Pralingo

Spanish · A1 · Grammar

Common irregular verbs in the present tense

You already know some irregular forms from earlier topics: tengo, voy, ¿Qué haces?, ¿Quieres un café?. Here you learn the present- forms of six very common verbs - tener, ir, hacer, querer, poder and venir. ser and estar are irregular too, but they have their own topics.

What does "irregular" mean?

With regular verbs you build every form from stem + ending: hablar → hablo, comer → como. With irregular verbs that doesn't work everywhere: tener doesn't become "teno", but tengo.

The good news: the endings almost always stay the same ones you already know. Usually only the stem changes - and often only in some forms. In the tables, the irregular part is printed in bold.

The stem changes: querer and poder

In querer, -e- becomes -ie-; in poder, -o- becomes -ue-. But not for nosotros and vosotros - there the stem stays as in the : queremos, podemos.

quererpoder
yoquieropuedo
túquierespuedes
él/ella/ustedquierepuede
nosotros/asqueremospodemos
vosotros/asqueréispodéis
ellos/ellas/ustedesquierenpueden

The "I" form in -go: hacer, tener, venir

These three verbs have a -g- in the "I" form: hago, tengo, vengo. For hacer that is the only special feature. tener and venir also change their stem like querer (-e- → -ie-), but again not for nosotros and vosotros.

hacertenervenir
yohagotengovengo
túhacestienesvienes
él/ella/ustedhacetieneviene
nosotros/ashacemostenemosvenimos
vosotros/ashacéistenéisvenís
ellos/ellas/ustedeshacentienenvienen

ir - forms of its own

ir (to go) has no pattern you could work out. It's best to learn the forms by heart - they are short and very common: voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van. Where you go is expressed with a: Voy a Madrid. Voy al supermercado. (a + el becomes al.)

querer and poder +

After querer and poder there is often a second verb in the . This is how you say what you want to do or can do: Quiero ir a España. (I want to go to Spain.) No puedo ir hoy. (I can't go today.) Only the first verb is conjugated.

Examples

  • Tengo tiempo.
  • Ella tiene dos hermanos.
  • ¿Qué haces?
  • Voy al supermercado.
  • Venimos mañana.
  • Quiero un café.
  • No puedo ir hoy.

Exercises

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 1 of 10

Following the pattern or not?

Sort each verb form into the right group.

Is this form built regularly from stem + ending?

hablo
tengo
como
voy
quiero
vivo
trabajas
puedes
hago
comemos

regular

irregular

You now know the six verbs and their patterns. First, it's about recognising the forms: which verb is behind the "I" form?

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 2 of 10

Which infinitive is behind it?

Match each "I" form with its infinitive.

Which verb does this form come from?

Now you write the forms yourself. We start with querer: the stem changes - but not in every form.

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 3 of 10

querer: all forms

Write the correct form for each subject pronoun.

Pay attention to where -e- becomes -ie-.

Subject pronounquerer
yo
tú
él/ella/usted
nosotros/as
vosotros/as
ellos/ellas/ustedes
A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 4 of 10

Not today

Choose the correct sentence.

How do you say: "We can't come today."?

With ir no pattern helps: the forms don't look like the infinitive at all. On the other hand, they are short - and you need them all the time.

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 5 of 10

ir: all forms

Write the correct form for each subject pronoun.

All forms begin with v-.

Subject pronounir
yo
tú
él/ella/usted
nosotros/as
vosotros/as
ellos/ellas/ustedes

Now the forms appear in real sentences. Pay attention to the subject: who is doing something - I, you, she, we?

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 6 of 10

Who does what?

Choose the fitting form for each sentence.

Ella dos hermanos.
¿Qué tú hoy?
Nosotros mañana.
Mis padres al supermercado.

In a conversation you only hear the forms briefly. Here you practise telling them apart reliably while listening.

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 7 of 10

Listen carefully

Listen to the sentence and choose the verb form you hear.

Which form is in the sentence?

0 / 5

Now without options: you write the forms yourself. Each time, first think about who is speaking or who is meant.

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 8 of 10

A short conversation

Write the correct form of the verb in brackets.

– ¿ (tú, querer) ir al cine hoy?
– Hoy no (yo, poder). Mañana sí.
– ¿Y qué (tú, hacer) ahora?
– (yo, ir) al supermercado.

With querer and poder + infinitive you say what you plan to do or what is possible. Only the first verb is conjugated.

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 9 of 10

A plan for the summer

Drag the words into the correct order.

Say that you want to go to Spain in the summer.

Finally, a mistake that happens very often while learning. Can you find it?

A1GrammarCommon irregular verbs

Exercise 10 of 10

Is the sentence correct?

Correct the sentence.

Nosotros quieremos un café.

Well done! You now know the present-tense forms of tener, ir, hacer, querer, poder and venir. Above all, remember the "I" forms in -go, the stem change (except with nosotros/vosotros) and the forms of ir. From now on you'll meet these verbs in almost every topic.