The conjugation of Spanish verbs is difficult enough but when you throw into the mix the many irregular verbs that exist in Spanish it becomes a much bigger task to become a fully fledged master in the use of verbs.
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I mentioned on the homepage that there are a great number of irregular verbs in Spanish, over 2000 in fact, but you should not worry about that figure…even experienced Spanish speakers will not know all of them!
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However, there are a number of irregular verbs that you will need to learn thoroughly. These verbs are used regularly on a daily basis and without them it would be practically impossible to hold a meaningful conversation.
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These verbs are ser and estar, both meaning ‘to be’, tener and haber, both meaning ‘to have’ and, ir meaning ‘to go’.
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For a full explanation of how to use and conjugate these verbs, plus free downloadable conjugation sheets for each of them just click on the linked text above. There are a quite a few other important Spanish irregular verbs that you will need to know how to conjugate properly as they will be extremely useful to you; but before I list them I will highlight the main types of irregularities that affect Spanish verbs in the present tense.
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1. Stem changing verbs
Stem changing verbs are quite common in Spanish and make up a large number of irregular verbs, there are three types of stem changing verbs, e to ie, e to i, and o to ue and examples of these will follow.
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One thing that should be noted is that stem changing does not affect the nosotros and vosotros form of the verb.
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| e – ie | e – i | o – ue | |
| Comenzar | Pedir | Dormir | |
| to begin | to ask for | to sleep | |
| Yo | comienzo | pido | duermo |
| Tú | comienzas | pides | duermes |
| Ud., él, ella | comienza | pide | duerme |
| Nosotros/as | comenzamos | pedimos | dormimos |
| Vosotros/as | comenzáis | pedéis | dormís |
| Uds., ellos, ellas | comienzan | piden | duermen |
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2. Irregular ‘Yo’ verbs
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As the names suggests, these verbs are irregular in the yo conjugation of the present tense and the remaining conjugations follow a regular pattern…as always with Spanish there are exceptions, but for now it is best you just be aware of the two main types of irregularities in the ‘yo’ form.
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a) Verbs that have an additional ‘g’
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Common verbs that have an irregular ‘yo’ form are:
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| Poner – to put | Yo pongo, tú pones, él pone etc… |
| Valer – to value | Yo valgo, tú vales, él vale etc… |
| Salir – to leave | Yo salgo, tú sales, él sale etc… |
| Hacer – to do, make | Yo hago, tú haces, él hace etc… |
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b) Verbs that contain a ‘c’ that is preceded by a ‘z’
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| Conocer – to know | Yo conozco, tú conoces, él conoce etc… |
| Yacer – to lie | Yo yazco, tú yaces, él yace etc… |
| Lucir – to shine | Yo luzco, tú luces, él luce etc… |
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There are of course irregular verbs that have their own specific irregular ‘yo’ conjugation but for now these should give you a good starting point.
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If you are struggling with irregular spanish verb conjugations then you need to check out this excellent verb trainer that will help you to memorize difficult verb conjugations in no time at all:
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This Video covers Irregular verb conjugation in the present tense to the sounds of Justin Timberlake! Check it out…it’s fantastic!!
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that’s really funny and it helps me remmeber the verbs easier….hahaha..lol…i love your songs….they are great………hahaha…lol