Irregular Verbs in SpanishA2

A regular verb maintains the same root in all its forms and only changes the endings: habl-, com-, viv-. An irregular verb breaks that pattern in one or more forms. Sometimes it changes the vowel of the root, sometimes it changes a consonant, and sometimes it completely changes the form of a person. In hablo, hablas and hablan, the root habl- is preserved; in pienso, puedo or digo, the root no longer appears the same. To recognize a verb, separate the root and the ending and observe which part remains stable. The root provides the main meaning and the ending marks person, number, tense and mood. Therefore, in Spanish the verb form anchors the sentence and makes it possible to understand who performs the action, what state is expressed or what change occurs.

The indicative present of regular verbs is formed by adding fixed endings to the root. In verbs ending in -ar, the first person takes -o, the second person takes -as, the third person takes -a, the first person plural takes -amos, the second person plural takes -áis and the third person plural takes -an. Thus, hablar gives hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan. In verbs ending in -er, the endings are -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis and -en, as in comer: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen. In verbs ending in -ir, the endings are -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís and -en, as in vivir: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven. These forms serve as a reference for seeing what changes when a verb is irregular.

Basic present tense of regular verbs

Form	Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
ar	yo	hablar	hablo
er	yo	comer	como
ir	yo	vivir	vivo

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Many verbs change the vowel of the root in the present tense, but not in all persons. In the e→ie pattern, the e of the root becomes ie in all forms except nosotros and vosotros. Thus, pensar gives pienso, piensas, piensa, pensamos, pensáis, piensan; cerrar gives cierro; empezar gives empiezo; entender gives entiendo. In the o→ue pattern, the o of the root changes to ue in the same persons, excluding nosotros and vosotros. Therefore poder gives puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden; volver gives vuelvo; dormir gives duermo; encontrar gives encuentro. In these verbs, the regular ending is maintained, and only the vowel of the root changes.

Vowel changes in the present tense

Idea
In some verbs, the root vowel changes in every person except we and you all.
The o → ue change appears in many present-tense forms, but not with we or you all.
Some verbs alternate the root vowel to preserve the correct sound in the present tense.
The o → ue change is also seen in verbs involving rest or sleep, such as to sleep.

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In some verbs, the vowel of the root changes from e to i in the forms of yo, tú, él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes. It does not change in nosotros or vosotros. The pattern appears in verbs such as pedir: pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden; servir: sirvo, sirves, sirve, servimos, servís, sirven; repetir: repito, repites, repite, repetimos, repetís, repiten. It also appears in seguir: sigo, sigues, sigue, seguimos, seguís, siguen. The root retains the regular present-tense ending, but the internal vowel changes in the persons that carry the strongest stress on that syllable.

Change from e to i in the present tense

Idea
In certain verbs, the root e changes to i in some present-tense persons.
This change usually appears in the first, second, and third person singular forms, and in the third person plural.
Verbs with this change continue to use their normal present-tense endings.

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Some verbs only change in the first-person singular. The rest of the forms follows a more regular pattern or presents another distinct irregularity. Tener gives tengo in yo, but tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen; venir gives vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, venís, vienen. Hacer changes to hago; salir changes to salgo; poner changes to pongo. Other very frequent verbs follow the same model in the first person: conocer gives conozco, traducir gives traduzco, atraer gives atraigo. In these cases, the yo form introduces a different consonant or consonant group to maintain correct pronunciation and spelling.

Irregular I forms in the present tense

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	tener	tengo
yo	venir	vengo
yo	hacer	hago
yo	salir	salgo
yo	poner	pongo

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Verbs ending in -cer and -cir usually have spelling changes in the first person of the present tense. When the root ends in c before e or i, the yo form adds -zco to preserve the sound. Thus, conocer gives conozco, parecer gives parezco, agradecer gives agradezco, nacer gives nazco. In verbs ending in -ducir, the yo form also takes -zco: traduzco, conduzco, introduzco. In some verbs in this group, a root change also appears in other persons, such as conocer > conozco and conoces, conoce, conocemos, conocéis, conocen. The present-tense ending remains the usual one; what changes is the spelling of the root or of the yo form to respect Spanish pronunciation.

Spelling changes in -cer and -cir

Idea
Many verbs ending in -cer add zc in the I form to maintain the soft c sound.
Other verbs ending in -cer also use zc in the I form even though their meaning does not change.
In several verbs ending in -cir, the I form ends in zco to preserve the pronunciation.

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Verbs ending in -ger and -gir usually change g to j before a or o in the first person of the present tense. Therefore proteger gives protejo and escoger gives escojo. The rest of the persons maintain the normal root: proteges, protege, protegemos, protegéis, protegen. In -gir, the most frequent change is g to j in yo: dirigir gives dirijo; exigir gives exijo; fingir gives finjo. Some verbs in this group also present root changes in other forms, but the first visible feature is the spelling of the first person. The j prevents the g from being read with a soft sound before a and o.

Spelling change in -ger and -gir

Idea
Verbs ending in -ger change g to j in the I form.
Verbs ending in -gir also change g to j in the I form.

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Some extremely frequent verbs have their own forms that are best learned in full. Ser gives soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son. Estar gives estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están. Ir gives voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van. Haber appears in the present as he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han, and also as an auxiliary verb in he comido, has salido, han llegado. Saber gives sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben. Dar is conjugated as doy, das, da, damos, dais, dan. These forms do not follow a single common model, so they are learned as independent paradigms.

Present tense of very common verbs

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	ser	soy
yo	estar	estoy
yo	ir	voy
él ella usted	haber	hay
yo	saber	sé
yo	dar	doy

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In Spanish, some verb forms change according to the region or register. In many places vos is used instead of tú, and several endings change with it: vos hablás, vos tenés, vos vivís. In Spain it is normal to use vosotros for the second-person plural, whereas in much of the Americas ustedes is used: vosotros habláis versus ustedes hablan. In formal texts, everyday conversations and different countries, certain preferences for verb tense or forms of address may also vary. These variations are not errors; they are part of distinct regional and social systems. Basic conjugation makes it possible to recognize the root and the person, although the specific form may change according to the place or context.