In this lesson we will consider Spanish irregular verbs: irregular subgroups of –ER and –IR verbs, verbs with stem change and exceptional irregular verbs that must be only memorized.
IR – to go, TENER – to have, QUERER – to want/to love, HACER – to do and other irregular verbs and their common characteristics.
Spanish Irregular verb subgroups
- Subgroups –CER and -CIR:
-CER is a subgroup of –ER group, and –CIR is a subgroup of –IR group. Verbs ending in –CER or –CIR end in –ZCO in conjugation with the pronoun YO:
Conocer – to know, Yo conozco – I know
Aparecer – to appear, Yo aparezco – I appear
Parecer –to look like, Yo parezco – I know
Ofrecer – to offer, Yo ofrezco – I offer
Seducir – to seduce, Yo seduzco – I seduce
Producir – to produce, Yo produzco – I produce
Reducir – to reduce, Yo reduzco – I reduce
With all other pronouns they have ordinary form, e.g. tú conoces, él conoce, nosotros conocemos and so on.
- Subgroups –NER and –NIR:
-NER is a subrgoup of –ER verbs, and –NIR is a subgroup of –IR group. Verbs with these infinitive endings will end in –GO in conjugation with the pronoun YO:
Tener – to have, Yo tengo – I have
Venir – to come, Yo vengo – I come
Poner – to put, Yo pongo – I put
Suponer – to suppose, Yo supongo – I suppose
Proponer – to propose, Yo propongo – I propose
Verbs with stem change
There are plenty of irregular verbs that have a change in stem in present tense. These changes are: E – IE, U – UE, O – UE, E-I. They are applied for all pronouns apart from nosotros and vosotros.
Tener – to have. This verb has -NER, so the conjugation with YO will be “TENGO” instead of tieno, and E-IE change in stem (apart from Nosotros and Vosotros as it was said before).
| Yo tengo | I have (own form with yo) |
| Tú tienes | You have |
| Él, ella, usted tiene | He, she, you have |
| Nosotros tenemos | We have |
| Vosotros tenéis | You have |
| Ellos, ustedes tienen | They, you have |
Querer – to want/to love. This verb has E-IE change in stem.
| Yo quiero | I want |
| Tú quieres | You want |
| Él, ella, usted quiere | He, she, you want |
| Nosotros queremos | We want |
| Vosotros queréis | You want |
| Ellos, ustedes quieren | They, you want |
Other irregular verbs with stems in present tense:
| Change | Stem | |
| Dormir- to sleep | o-ue | Duerm- |
| Jugar – to play | u-ue | Jueg- |
| Entender– to understand | e-ie | Entiend- |
| Costar – to cost | o-ue | Cuest- |
| Pensar – to think | e-ie | Piens- |
| Encontrar – to find | o-ue | Encuentr- |
| Pedir – to ask for | e-i | Pid- |
| Perder – to lose | e-ie | Pierd- |
| Cerrar – to close | e-ei | Cierr- |
| Volver – to return | o-ue | Vuelv- |
| Recordar – to remember | o-ue | Recuerd- |
Exceptional irregular verbs
First of all – the verb IR – to go. This verb has own forms of conjugation with all pronouns that must be memorized.
Ir – to go
| Yo voy | I go |
| Tú vas | You go |
| Él, ella, usted va | He, she goes, you go |
| Nosotros vamos | We go |
| Vosotros váis | You go |
| Ellos, ustedes van | They, you go |
Hacer – to do. This verb has the only irregular form “Yo hago”.
| Yo hago | I do |
| Tú haces | You do |
| Él, ella, usted hace | He, she does, you do |
| Nosotros hacemos | We do |
| Vosotros hacéis | You do |
| Ellos hacen | They do |
Decir – to say. Despite the fact that this verb has –CIR, this one is fully exceptional:
| Yo digo | I say |
| Tú dices | You say |
| Él, ella, usted dice | He, she says, you say |
| Nosotros decimos | We say |
| Vosotros decís | You say |
| Ellos dicen | They say |
Saber – to know (something)
Yo sé – I know. This is the only irregular form.
Dar – to give
Yo doy – I give. The only irregular form.
Ver – to see
Yo veo – I see. The only irregular form.
Oír – to hear
Yo oigo, tu oyes, el oye, nosotros oímos, vosotros oís, ellos oyen.
Salir – to leave
Yo salgo – I leave. The only irregular form
Caer – to fall
Yo caigo – I fall. The only irregular form
Traer – to bring
Yo traigo – I bring. The only irregular form
Oler – to smell
Yo huelo, tú hueles, él huele, nosotros olemos, vosotros oléis, ellos huelen
Build sentences with these words and irregular verbs that you learned in this lesson:
| la canción – song la oficina – office el dinero – money el camión – truck el corazón – heart | la pared – wall el amor – love la voz – voice la copa – glass el juego – game | el emprendedor – entrepreneur el directór – director la cámara – camera el trabajador – employee |
Conjugate these verbs in present tense with all pronouns:
| conducir – to drive establecer – to establish reconocer – to recognize | traducir – to translate nacer – to be born crecer – to grow |