Spanish Irregular Present Tense Verbs

RELEVANT LESSON:

Explanation

Quick Answer

Spanish irregular present tense verbs fall into various categories: verbs with irregular yo forms in the present indicative, stem-changing verbs, spelling-change verbs, and verbs that are irregular in all forms.

Irregular Yo

Some present tense yo conjugations undergo spelling changes or are irregular.

Verbs with Spelling Changes in the Yo Form

Verbs that end in -guir, -ger, or -gir undergo a spelling change in their present tense yo forms.

For verbs that end in -guir, the yo form ends in go.
For verbs that end in -ger or -gir, the g in the yo form changes to a j.

Here are examples of verbs that have yo spelling changes.

Spanish Infinitive	English Infinitive	Yo Form
extinguir	to extinguish	extingo
dirigir	to direct	dirijo
escoger	to choose	escojo
exigir	to demand	exijo
recoger	to pick up	recojo

Verbs with Irregular Yo Forms

The following verbs have irregular yo forms. The other present tense forms of these verbs follow the patterns for regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.

Here are examples of verbs with irregular yo spelling changes.

Spanish Infinitive	English Infinitive	Yo Form
caber	to fit	quepo
caer	to fall	caigo
conocer	to know	conozco
dar	to give	doy
hacer	to do/make	hago
poner	to put	pongo
saber	to know	sé
salir	to leave/to go out	salgo
traducir	to translate	traduzco
traer	to bring	traigo
valer	to be worth	valgo
ver	to see	veo

Most verbs that end in -cer or -ucir have irregular present tense yo forms.

Prefixes Count

Verbs made of up the above forms plus a prefix are also irregular in the yo form. Check out these examples.

Spanish	English	Yo Form
componer	to compose	compongo
deshacer	to undo	deshago
disponer	to make available	dispongo
distraer	to distract	distraigo
proponer	to propose	propongo
rehacer	to redo	rehago
reponer	to put back	repongo
suponer	to suppose	supongo

Irregular in All Forms

There are a number of verbs that have irregular forms other than the yo form. These include stem-changing verbs, spelling-change verbs, and verbs that are considered truly irregular.

Four of the most frequently-used verbs in Spanish (ser, estar, ir, and haber) are irregular. The present indicative conjugations for each are given below.

Irregular Conjugations

Ser and Estar

Subject	ser(to be)	estar(to be)
yo	soy	estoy
tú	eres	estás
usted, él, ella	es	está
nosotros	somos	estamos
vosotros	sois	estáis
ustedes, ellos, ellas	son	están