So here we are again, the bittersweet topic of verbs.
You can love them or hate them but you can’t deny that you will need them and that they’re necessary in any language.
In this article we will be looking specifically at the 12 most common irregular Spanish verbs.
Even though verbs in Spanish can seem overwhelming, especially with all their conjugations, but we need to know how to use them and recognize them in their specific context.
But what exactly is an irregular verb?
Well, as the owl used to say from the old tootsie roll commercial…
Let’s find out!
What Is The Difference Between Regular and Irregular Verbs?
To put this simply the difference between a regular verb and an irregular verb in Spanish is specifically how they are deviate from the normal conjugation pattern.
So what is this pattern you may ask?
Well what this basically means is most verbs is Spanish, which end in either AR ER or IR and usually have the same endings.
Then when the verb changes from the pattern it is considered as an irregular verb.
In Spanish these changes usually occur in the beginning of the word and there is a noticeable difference.
This is referred to as a stem change.
Let’s look at some examples so you can have a better understanding shall we?
The first verbs we will look at is the regular verbs hablar & ayudar.
AR Ending Verbs
| Hablar | To Talk |
|---|---|
| hablo | I talk |
| hablas | you talk |
| habla | he talks |
| Ayudar | To Help |
|---|---|
| ayudo | I help |
| ayudas | you help |
| ayuda | he helps |
Do you see the pattern between the two endings of the verbs when conjugated?
Not much has changed right?
Let’s look at some ER and IR verbs as well
ER Ending Verbs
| Leer | To Read |
|---|---|
| leo | I read |
| lees | you read |
| lee | he reads |
| Creer | To Believe |
|---|---|
| creo | I believe |
| crees | you believe |
| cree | he believes |
IR Ending Verbs
| Abrir | To Open |
|---|---|
| abro | I open |
| abres | you open |
| abre | he opens |
| Recibir | To Receive |
|---|---|
| recibo | I receive |
| recibes | you receive |
| recibe | he receives |
Can you see the pattern in all the similar verbs that end the same?
Not much difference right.
Now let’s look at an irregular verb now and well start off with the verb IR (to go)
| Ir | To go |
|---|---|
| Voy | I go |
| Vas | You go |
| Va | He goes |
Now when you look at this verb it is a completely different word/verb.
Which is a clear indication that makes this verb an irregular verb.
However, don’t let this scare you because once you learn the irregular verbs it will be much easy to recognize them and use them.
Yet, the question now is how many are there and do you have to know them all?
We will address that in the next section.
How Many Irregular Verbs Are There In Spanish?
It is hard to put a definite number on exactly how many verbs actually fall into the category of irregular verbs, or stem changing, because a lot of verbs have some form of stem changing…
Especially verbs that end in ER.
Luckily our friends at fluentu has broken down the percentages of what to expect for irregular verbs.
| Verbs | Percentage |
|---|---|
| AR Verbs | 5% |
| Er Verbs | 72% |
| Ir Verbs | 33% |
Again don’t let these numbers scare you because we have discovered that there are about 12 irregular verbs that are regularly used in daily conversation.
Convenient right.
However, if you master these 12 irregular verbs learning the many other verbs over time will be easier.
The 12 Irregular Verbs In Spanish
Now for the moment you have been waiting for.
Here is the list of the 12 most common irregular verbs.
Study these and spanish will become a lot easier to understand.
Also we wanted to include a bonus.
Therefore you can download the list for your own studies along with a full anki deck with the 2 most common conjugations of the verbs so you can save time and get to studying and mastering these verbs
Download the 12 irregular spanish verbs list pdf
| # | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ser | To be |
| 2 | Estar | To be |
| 3 | Tener | To have |
| 4 | Decir | To say |
| 5 | Querer | To want |
| 6 | Hacer | To do, to make |
| 7 | Poder | To be able to |
| 8 | Saber | To know |
| 9 | Haber | To have |
| 10 | Ver | To see |
| 11 | Ir | To go |
| 12 | Dar | To give |
In Conclusion
There you have it the 12 most common irregular verbs that you can now use and implement into your daily practice.
As said before you don’t have to learn all the verbs at once but building them up un poco y poco (little by little) you will begin to see how your Spanish is developing.
If you would like to learn more about verbs than definitely checkout our article on the 100 most common spanish verbs.