Are there lots of Irregular Verbs in Spanish? What is the best way to learn them?

Question

I'd say I'm a beginner at Spanish but I'd like to get good at conjugating (if that is the word) verbs. However what's the best way to learn the Irregular Verb endings?

E.g In the Present Tense Ir becomes: Voy, Vas, Va, Vamos, Vais, Van

Are there any patterns to look out for to make learning the Irregulars any easier?

Thank you for any help you can give on this

Answer 1

It's a combination of listening and memorizing aided by practiciing. (Sounds like the basics of learning a language!) You will learn that there are groups of similar verbs with the same irregular conjugation patterns, so you don't have to learn each one individually. Once you can conjugate poner, you can also conjugate suponer, proponer, etc.

Answer 2

I don't know that there are lots...the main thing about speaking spanish is listening to spanish. There are, and always will be, lots of words you wont know. Also, there are lots of words you already know, but you don't know you know them, because no one has spoken them to you yet. But with careful listening, you will know what is being said because of the totality of the conversation. No one is going to walk up to you and just say a word and then ask you what it means. The world doesn't really work that way. Just work on your listening skills and you'll do just fine.

Answer 3

In addition to listening, I think it would be useful to memorise the conjugations for some of the really common verbs, like tener (to have), ser (to be) and estar (to be). Probably best just start with the present tense at first.

I found quite a few existing threads on which verb forms to learn first on these forums, so it would be worth searching for them.

Answer 4

As mentioned above, there are different categories of irregular verbs. I have found it helpful to use a 3-ring binder with dividers to organize the most useful verbs into their categories. For example, there are sections for each of the different groups of stem changing verbs, one section for all the "go" verbs, etc.

If you add one verb to each of these sections and work on it for one week, you will make some real progress. When you feel confident with what you have learned, begin adding new verbs to each section until you have a collection of verb conjugations you have memorized.

Answer 5

This question is a little old but new students to the language can always look up the question on verbs and the more answers there are the better. I am in the process of learning groups of verbs as outlined in my school text book. The spanish I text starts you off with regular verbs 1st except for ser & tener which are irregular. Since the lessons are geared around the spoken spanish, questions and greetings are given with the proper verbs and only in the present tense since just learning the conjugations in this form is hard enough and the later tenses are added in spanish II. We did not get to the irregular verbs until the end of the semester, chapter 5. I use flash cards for the infinitive form and my digital recorder to add the conjugation to each verb learned. This last session I recorded had 106 verbs both regular and irregular and I listen to them at least 30 minutes per day and longer if my schedule allows. This is not instant learning and takes a lot of effort and practice and homework problems and tests to see how you are doing. I have a site that gives you 4 practice tests and a final exam on the verbs and grammar lessons and is very good but you have to pay $9 per month, well worth it.