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 tengoI have (own form with yo)
Tú tienesYou have
Él, ella, usted tieneHe, she, you have
Nosotros tenemosWe have
Vosotros tenéisYou have
Ellos, ustedes tienenThey, you have

Querer – to want/to love. This verb has E-IE change in stem.

Yo quieroI want
Tú quieresYou want
Él, ella, usted quiereHe, she, you want
Nosotros queremosWe want
Vosotros queréisYou want
Ellos, ustedes quierenThey, you want

Other irregular verbs with stems in present tense:

 ChangeStem
Dormir- to sleepo-ueDuerm-
Jugar – to playu-ueJueg-
Entender– to understande-ieEntiend-
Costar – to costo-ueCuest-
Pensar – to thinke-iePiens-
Encontrar – to findo-ueEncuentr-
Pedir – to ask fore-iPid-
Perder – to losee-iePierd-
Cerrar – to closee-eiCierr-
Volver – to returno-ueVuelv-
Recordar – to remembero-ueRecuerd-

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 voyI go
Tú vasYou go
Él, ella, usted vaHe, she goes, you go
Nosotros vamosWe go
Vosotros váisYou go
Ellos, ustedes vanThey, you go

Hacer – to do. This verb has the only irregular form “Yo hago”.

Yo hagoI do
Tú hacesYou do
Él, ella, usted haceHe, she does, you do
Nosotros hacemosWe do
Vosotros hacéisYou do
Ellos hacenThey do

Decir – to say. Despite the fact that this verb has –CIR, this one is fully exceptional:

Yo digoI say
Tú dicesYou say
Él, ella, usted diceHe, she says, you say
Nosotros decimosWe say
Vosotros decísYou say
Ellos dicenThey 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

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