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Irregular in the Present Tense

There is an exception to every rule except the rule that states there's an exception to every rule. You can go crazy contemplating this paradox, but as you study language, you become convinced that the statement is true. The good news about Spanish is that many of the exceptions to the rules are predictable. The most commonly used irregular verbs and the most important patterns to irregular verbs follow.

Common irregular verbs

Some verbs are so irregular that you will not be able to recognize that a conjugated form goes with the infinitive of the verb. The most irregular verbs in Spanish are also the most common, so you see the conjugated forms of these verbs often. Eventually, you will come to know the conjugated forms of these verbs so well it may be difficult to remember the infinitive form. The verb ir means to go. Notice that the entire verb looks like the - ir infinitive ending, but it is conjugated nothing at all like a normal - ir verb. Also, notice that the conjugated forms of the verb ir in Table 1 look more like they come from some - ar verb with a v in it.

TABLE 1 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Ir

yo voy (I go)

nosotros/nosotras vamos ( we go)

tú vas (you [informal] go)

vosotros/vosotras vais (you [informal, plural] go)

él va (he goes)

ellos van (they go)

ella va (she goes)

ellas van (they [feminine] go)

usted (Ud.) va (you [formal] go)

ustedes (Uds.) van (you [formal, plural] go)

Once you get used to thinking that voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, and van all mean go or goes, it's hard to remember that the infinitive that means to go is the verb ir.

Another really irregular verb is ser, which means to be. Be aware that each word that follows a pronoun in Table 2 is the entire form of the verb.

TABLE 2 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Ser

yo soy (I am)

nosotros/nosotras somos (we are)

tú eres (you [informal] are)

vosotros/vosotras sois (you [informal, plural] are)

él es (he is)

ellos son (they are)

ella es (she is)

ellas son (they [feminine] are)

usted ( Ud.) es (you [formal] are)

ustedes ( Uds.) son (you [formal, plural] are)

Luckily, the most common form, es, sounds a lot like its English equivalent is.

Not only is ser irregular in its conjugated forms, it also has to compete with the verb estar, which also means to be.

Verbs irregular in the yo form

There are several common verbs in Spanish that are completely regular verbs except for the yo form. These are usually called yo irregulars. Be sure to learn the useful verbs in this section and remember that all of the forms of these verbs are regular except for the yo form. To help you remember the irregular yo form, verbs with the same irregular yo form are grouped together.

There are two extremely important verbs that are only irregular because the yo form of the verb ends in - oy: dar (to give) and estar (to be). As you can see in Tables 3 and 4 , the rest of the forms of the verbs have regular endings.

TABLE 3 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Dar

yo doy (I give)

nosotros/nosotras damos (we give)

tú das (you [informal] give)

vosotros/vosotras dáis (you [informal, plural] give)

él da (he gives)

ellos dan (they give)

ella da (she gives)

ellas dan (they [feminine])

usted (Ud.) da (you [formal] give)

ustedes (Uds.) dan (you [formal, plural] give)


TABLE 4 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Estar

yo estoy (I am)

nosotros/nosotras estamos (we are)

tú estás (you [informal] are)

vosotros/vosotras estáis (you [informal, plural] are)

él está (he is)

ellos están (they are)

ella está (she is)

ellas están (they [feminine] are)

usted (Ud.) está (you [formal] are)

ustedes (Uds.) están (you [formal, plural] are)

Notice that the verb estar has accents marks on all forms except the first person yo and nosotros/nosotras.

There are many verbs with a yo form that ends in - go even though there is not a single letter g in the infinitive. Most of these verbs are regular in all of the rest of the forms.

The four simplest and most common - go verbs are:

  • hacer (to make, to do)

  • poner (to put)

  • valer (to be worth)

  • salir (to leave)

The verbs hacer, poner, and valer are all regular - er verbs with an irregular yo form that ends in - go. Tables 5 , 6 , and 7 show how to conjugate each verb.

TABLE 5 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Hacer

yo hago (I make/do)

nosotros/nosotras hacemos (we make/do)

tú haces (you [informal] make/do)

vosotros/vosotras hacéis (you [informal, plural] make/do)

él hace (he does)

ellos hacen (they do)

ella hace (she makes/does)

ellas hacen (they [feminine] do)

usted (Ud.) hace (you [formal] do)

ustedes (Uds.) hacen (you [formal, plural] do)


TABLE 6 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Poner

yo pongo (I put)

nosotros/nosotras ponemos (we put)

tú pones (you [informal] put)

vosotros/vosotras ponéis (you [informal, plural] put)

él pone (he puts)

ellos ponen (they put)

ella pone (she puts)

ellas ponen (they [feminine] put)

usted (Ud.) pone (you [formal] put)

ustedes (Uds.) ponen (you [formal, plural] put)


TABLE 7 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Valer

yo valgo (I am worth)

nosotros/nosotras valemos (we are worth)

tú vales (you [informal] are worth)

vosotros/vosotras valéis (you [informal, plural] are worth)

él vale (he is worth)

ellos valen (they are worth)

ella vale (she [it] is worth)

ellas valen (they [feminine] are worth)

usted (Ud.) vales (you [formal] are worth)

ustedes (Uds.) valen (you [formal, plural] are worth)

Salir is a - go verb like poner, hacer, and valer. Since it is an - ir verb, it will have the regular endings for an - ir verb which differ slightly from - er verbs in the nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras forms as shown in Table 8 .

TABLE 8 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Salir

yo salgo (I leave)

nosotros/nosotras salimos (we leave)

tú sales (you [informal] leave)

vosotros/vosotras salís (you [informal, plural] leave)

él sale (he leaves)

ellos salen (they leave)

ella sale (she leaves)

ellas salen (they [feminine] leave)

usted (Ud.) sale (you [formal] leave)

ustedes (Uds.) salen (you [formal, plural] leave)

The next two verbs— caer (to fall) and traer (to bring)—follow the regular - er verb patterns of a - go verb, except for the irregular yo form, which adds an i to the conjugated form. Look to Tables 9 and 10 to see how the correct forms look.

TABLE 9 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Caer

yo caigo (I fall)

nosotros or nosotras caemos (we fall)

tú caes (you [informal] fall)

vosotros or vosotras caéis (you [informal, plural] fall)

él cae (he falls)

ellos caen (they fall)

ella cae (she falls)

ellas caen (they [feminine] fall)

usted (Ud.) cae (you [formal] fall)

ustedes (Uds.) caen (you [formal, plural] fall)


TABLE 10 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Traer

yo traigo (I bring)

nosotros/nosotras traemos (we bring)

tú traes (you [informal] bring)

vosotros/vosotras traéis (you [informal, plural] bring)

él trae (he brings)

ellos traen (they bring)

ella trae (she brings)

ellas traen (they [feminine] bring)

usted (Ud.) trae (you [formal] bring)

ustedes (Uds.) traen (you [formal, plural] bring)

Three common - go verbs also fall under another irregular category called stem-changing verbs. The irregular - go ending of the yo form follows to keep the list of - go verbs together.

tener (to have [possession])

yo form: tengo

venir (to come)

yo form: vengo

decir (to say, to tell)

yo form: digo

Normally you can't predict that a verb will be irregular in its yo form unless you already know the verb. There is one rule that is consistent, however. If the infinitive of the verb ends in a vowel followed by - cer or - cir, the yo form of the verb ends in - zco. Here are the infinitive forms of some of the most common - zco verbs:

agradecer

to thank

aparecer

to appear

conocer

to know, to be aquainted with (a person)

desaparecer

to disappear

desconocer

to be ignorant of

establecer

to establish

merecer

to deserve

obedecer

to obey

ofrecer

to offer

permanecer

to remain

pertenecer

to belong

These verbs will all be conjugated exactly like conocer, which is the example used in Table 11 . Use this table as model when you need to conjugate the other verbs.

TABLE 11 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Conocer

yo conozco (I know)

nosotros/nosotras conocemos (we know)

tú conoces (you [informal] know)

vosotros/vosotras conocéis (you [informal, plural] know)

él conoce (he knows)

ellos conocen (they know)

ella conoce (she knows)

ellas conocen (they [feminine] know)

usted (Ud.) conoce (you [formal] know)

ustedes (Uds.) conocen (you [formal, plural] know)

There are many verbs that end in - ducir. Since all of these verbs have the same ending with a vowel followed by - cir, they will all be conjugated the same way. All of the forms of these verbs are regular except the yo form which will end in - zco. All of the verbs in the following list and any other verbs that end in - ducir is conjugated exactly like producir, so refer to Table 12 as an example for the conjugations of all the following verbs:

TABLE 12 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Producir

yo produzco (I produce)

nosotros/nosotras producimos (we produce)

tú produces (you [informal] produce)

vosotros/vosotras producís (you [informal, plural] produce)

él produce (he produces)

ellos producen (they produce)

ella produce (she produces)

ellas producen (they [feminine] produce)

usted (Ud.) produce (you [formal] produce)

ustedes (Uds.) producen (you [formal, plural] produce)

  • conducir (to drive)

  • introducir (to introduce)

  • traducir (to translate)

  • producir (to produce)

Two other verbs have unique yo forms. Both ver (to see) and saber (to know [a fact]) are regular - er verbs in all forms except the yo form, but their yo forms are completely different as shown in Tables 13 and 14

TABLE 13 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Ver

yo veo (I see)

nosotros/nosotras vemos (we see)

tú ves (you [informal] see)

vosotros/vosotras véis (you [informal, plural] see)

él ve (he sees)

ellos ven (they see)

ella ve (she sees)

ellas ven (they [feminine] see)

usted (Ud.) ve (you [formal] see)

ustedes (Uds.) ven (you [formal, plural] see)


TABLE 14 Conjugation Chart for the Verb