Irregular verbs in Presente de Indicativo

Empiezo a trabajar a las nueve

All the verbs mentioned in the previous few lessons were regular. It means, that to make personal forms out of them, you just grab an infinitive and change its ending.

In irregular verbs some other letters should be also changed, apart from the endings.

There is a great number of irregular verbs in Presente. However, they have something in common, and can be divided into several groups.

In this lesson we are going to list and learn three groups of irregular verbs, whose vowel letters in the middle of the stem are modified.

A stem is part of a verb without ending. For example, the stem of hablar is habl. In other words, a stem is the base of a verb, to which personal endings are added.

In a regular verb the stem always remains the same. In an irregular verb the stem has tiny changes when it’s conjugated.

e – ie

In the first group of Spanish irregular verbs the vowel e changes to ie.

cerrar – to close, to shut

yo cierro

tú cierras

él, ella, usted cierra

nosotros cerramos

vosotros cerráis

ellos, ellas, ustedes cierran

Yo cierro la ventana – I shut the window

Las tiendas cierran a las diez – The shops close at ten

The verbs cerrar and alike, are conjugated just like the regular ones, except for the e – ie modification.

The verb empezar (to start) belongs to this group, as well.

Try it yourself:

empezar – to start, to begin

yo – …

tú – …

él, ella, usted – …

nosotros – …

vosotros – …

ellos, ellas, ustedes – …

¿A qué hora empieza la película?

La película empieza a las ocho

As you can see, the forms for nosotros and vosotros are regular. The e vowel isn’t changed in these persons.

Try it yourself:

The class starts at 9

I close my eyes

We close our eyes

What time do you start? (vosotros)

Other verbs with the e – ie modification.

pensar – to think

Pienso que María está casada — I think that Maria is married

El señor García es muy inteligente y piensa mucho — Mr. Garcia is very intelligent and thinks a lot

querer – to want

Quiero viajar a España — I want to travel to Spain

¿Quieres un caramelo? — Do you want a candy?

entender – to understand

No entendemos a los ingleses — We don’t understand English people

¿Entiendes bien el tema? – Do you understand well the subject?

perder – to lose

Miguel pierde dinero a menudo — Miguel often loses money

Perdemos mucho tiempo — We waste much time

You already know the verbs creer and comprender from the previous lessons.

creo que – I think that

comprendo – I understand

These are regular verbs, and they are almost equal to pensar and entender, respectively.

creer vs. pensar

The difference is that creer is more like “to believe” or “to suppose”, whereas pensar means the mental process of thinking.

comprender vs. entender

These two words basically have the same meaning. Entender is just used more often.

Try it yourself:

I don’t understand

Do you think, I’m Spanish? (usted)

They want to live in Valencia

Carla loses mobile phones very often

Using irregular verbs you should pay attention to both things – the vowel modification and the ending.

Don’t say: ellos quieran or ella pierda

o – ue

The next modification is when the vowel o is changed to ue.

dormir – to sleep

yo duermo

tú duermes

él, ella, usted duerme

nosotros dormimos

vosotros dormís

ellos, ellas, ustedes duermen

The logic is the same here. Nosotros and vosotros aren’t modified, either.

Duermo muy bien cada noche — I sleep very well every night

¿Cuántas horas duermes? — How many hours do you sleep?

volver – to return

¿Cuándo vuelves de México? — When will you return from Mexico?

Vuelvo a casa a las siete — I return home at seven

poder – can

Juan puede leer libros en inglés — Juan can read books in English

¿Puedes cerrar la puerta, por favor? — Can you shut the door, please?

costar – to cost

¿Cuánto cuesta esa chaqueta? — How much does this jacket cost?

Los zapatos cuestan ochenta euros — The shoes cost eighty euro

encontrar – to find

No encuentro mi móvil — I don’t find my mobile phone

Don’t forget about the r before the ending.

Don’t say: encontar or encuento

jugar (a) – to play (smth.)

Jugar is the only one verb in the whole Spanish language, that has the u – ue modification. We will join it to this group.

Juego al tenis – I play tennis

Jugamos a las cartas – We play cards

Use the a preposition together with a definite article to add a game after jugar.

Try it yourself:

I can’t understand this word

Can you wait for two minutes? (vosotras)

When do the children return from school?

How much does a house in Spain cost?

We sleep very little

The child plays football

e – i

This is the third vowel modification. The e is turned i in the verb stem.

pedir – to ask

yo pido

tú pides

él, ella, usted pide

nosotros pedimos

vosotros pedís

ellos, ellas, ustedes piden

Pido perdón – I beg pardon

El cliente pide al camarero la cuenta – The client asks the waiter for the check

The verb pedir means to ask for something. It doesn’t mean to ask a question.

repetir – to repeat

Repito otra vez – I repeat one more time

servir – to serve

La cuchara sirve para comer — The spoon (serves) is needed for eating

Manuel sirve en la mili — Manuel serves in the army

Try it yourself:

The computer is needed for working

The teacher repeats the words

I ask my father for money

Not all Spanish verbs that have the o or e letters in the stem are irregular. When you get used to the basic regular and irregular verbs, you will distinguish them.

Spanish irregular verbs need to be practiced a lot, so that you can form sentences fast without thinking too much. There is a huge number of verbs with the same vowel modifications, but all of them follow the same pattern. When you find more verbs like these ones, add them to one of these groups and memorize them.