Verb · regular -ar
hablar
to speak
The thing that catches people out
The model regular -ar verb. Most Spanish verbs end in -ar, and nearly all of them follow it exactly. Learn these five endings and you own hundreds of verbs at once.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | hablo | |
| tú | hablas | |
| él, ella, usted | habla | |
| nosotros | hablamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | hablan | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habláis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | hablé | |
| tú | hablaste | |
| él, ella, usted | habló | |
| nosotros | hablamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | hablaron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | hablasteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | hablaba | |
| tú | hablabas | |
| él, ella, usted | hablaba | |
| nosotros | hablábamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | hablaban | |
| vosotros, Spain only | hablabais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | hablaré | |
| tú | hablarás | |
| él, ella, usted | hablará | |
| nosotros | hablaremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | hablarán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | hablaréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he hablado | |
| tú | has hablado | |
| él, ella, usted | ha hablado | |
| nosotros | hemos hablado | |
| ellos, ustedes | han hablado | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis hablado |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | hablando | |
| participle | hablado | |
| command, to tú | habla | |
| command, to usted | hable |
In a sentence
hablo un poco de español
I speak a little Spanish
¿hablas inglés?
do you speak English?