Irregular verbs in the present tense in Spanish

• Irregular verbs don’t follow the usual pattern in the present tense.

• Some irregular present tense verbs only change in the ‘I’ form.

• Radical-changing verbs take the same endings as regular verbs but the stem also changes.

• Modal verbs include to be able to/can, have to/must. They can be used by themselves or with an infinitive.

Some of the most common verbs in Spanish are irregular verbs. This means that they don’t follow the usual pattern in the present tense. You have to learn each one separately.

The four most common irregular verbs are:

For example:

Soy de Inglaterra. - I’m from England.

La casa está enfrente del cine. - The house is opposite the cinema.

Temenos un buen profesor de español. - We have a good Spanish teacher.

Mis padres van a un hotel este fin de semana. - My parents are going to a hotel this weekend.

For more information on how to use the two verbs for 'to be' in Spanish, have a look at this guide on ser and estar.

To find out how to use the verb 'to have' in Spanish, have a look at this guide on tener.

These irregular verbs are also useful:

For example:

Mi hermano dice que quiere ir al cine. - My brother says he wants to go to the cinema.

¿Vienes conmigo? - Are you coming with me?

Some verbs are only irregular in the first person (‘I’ form) of the verb. These include:

For example:

Conozco a Andrea. - I know Andrea.

Hago mis deberes hoy. - I’m doing my homework today.

No sé. - I don’t know.

Salgo con mi novio mañana. - I’m going out with my boyfriend tomorrow.

No veo mucho la televisión. - I don’t watch much TV.

Radical-changing verbs usually take the same endings as regular verbs but the stem also changes. The vowel in the stem changes for the following parts of the verb:

• I
• you (singular)
• he/she/you (polite)
• they/you (polite plural)

Some people call these ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’ to help them remember that the stem only changes in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th forms of the verb.

There are four groups of stem-changing verbs:

For example:

Quieren una pizza. - They want a pizza.

Pide un café con leche. - He asks for a white coffee.

Podemos ir a la playa. - We can go to the beach.

Juego al tenis con mis amigas. - I play tennis with my friends.

Other e → ie stem-changing verbs include:

Other e → i stem-changing verbs include:

Other o → ue stem-changing verbs include:

Modal verbs express the speaker’s feeling towards an action, such as to be able to/can or to have to/must. These verbs indicate modality, ability, necessity, possibility, obligation or permission. They can work on their own, or with another verb that is always in the infinitive.

For example:

querer - to want

Quiero ese vestido. - I want that dress.

Quiero comprar ese vestido. - I want to buy that dress.

For example:

Deben hacer los deberes. - They must do the homework.

¿Puedes hacer los deberes? - Can you do the homework?

Sabemos como hacer los deberes. - We know how to do the homework.

Practise what you've learned about irregular verbs in the present tense in Spanish with this quiz.

Another important modal verb is soler (to normally, tend to, usually) which is always followed by an infinitive verb.

For example:

Suelo ir al colegio a pie. - I normally walk to school.

Solemos jugar al fútbol en el parque por la tarde. - We usually play football in the park in the afternoon.

Now you have learned about irregular verbs in the present tense why not explore irregular verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish?