Present Tense - Irregular Verbs
Most present tense verb forms have several equivalents in English. For example, the form hablo may be translated in numerous ways:
- I speak (customary action)
- I am speaking(action in progress)
- I do speak(emphatic form)
- I will speak (near future action)
- do I speak? (interrogative form)
- I have been speaking (action started in the past but still in progress)
The subject pronouns that accompany these verbs are:
singular plural yo I nosotros, nosotras we tú you (familiar) vosotros, vosotras you (familiar pl.) usted you (formal) ustedes you (formal) él he ellos they (masculine, mixed) ella she ellas they (feminine)
The formal second-person forms (usted and ustedes) take third-person forms of a verb:
- Ustedes hablan bien.
You (plural) speak very well. - Usted es norteamericana, verdad?
You (sing.) are an American, right?
These verbs are also referred to as “radical changing verbs”; the word radical in Spanish means “stem” or “root”. The stem vowel undergoes a change when it is stressed in the present tense. [These verbs do not so change in any other tense —except for -ir verbs, which experience a stem change in the -ndo form, in the present subjunctive and in the preterit.]
(the stem vowel o changes to ue when stressed)
acuesto acostamos acuestas acostáis acuesta acuestan
vuelvo volvemos vuelves volvéis vuelve vuelven
duermo dormimos duermes dormís duerme duermen
Similar verbs:
acordarse - remember oler - smell almorzar - eat lunch poder - be able apostar - bet probar - try, prove contar - count, relate recordar - remember costar - cost rogar - beg encontrar - find sonar - sound llover - rain soñar - dream morir - die volar - fly mover - move
(the stem vowel e changes to ie when stressed)
empiezo empezamos empiezas empezáis empieza empiezan
quiero queremos quieres queréis quiere quieren
siento sentimos sientes sentís siente sienten
Similar verbs:
advertir - notice empezar - begin atravesar - cross gobernar - govern calentar - heat herir - injure cerrar - close pensar - think comenzar - begin perder - lose convertir - convert querer - want defender - defend sentir - feel, regret despertar - awaken tropezar - stumble divertir - amuse
(the stem vowel e changes to i when stressed; -ir verbs only)
pido pedimos pides pedís pide piden
Similar verbs:
competir - compete reír - laugh conseguir - get servir - serve corregir - correct seguir - follow, continue derretir - melt sonreír - smile despedir - fire, say goodbye repetir - repeat elegir - elect vestir - dress medir - measure
(the stem vowel u changes to ue when stressed [in the verb jugar only])
juego jugamos juegas jugáis juega juegan
in the yo form:
conozco conocemos conoces conocéis conoce conocen
This is the usual pattern for verbs whose infinitive ends in -cer or -cir:
acontecer - happen establecer - establish agradecer - thank merecer - deserve amanecer - dawn nacer - be born aparecer - appear obedecer - obey conducir - drive, conduct ofrecer - offer crecer - grow padecer - suffer enflaquecerse - get thin parecer - seem enriquecerse - get rich permanecer - remain envejecerse - get older producir - produce reducir - reduce traducir - translate
appearance of g in the yo form:
caigo caemos caes caéis cae caen
traigo traemos traes traéis trae traen
digo decimos dices decís dice dicen
hago hacemos haces hacéis hace hacen
pongo ponemos pones ponéis pone ponen
salgo salimos sales salís sale salen
tengo tenemos tienes tenéis tiene tienen
valgo valemos vales valéis vale valen
vengo venimos vienes venís viene vienen
quepo cabemos cabes cabéis cabe caben
doy damos das dais da dan
sé sabemos sabes sabéis sabe saben
veo vemos ves veis ve ven
The vowels i and u are “weak vowels” in contrast to the “strong vowels” a, e, and o. When they come in contact with any other vowel they normally form a dipthong; the addition of a written accent keeps this dipthonization from occurring. Such accents are necessary for some verbs because the i and u are the stem vowels:
continúo continuamos continúas continuáis continúa continúan
(“I continue, you continue”, etc. Note that the unaccented words continuo and continua, are adjectives meaning “continuous”.)
envío enviamos envías enviáis envía envían
(“I send, you send”, etc.)
Similar verbs:
actuar - act criar - raise, bring up efectuar - bring about esquiar - ski graduar - graduate vaciar - empty confiar - trust
With most other verbs the i and u are not stem vowels, and thus form dipthongs:
copio copiamos copias copiáis copia copiamos
(forms of the verb “to copy”; the i is not stressed)
Similar verbs:
anunciar - announce estudiar - study apreciar - appreciate iniciar - initiate asociar - associate limpiar - clean cambiar - change negociar - negociate divorciar - divorce renunciar - renounce ensuciar - dirty
Verbs whose infinitive ends in -uir (but not -guir) insert a y in present tense endings whenever the ending does not contain the sound “i”, that is, in all forms except for nosotros and vosotros.
huyo huimos huyes huís huye huyen
construir - construct incluir - include contribuir - contribute influir - influence disminuir - diminish
The following verbs are completely irregular (usually because of the way they evolved from Latin) or display characteristics so rare as to be considered “irregular” for our purposes.
estoy estamos estás estáis está están
soy somos eres sois es son
voy vamos vas vais va van
huelo olemos hueles oléis huele huelen
Some verbs exhibit orthographic or spelling changes to maintain the same pronunciation of the final stem consonant:
: Verbs whose infinitive form ends in -gir change the g to j before an a or an o.
dirijo dirigimos diriges dirigís dirige dirigen
elijo elegimos eliges elegís elige eligen
More verbs in this category:
corregir - correct fingir - pretend exigir - require surgir - arise
: Verbs whose infinitive form ends in -guir drop the u before an a or an o.
distingo distinguimos distingues distinguís distingue distinguen
Other verbs like this include:
seguir - follow, continue conseguir - get, obtain perseguir - pursue
There is one verb which never changes in the present tense. Hay (“there is”, “there are”, from the infinitive haber) has only one form in the present indicative. The same form is used for both singular and plural subjects (or complements):
- Hay muchos españoles en tu clase?
Are there many Spaniards in your class? - No, sólo hay uno.
No, there is only one.
- Había tres chicas en la esquina.
There were three girls on the corner. - Hubo dos accidentes aquí ayer.
There were 2 accidents here yesterday.
: The present tense with hacer in expressions of time. As indicated at the beginning, the present tense is used to indicate an action in progress, and this is true even if the action began in past time but the emphasis is on the present time. This is frequently seen with the hacer + expression of time construction:
-
Hace un mes que busco una casa nueva.
I've been looking for a new house for a month.
or
-
Busco una casa nueva desde hace un mes.