This is the thirty-third lesson in our beginner level Spanish course and we will look at Irregular Spanish Verbs in Present Tense.
In lesson twenty of this course we learned that the majority of Spanish verbs in Present Tense are Regular Verbs and that Regular signifies that such verbs follow the same pattern and are conjugated (endings changed) in the same way. This is great, but unfortunately there are also Irregular Spanish Verbs in Present Tense.
Irregular verbs do not follow the same one-size-fits-all, easy-to-learn patterns as the Regular verbs. With Irregular verbs you have to remember each specific conjugation. There are Irregular verbs in every tense (present, past, future, etc). In this lesson we will look specifically at Irregular Spanish Verbs in Present Tense.
We have already seen some Irregular verbs in this course and hopefully you are already familiar with them. The most fundamental Spanish verbs, Ser (To be) and Estar (To be), are both irregular, as are Querer (To Want) and Tener (To Have) . In this lesson we will take a look at some other commonly used Irregular Spanish Verbs in Present Tense and give you some tips to help remember their conjugations.
Irregular Spanish Verbs in Present Tense
The following Spanish verbs do not follow the same conjugation rules as regular verbs. You will see that these irregular verbs are organised into 4 groups. All the verbs in each group follow the same rules.
Entender: To understand
Querer: To want
Comenzar/Empezar: To start
Perder: To lose
Pensar: To think
Encontrar: To find
Volver: To return
Dormir: To sleep
Costar: To cost
Recordar: To remember
Pedir: To ask for/To order
Servir: To serve
Vestirse: To get dressed
Reír: To laugh
Freír: To fry
Construir: To build
Destruir: To destroy
Oír: To hear
Incluir: To include
Concluir: To conclude
Let’s look more closely at one irregular verb from each group
Entender (To understand)
All the verbs in this group changed an E to an IE (for all persons except Nosotros/as and Vosotros/as) and are conjugated as follows:
| Yo Tú Él/Ella Nosotros/as Vosotros/as Ellos/Ellas |
Entiendo Entiendes Entiende Entendemos Entendéis Entienden |
(If Entender were regular it would be Yo Entendo, Tú Entendes, Él/Ella Entende, etc…)
Encontrar (To find)
All the verbs in this group change O to an UE (for all persons except Nosotros/as and Vosotros/as) and are conjugated as follows:
| Yo Tú Él/Ella Nosotros/as Vosotros/as Ellos/Ellas |
Encuentro Encuentras Encuentra Encontramos Encontráis Encuentran |
Pedir (To ask for/order)
All the verbs in this group change E to an I (for all persons except Nosotros/as and Vosotros/as) and are conjugated as follows:
| Yo Tú Él/Ella Nosotros/as Vosotros/as Ellos/Ellas |
Pido Pides Pide Pedimos Pedís Piden |
Construir (To build)
All the verbs in this group add Y (for all persons except Nosotros/as and Vosotros/as) and are conjugated as follows:
| Yo Tú Él/Ella Nosotros/as Vosotros/as Ellos/Ellas |
Construyo Construyes Construye Construimos Construís Construyen |
Coming across irregular verbs for the first time can be a frustrating experience. You have just learned the clear and consistent patterns for conjugating regular verbs and then you learn that there are many other rogue verbs knocking about. Don’t worry, give yourself time. Don’t expect to remember the irregular verbs right away. Little by little you will become more familiar with them as you see and hear them more as will have happened with Ser, Estar, Tener, and Querer.
