Spanish Verbs (1) - "ar" Type
Spanish verbs are the key to learning and speaking the language. There are three main verb types with different endings in the infinitive : ar (hablar - to talk), er (comer - to eat) and ir (vivir - to live). 70% of Spanish verbs end in ar, so this is where we start. The three most common tenses are the Present (I talk), Simple Past or Preterite (I talked) and the Imperfect (I was talking). All the information you need is contained at the end of the verb, following the stem or root, which does not normally change. The stem of hablar is habl and the verb endings of the three tenses are:
Hablar - to speak or talk
Note the accent on some of the conjugations which indicate the stress point when pronouncing the verb. Every Spanish word has one stress point or syllable which is normally the penultimate syllable, unless otherwise indicated.
María no habla inglés. Maria doesn't speak English.
No nos hablamos desde hace tiempo. We haven't spoken to each other for a long time.