Common -AR Verbs in Spanish

AR verbs! Spanish is full of them and conversing is impossible without them. Learn how to say study, dance, draw, walk, and much more, in this vocabulary lesson.
-AR Verbs
-AR verbs! Spanish is full of them, and conversing is impossible without them. Vamos! Let’s learn the words for study, dance, draw, walk and many more in this vocabulary lesson.

Bien! Take a look at our list of words for today. Note that there are many, many -AR verbs in the Spanish language. This list is just a core group of some of the most common.

Vocabulary List
hablar
estudiar
tocar
usar
bailar
practicar
enseñar
dibujar
caminar
cantar
escuchar
comprar
They all end in -AR, don’t they? As you can imagine, this is why they’re called -AR verbs, and note that the -AR has its own meaning: ‘to.’

So, what do we know now? We know that all of the words on this list mean ‘to something.’ To what? Let’s see.

Definitions
Hablar (ah-BLAR) means ‘to talk.’ Remember that the H is silent. It’s like it’s not even there.

Estudiar (es-too-dee-AR) means ‘to study.’ There are several vowels in this one. Remember to say them all, each as a syllable. It’s also a cognate, sort of. You can almost see the word ‘study’ in there.

Tocar (toe-CAR) means ‘to play an instrument.’ Remember the C in this one is a hard C sound because it is followed by A.

Bailar (bah-ee-LAR) means ‘to dance.’ Notice the A and I together here. Make sure to hit both of them.

Usar (oo-SAR) means ‘to use.’ Another cognate!

Practicar (prahk-tee-CAR) means ‘to practice.’ A definite cognate here. Almost the same word in both languages, when written.

Enseñar (en-sen-i-AR) means ‘to teach.’

Dibujar (dee-boo-HAR) means ‘to draw.’ Let’s use alliteration to remember this one. Draw begins with D; dibujar begins with D.

Caminar (cahm-ee-NAR) means ‘to walk.’

Cantar (cahn-TAR) means ‘to sing.’ And have you ever heard of a cantata? That same root is in cantar.

Escuchar (es-koo-CHAR) means ‘to listen.’

Comprar (cohm-PRAR) means ‘to buy’ or ‘to shop.’