Present tense: irregular verbs
A1Grammar path · Lesson 13 of 86 · Stage A1 · The present tense
Many of the most useful Spanish verbs are irregular in the present tense, so you need them from day one to say who you are, where you go and what you have. Some are irregular in almost every form, like ser (soy, eres, es) and ir (voy, vas, va). Others only break the rule in the yo form, often adding a -g-: tengo, hago, salgo, pongo, plus sé and conozco. Don't confuse them with stem-changing verbs: those follow a fixed vowel pattern, while true irregulars simply have to be memorized.
Practise this lesson · 9 sentences
Form
sujeto + verbo irregular + complementosujeto + no + verbo irregular + complemento¿verbo irregular + sujeto + complemento?When to use it
Saying who you are, where you are and how you are
Ser and estar are the irregular verbs you use most to introduce yourself and describe location. Learn their full conjugation by heart.
Describing your daily routine in the yo form
When talking about yourself, verbs like hacer, salir and poner change in the yo form: hago, salgo, pongo. The other forms stay regular.
Talking about age, feelings and needs with tener
Spanish uses tener for age, hunger, thirst, cold and fear. Tener has the yo form tengo and changes e→ie in tienes, tiene, tienen.
Common irregular verbs
Signal words
Don't confuse it with
Regular verbs just drop -ar, -er or -ir and add the standard endings (hablo, comes, vive). Applying that to irregular verbs gives wrong forms like hazo or sabo, so first check whether the verb is on the irregular list.
Stem-changing verbs: e→ie, o→ue, e→iStem-changing verbs follow a fixed vowel pattern and keep the original stem in nosotros, while irregulars like ser and ir are unpredictable. Some verbs, like tener and venir, are both: the yo form adds -g- and the other forms change e→ie.
Frequently asked questions
Which irregular verbs should I learn first?
Start with ser, estar, ir and tener, since they appear in almost every basic sentence. Then learn hacer, decir, venir and saber.
Why does tener become tengo in the yo form?
Tener belongs to the group of verbs whose yo form adds -g-, like pongo, salgo and vengo. The other forms have no -g-.
How do you conjugate ir in the present tense?
Ir goes voy, vas, va, vamos, van. These forms look nothing like the infinitive, so you have to memorize them.
Is the nosotros form of irregular verbs regular?
Usually yes: tenemos, hacemos and salimos use the normal endings. The main exceptions are somos from ser and vamos from ir.
Are saber and conocer irregular?
Yes, but only in the yo form: sé and conozco. The other forms, like sabes and conoces, are regular.