatAm-trained.

✅ Habláis inglés muy bien, chicos.

Correct: with friends, peninsular Spanish uses vosotros.

❌ Nosotros hablemos español.

Wrong: -emos is the -er nosotros ending (or the subjunctive); -ar verbs take -amos.

✅ Nosotros hablamos español.

Correct: -ar nosotros is -amos.

❌ Yo trabajas en Madrid.

Wrong: -as is the tú ending, not yo.

✅ Yo trabajo en Madrid.

Correct: yo always takes -o in the present indicative.

Once the -ar paradigm is automatic, move on to the regular -er verbs — only two endings change.

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