Explanation

Spanish irregular present tense verbs fall into various categories: verbs with irregular yo forms in the present indicative, stem-changing verbs, spelling-change verbs, and verbs that are irregular in all forms.

Irregular Yo

Some present tense yo conjugations undergo spelling changes or are irregular.

Verbs with Spelling Changes in the Yo Form

Verbs that end in -guir , -ger , or -gir undergo a spelling change in their present tense yo forms.

Here are examples of verbs that have yo spelling changes.

extinguir extin go dirigir diri j o escoger esco j o exigir exi j o recoger reco j o

Verbs with Irregular Yo Forms

The following verbs have irregular yo forms. The other present tense forms of these verbs follow the patterns for regular -ar , -er , and -ir verbs.

Here are examples of verbs with irregular yo spelling changes.

caber quepo caer caigo conocer conozco dar doy hacer hago poner pongo saber salir salgo traducir traduzco traer traigo valer valgo ver veo

Most verbs that end in -cer or -ucir have irregular present tense yo forms.

Prefixes Count

Verbs made up of the above forms plus a prefix are also irregular in the yo form. Check out these examples.

com poner compongo des hacer deshago dis poner dispongo dis traer distraigo pro poner propongo re hacer rehago re poner repongo su poner supongo

Irregular in All Forms

There are a number of verbs that have irregular forms other than the yo form. These include stem-changing verbs, spelling-change verbs, and verbs that are considered truly irregular.

Four of the most frequently-used verbs in Spanish ( ser , estar , ir , and haber ) are irregular. The present indicative conjugations for each are given below.