Spanish 2.2. Present Indicative Tense II: Irregular Verbs

In Spanish, some verbs deviate from the general conjugation rules in the present indicative tense. Some of these deviations are simple and easy to apply, while others may require some practice. Nevertheless, do not give up because conjugation in other tenses tends to be more straightforward with fewer irregularities.

Use your Anki cards to practice more examples until you master this lesson. In addition, you can use this Spanish irregular verbs pdf cheat sheet as a quick reference.

Let us start with the easier irregularities. In the first group, the following four sets of irregular verbs are only irregular in the first-person singular form, that is, with the subject “yo.”

1. The verbs “estar” (to be) and “dar” (to give) are conjugated with “-oy” ending in the first-person “yo” form as “estoy” and “doy,” respectively, e.g., “Yo estoy aquí” (I am here), “Yo le doy dinero a mi hermano” (I give money to my brother).
   
2. The verbs “hacer” (to do), “poner” (to put), “valer” (to be worth), “salir” (to go out or to exit), “traer” (to bring), and “caer” (to drop) are conjugated with “-go” ending in the first-person “yo” as “hago,” “pongo,” “valgo,” “salgo,” “traigo,” and “caigo,” respectively, e.g., “Yo salgo con mis amigos” (I go out with my friends). Notice the verb “salir” conjugation in the “yo” form.
   
3. The verbs ending in a vowel followed by “-cer” or “-cir” are conjugated with “-zco” in the first-person “yo.” Examples are “conocer” (to know), “ofrecer” (to offer), “conducir” (to drive), and “traducir” (to translate).
   
4. The verbs “saber” (to know), “caber” (to fit), and “ver” (to see) do not follow any rules. The verb conjugations in first-person “yo” form are “sé,” “quepo,” and “veo,” respectively.
   

Remember that these three sets of irregular verbs are only irregular in their first-person “yo” form. In other forms, they are regular.

	estar	dar	hacer	salir	conocer	saber
yo	estoy	doy	hago	salgo	conozco	sé
tú	estás	das	haces	sales	conoces	sabes
él/ella/usted	está	da	hace	sale	conoce	sabe
nosotros/-as	estamos	damos	hacemos	salimos	conocemos	sabemos
vosotros/-as	estáis	dais	hacéis	salís	conocéis	sabéis
ellos/-as/ustedes	están	dan	hacen	salen	conocen	saben

Added to these four sets are three more sets of verbs that are regular in essence but change spelling when conjugated in first-person “yo” form. These are the verbs ending in “-guir,” “-ger,” “-gir,” and “-quir.”

1. Verbs ending in “-guir” in first-person “yo” form end in “-go,” e.g., “extinguir” (to extinguish) becomes “yo extingo.”
   
2. Verbs ending in “-ger” and “-gir” in first-person “yo” form end in “-jo,” e.g., “escoger” (to choose) becomes “yo escojo,” and “exigir” (to demand) becomes “yo exijo.”
   
3. Verbs ending in “-quir” in first-person “yo” form end in “-co,” e.g., “delinquir” (to commit an offense or a crime) becomes “yo delinco.”

	-guir ending extinguir	-ger ending proteger	-gir ending exigir
yo	extingo	protejo	exijo
tú	extingues	proteges	exiges
él/ella/usted	extingue	protege	exige
nosotros/-as	extinguimos	protegemos	exigimos
vosotros/-as	extinguís	protegéis	exigís
ellos/ellas/ustedes	extinguen	protegen	exigen

The justification for such a spelling change is to maintain the pronunciation rules. For instance, the letter “g” sounds like the “g” in “get,” except when followed by “e” or “i,” in which case it is pronounced like the “h” in “hero.” Similarly, the letter “c” sounds like “c” in “car,” except when followed by “e” or “i,” in which case it is pronounced like the “c” in “city.”

The second group of irregular verbs includes verbs with stem changes. In these verbs, the irregular conjugation is applied to all forms except with the subject pronouns “nosotros/-as” and “vosotros/-as.” The verbs in this group fall under five categories:

1. Verbs that change stem from “e” to “i.” For example, “corregir” (to correct), “elegir” (to choose or to elect), “medir” (to measure), “pedir” (to ask for or to request), “reír”(to laugh), “repetir” (to repeat), “seguir” (to follow), “servir” (to serve).
   
2. Verbs that change stem from “e” to “ie,” e.g., “advertir” (to warn), “atender” (to attend to), “atravesar” (to cross), “calentar” (to heat), “cerrar” (to close), “comenzar” (to commence or to start), “confesar” (to confess), “convertir” (to convert), “defender” (to defend), “divertir” (to amuse), “empezar” (to begin), “encender” (to light), “entender” (to understand), “enterrar” (to bury), “fregar” (to scrub), “herir” (to injure), “hervir” (to boil), “mentir” (to lie), “negar” (to deny), “pensar” (to think), “perder” (to lose), “preferir” (to prefer), “querer” (to want), “regar” (to water), “sugerir” (to suggest), “temblar” (to tremble), “tropezar” (to trip or to stumble), “verter” (to pour).
   
3. Verbs that change stem from “o” to “ue,” e.g., “acordar” (to agree), “almorzar” (to have lunch), “aprobar” (to approve), “contar” (to count), “costar”(to cost), “dormir” (to sleep), “encontrar”(to find), “forzar” (to force), “morder” (to bite), “mostrar” (to show), “poder” (to be able to), “probar” (to test or to taste), “volar” (to fly), “volver” (to return).
   
4. Verbs that change stem from “u” to “ue” include only one verb, which happens to be commonly used, that is, “jugar” (to play).
   
5. Verbs that change stem from “i” to “ie” include only two verbs “adquirir” (to acquire) and “inquirir” (to inquire).
   

The table below summarizes the stem change rules with examples.

	pedir “e” to “i”	pensar “e” to “ei”	dormir “o” to “ue”	jugar “u” to “ue”	adquirir “i” to “ie”
yo	pido	pienso	duermo	juego	adquiero
tú	pides	piensas	duermes	juegas	adquieres
él/ella/usted	pide	piensa	duerme	juega	adquiere
nosotros/-as	pedimos	pensamos	dormimos	jugamos	adquirimos
vosotros/-as	pedís	pensáis	dormís	jugáis	adquirís
ellos/ellas/ustedes	piden	piensan	duermen	juegan	adquieren

Notice again how the conjugation remains regular with the subject pronouns “nosotros/-as” and “vosotros/-as.”

The first three groups are the most common, whereas the last two groups contain only three verbs, which are easy to memorize.

The rules about verbs ending in “-guir,” “-ger,” and “-gir” in the first-person “yo” form still apply if a verb happens to belong to one of the abovementioned categories. For example, the verb “seguir” changes stem from “e” to “i.” In the first-person “yo” form, in addition to the stem change, we replace “gu” with “g,” while the other forms only change the stem. Similarly, the verb “elegir” changes stem from “e” to “i.” In the first-person “yo” form, in addition to stem change, we replace the “g” with “j,” while the other forms only change the stem.

	“-guir” ending e.g., seguir	“-gir” ending e.g., elegir
yo	sigo	elijo
tú	sigues	eliges
él/ella/usted	sigue	elige
nosotros/-as	seguimos	elegimos
vosotros/-as	seguís	elegís
ellos/ellas/ustedes	siguen	eligen

The third group of verbs includes the verbs that are irregular in the first-person “yo” form with a “-go” ending and have a stem change in all other forms except the “nosotros/-as” and “vosotros/-as” forms. This group includes the commonly used verbs “decir” (to say), “venir” (to come), and “tener” (to have).

	decir	venir	tener
yo	digo	vengo	tengo
tú	dices	vienes	tienes
él/ella/usted	dice	viene	tiene
nosotros/-as	decimos	venimos	tenemos
vosotros/-as	decís	venís	tenéis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	dicen	vienen	tienen

The fourth group of verbs includes completely irregular verbs. Verbs in this group include “ser” (to be), “ir” (to go), “oler” (to smell), and oír (to hear). Note that “ser” and “estar” both mean “to be.” More on the differences between “ser” and “estar” in Lesson 3 of this level.
Notice the “-go” ending in the “yo” form of the verb “oír” conjugation, which is similar to the verbs “salir” and “poner” conjugation in the “yo” form.

	ser	ir	oler	oír
yo	soy	voy	huelo	oigo
tú	eres	vas	hueles	oyes
él/ella/usted	es	va	huele	oye
nosotros/-as	somos	vamos	olemos	oímos
vosotros/-as	sois	vais	oléis	oís
ellos/ellas/ustedes	son	van	huelen	oyen

The fifth group includes verbs that undergo some other orthographic changes when conjugated. We have already encountered the verbs with “-guir,” “-ger,” and “-gir” endings, which undergo some orthographic change when conjugated in the first-person “yo” form. We have also encountered verbs that end in a vowel followed by “-cer” or “-cir,” whose conjugation in the first-person “yo” form ends in “-zco.” Here we discuss two more orthographic changes:

• Verbs ending in “-uir” (excluding “-guir”) add “y” between the stem and the conjugation suffix in all forms except with “nosotros/-as” and “vosotros/-as.” Examples include: “atribuir” (to attribute), “construir” (to construct), “contribuir” (to contribute), “disminuir”(to diminish or to decrease), “distribuir” (to distribute), “huir” (to escapeor to run away), “incluir” (to include), “sustituir” (to substitute).

	construir	incluir	huir
yo	construyo	incluyo	huyo
tú	construyes	incluyes	huyes
él/ella/usted	construye	incluye	huye
nosotros/-as	construimos	incluimos	huimos
vosotros/-as	construís	incluís	huís
ellos/ellas/ustedes	construyen	incluyen	huyen

• Some verbs ending in “-iar” or “-uar” add an accent to the “i” or “u” before the conjugation suffix in all forms except with “nosotros/-as” and “vosotros/-as.” Examples include: “enviar” (to send), “fiar”(to trustor to believe in), “liar”(to bundle or to bind), “variar”(to vary), “actuar”(to act), “continuar”(to continue), “habituar”(to get used to), “situar” (to position or to situate).

	enviar	actuar	continuar
yo	envío	actúo	continúo
tú	envías	actúas	continúas
él/ella/usted	envía	actúa	continúa
nosotros/-as	enviamos	actuamos	continuamos
vosotros/-as	enviáis	actuáis	continuáis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	envían	actúan	continúan

Next: The Verb “to Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar”

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