Recursio
Lesson 7. I speak, you work
10 words in this lesson
Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.
present tense: -ar verbs
-ar verbs
A Spanish verb in its dictionary form (the infinitive) ends in -ar, -er or -ir. This lesson covers the biggest group, -ar verbs. Drop -ar and add an ending:
| Who | 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 |
Every verb in this lesson works the same way: trabajar → trabajo, trabajas…, estudiar → estudio, escuchar → escucho, tomar → tomo.
English changes the verb only for “he/she” (speaks). Spanish has a different ending for every person, and that ending already tells you who is doing the action. That’s why the pronoun is usually dropped: Hablo — “I speak,” Trabajamos — “we work.”
One present, two English meanings
The Spanish present covers both English forms: Hablo inglés is “I speak English,” and Nora estudia hoy is “Nora is studying today.” Don’t look for a separate Spanish form for “is studying” yet: for now the simple present does both jobs.
Hablo español
After hablar, the language goes straight after the verb: Hablo español. “A little” is un poco de: Hablo un poco de español. Learn it as a set phrase.
Unlike English, Spanish writes language names in lowercase: español, inglés. As nouns they’re masculine: el español, el inglés.
Tomar
Tomar means “to take,” but with food and drinks it means “to have”: ¿Tomas un café? — “Would you like a coffee?” This is one way to offer food or drink in Spain; tomar is also used when ordering.
Hablo un poco de español. — I speak a little Spanish.
¿Trabajas hoy? — Are you working today?
Escuchamos música. — We're listening to music.
¿Tomáis un café? — Would you all like a coffee? (informal)
Ellos hablan inglés. — They speak English.
Dialogue
Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.
Javier ¡Hola, Nora! ¿Tomas un café? Hi, Nora! Would you like a coffee?
Nora Sí, gracias. Hoy estudio aquí. Yes, thanks. I'm studying here today.
Javier ¿Estudias español? Are you studying Spanish?
Nora Sí. Hablo inglés y un poco de español. Yes. I speak English and a little Spanish.
Javier ¡Y yo hablo un poco de inglés! And I speak a little English!
Nora ¿Y Lucía? ¿Trabaja hoy? And Lucía? Is she working today?
Javier Sí, Lucía y yo trabajamos hoy. Yes, Lucía and I are working today.
Nora Y yo estudio y escucho música. And I study and listen to music.
Check yourself
Listen. What did you hear?
1. How do you say “I speak Spanish”?
2. How do you ask a friend “Are you working today?”
3. How do you say “We're listening to music”?
4. Politely, to one person you don't know: “Do you speak English?”
Match each word with its translation
Build the sentence: “I speak a little Spanish”
Build the question: “Would you like a coffee?”
What you can do now
- Say what you do: Hoy estudio. Hablo un poco de español.
- Ask someone: ¿Trabajas hoy? ¿Tomas un café?
- Talk about others: Nora estudia. Ellos hablan inglés.
- Form all six present forms of an -ar verb
Key phrases of the lesson:
Hablo un poco de español.
¿Tomas un café?
Nora estudia hoy.
Day 7 of 100. Next up: the following lesson.
Lesson 8. Where do you live? →The course is the first step. Next comes the Recursio app: short daily practice with spaced review.