In this lesson, we are going to work with some very irregular verbs in the present tense. There are not many — only eight — but they are used constantly in everyday Spanish, so it is important to learn them well and feel confident when using them.
The verbs are: ser (to be), estar (to be), ir (to go), haber (to have -auxiliary), tener (to have), venir (to come), decir (to say), and oír (to hear).
To better understand how they are conjugated, we will divide them into two groups.
SER, ESTAR, IR and HABER in the present tense
These four verbs (ser, estar, ir and haber) do not follow any pattern and have irregular forms in almost every person of the present tense, as you can see in the table below.
Let’s see some examples:
- Carolina es profesora de español (Carolina is a Spanish teacher).
- ¿Dónde están los niños? (Where are the children?)
- Normalmente voy a trabajar en bicicleta. (I usually go to work by bike).
- Hemos comprado unas naranjas muy dulces (We have bought some very sweet oranges).
💡Click on the link to see the differences between SER and ESTAR.
Verbs with a “YO -GO” form and VOWEL CHANGES
The verbs tener, venir, decir and oír are irregular in the first person singular (yo), where they add a -g (tengo, vengo, digo, oigo).
They also have vowel changes in other forms, except nosotros and vosotros, which remain regular — just like other stem-changing verbs in Spanish. Below is the entire conjugation of these verbs in the present tense.
Here you have some examples:
- Elena tiene tres gatos y dos perros (Elena has three cats and two dogs).
- Mis amigos vienen a visitarnos este fin de semana (My friends are coming to visit us this weekend).
- Yo nunca digo mentiras (I never tell lies).
- Mi abuela no oye nada, está sorda (My grandmother doesn’t hear anything; she is deaf).
💡 Notice that there is also a small group of verbs that are very irregular just in the yo form of the present tense; some of them also add a «G». Click the link to learn more about them.
VERY IRREGULAR verbs in the present: EXERCICES
The best way to become familiar with the conjugation of these very irregular verbs in the present tense is to practice a lot. Here you will find activities that will help you master these eight essential Spanish verbs.