A Simple Guide To The 5 Most Common Spanish Irregular Verbs

It’s time to talk about one of the most complex parts of learning Spanish: Spanish irregular verbs.

But they don’t have to be a problem, because there’s nothing to fear from a bunch of grammar rules. In fact, I’m sure that you’ll get the hang of them quickly!

In this article, you'll learn how to conjugate the five most common Spanish irregular verbs. And I encourage you to refer back to it as many times as you need.

What Are Spanish Irregular Verbs?

Something irregular doesn’t follow an established norm. So irregular verbs are those that have particular conjugations.

Sometimes, they have subtle changes, and it’s even possible to learn a trick to conjugate them (as happens with estar (to be)). But other times the changes are much more radical, and you'll have to learn them, as happens with ir (to go). 

Anyway, don’t be scared: although there are many Spanish irregular verbs, there are a number of key verbs that you'll hear all the time.

That means by following the rules of StoryLearning and reading books in Spanish, you'll pick up these common irregular verbs without studying or memorisation.

Next, you'll discover what they are; but first, here's a brief explanation of the main characteristics of Spanish irregular verbs.

How To Remember Spanish Irregular Verbs

Generally, Spanish irregular verbs have the following alterations in their lexical roots:

• Changes in vowels. The strong vowel is replaced by a weak one; for example, the present indicative for pedir (to ask for) is pido. A diphthong may also occur, as with the verb dormir (to sleep), which can be conjugated as duermo.
• Changes in consonants. Consonants can be added or modified, as in hago (conjugation of hacer (to do)), or parezco (conjugation of parecer (to seem or to look like)).
• Several roots. The two verbs where this happens are ser (to be) and ir (to go). You'll discover this in more detail later!

How To Know If A Verb Is Irregular?

Despite having paid attention to the previous section, it’s normal that you still have certain doubts. That’s why we have a little trick for you so that you know when a verb in Spanish is irregular.

All you have to do is try to conjugate the verb following the conjugation of a regular Spanish verb, like amar (to love), temer (to fear), or partir (to leave). Now, if the sound associated with the pronunciation changes, it’s an irregular verb!

The 5 Most Common Spanish Irregular Verbs

Now, here's what you've all been waiting for: a list of the most common Spanish irregular verbs, with their respective conjugations in the indicative (i.e not the Spanish subjunctive).

If you want to hear these verbs (and other Spanish irregular verbs) in the context of a story, press play on the video below. Otherwise, keep reading to discover these verbs and their conjugations.

1. Ser

The verb ser (to be) may be the quintessential irregular verb. If you have doubts about the difference between ser and estar, you should know that:

• ser is used to describe what exactly something is; what is the nature of its being
• estar defines the state of that thing

Having made this clarification, let’s take a look at the conjugation of ser with the present, preterite, imperfect, and future tenses.

Conjugation

Sample Sentences

• Soy demasiado observador. (I’m very observant.)
• Eres una persona muy dulce. (You’re a very sweet person.)
• En la escuela, éramos buenos estudiantes. (We were good students at school.)

2. Hacer

The verb hacer is usually translated as “to do” or “to make,” but it can be used in other contexts, such as when you talk about the weather. Look how it’s conjugated, and notice how the root changes in the imperfect indicative from an “e” to an “i”.

Conjugation

Sample Sentences

• El camión de la basura hace mucho ruido. (The garbage truck makes a lot of noise.)
• ¿Qué hacíais despiertos tan tarde? (What were you doing up so late?)
• Los arquitectos hicieron un hermoso edificio. (The architects made a beautiful building.)

3. Ir

When you see some conjugations of the verb ir (to go) such as fui or vaya, you might think that it’s a different verb—yet it’s the same! Yup, we could say that ir is super irregular. Let’s take a look at it in detail.

Sample Sentences

• Fuimos a la playa. (We went to the beach.)
• Si quieres, vamos al concierto. (If you want, we go to the concert.)
• Iré al supermercado, ¿quieres que te compre algo? (I’ll go to the supermarket, do you want me to buy you something?)

4. Estar

The verb estar is another of the most important verbs in the Spanish language and, of course… it’s irregular. But remembering how to conjugate it is easy, because its root is always the same: est.

Conjugation

Sample Sentences

• Estoy esperando el autobús. (I’m waiting for the bus.)
• ¿Estuviste en la fiesta ayer? (Were you at the party yesterday?)
• Estaré ocupado mañana por mañana. (I will be busy tomorrow morning.)

5. Poder

Poder (can) is an interesting case, because it allows us to see how the vowel “o” is changed to an “ue” in the present indicative: yo puedo (I can). Let’s see all the conjugations of this verb.

Conjugation

Sample Sentences

• ¿Puedes venir un momento? (Can you come for a moment?)
• Pudiste habérmelo dicho antes. (You could have told me before.)
• Si vamos al río, podremos pescar. (If we go to the river, we can fish.)

List Of Spanish Irregular Verbs

The verbs that you've just learned are the most common, but there are many other Spanish irregular verbs, such as:

• Andar (to walk)
• Caer (to fall)
• Dar (to give)
• Decir (to say)
• Entender (to understand)
• Jugar (to play)
• Leer (to read)
• Saber (to know)
• Salir (to leave)
• Tener (to have)
• Traer (to bring)

Final Thoughts On Spanish Irregular Verbs

The verbs you've just learned will be part of any conversation you have in Spanish; so learning how to conjugate them is essential.

Don’t worry if it takes some time to get to grips with them. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes either. After all, making mistakes means you're learning!

By the way, if you want to listen to exciting stories, with people conjugating all these verbs in a lot of different dialects such as Argentine Spanish, Chilean Spanish, Colombian Spanish or Mexican Spanish, check out the StoryLearning method: you'll find books, the StoryLearning Spanish YouTube channel and the StoryLearning Spanish podcast.

¡Que los disfrutes!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.