Irregular Spanish verbs:

Did you know there are hundreds of irregular Spanish verbs?

Verb conjugations can be tricky, especially when they don’t follow a standard pattern, which is the case with irregular verbs in Spanish.

In this guide, we’ll explain what the Spanish irregular verbs are and give you a list of 50 that are worth remembering, to help you express yourself in Spanish, and improve your spoken language skills.

What are irregular Spanish verbs?

Irregular Spanish verbs don’t follow a regular Spanish verb conjugation.

Let's think about the English verb “to tell”. In the present tense, you simply write a pronoun before the verb. The only exception is the third-person singular form that has an “s” at the end.

But in Spanish verb conjugation, this happens differently as decir (to tell) is an irregular verb.

Irregular Spanish verbs don’t respect the stem of the infinitive and, in some verbs, amar (to love), temer (to fear) and partir (to leave), they don’t take the endings either. Irregular Spanish verbs can show differences in the stem, the ending or in both elements of the word, when they’re conjugated in verb tenses.

How does this work?

Let’s conjugate the irregular verb amar (to love) and compare it to the example verb jugar (to play) in the third person singular of the simple past perfect indicative mood (perfect preterite simple). The stem of the verb is in bold.

As you can see, the stem of the verb jugar has changed. This is a stem-changing verb from “u” to “ue.”

But irregular Spanish verbs don’t necessarily change in all tenses and moods.

How many irregular verbs are there in Spanish?

There are more than 250 irregular verbs in Spanish, but they vary in the intensity of their irregularity.

To start with, there are different types of irregularities. Let's take a look at some examples:

Stem changing verbs

• Stem changing verb from “u” to “ue”

• To fit - caber: yo quepo, tú cabes, él cabe

• Stem changing from “e” to “ie”

• To understand - entender: yo entiendo, tú entiendes, él entiende

• Stem changing from “o” to “ue” and “hue”

• To eat lunch - almorzar: yo almuerzo, tú almuerzas, él almuerza

• To smell - oler: you huelo, tú hueles, él huele

Note: an “h” in Spanish is always silent so it doesn't have any effect on pronunciation.

• Stem changing from “e” to “i”

• To say/to tell - decir: yo digo, tú dices, él dice

Spanish verbs with an irregular “yo” form with no stem change

• To fit - caber: yo quepo, tú cabes, él cabe

Spanish verbs with an irregular “yo” form with a stem change

• To say/to tell - decir: yo digo, tú dices, él dice

50 irregular Spanish verbs you need to know

Spanish irregular verbs list

1. Acertar – to get it right
2. Adquirir – to acquire
3. Advertir – to advise, warn
4. Agradecer – to thank
5. Almorzar – to eat lunch
6. Andar – to walk, have (existence),
7. Asir – to seize
8. Atender – to attend to
9. Caber – to fit
10. Caer – to fall
11. Ceñir – to surround
12. Comenzar – to begin, start
13. Conducir – to drive
14. Construir – to build
15. Contar – to count, relate, tell
16. Dar – to give
17. Decir – to tell, say
18. Discernir – to discern, understand
19. Dormir – to sleep
20. Encontrar – to find
21. Entender – to understand
22. Erguir – to build, sit or stand up very straight
23. Errar – to miss
24. Estar – to be (location, health, state)
25. Haber – to have (to do something, auxiliary verb)
26. Hacer – to do, make
27. Ir – to go
28. Jugar – to play
29. Leer – to read
30. Lucir – to shine
31. Mover – to move
32. Oír – to hear
33. Oler – to smell (to smell an object, to emit an odour)
34. Pedir – to ask
35. Poder – to be able, can
36. Poner – to put
37. Pudrir / Podrir – to rotten
38. Querer – to want
39. Roer – to gnaw, bite, chew repeatedly
40. Saber – to know (information)
41. Salir – to leave, go out
42. Sentir – to feel, regret
43. Ser – to be (permanent quality)
44. Sonreír – to smile
45. Tener – to have
46. Traer – to bring
47. Valer – be worth
48. Venir – to come
49. Ver – to see
50. Yacer – to lay down

Irregular verb conjugation and irregular preterite verbs

Here’s a list of Spanish irregular verb conjugation and irregular preterite verbs.

The pronoun ustedes is used in Latin America, compared to Spain where vosotros is used.

1. Decir – to tell

Present tense:

• Yo digo – I tell
• Tú dices (vos decís)– you tell
• Él/ella/usted dice – he/she tells
• Nosotros decimos – we tell
• Vosotros decís – you (pl.) tell
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes dicen – they tell

Simple past tense (decir preterite): yo dije - I told

2. Ir – to go

Present tense:

• Yo voy – I go
• Tú/vos vas – you go
• Él/ella/usted va – he/she goes
• Nosotros vamos – we go
• Vosotros vais – you (pl.) go
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes van – they go

Simple past tense (ir preterite): yo fui - I went

3. Oler – to smell

Present tense:

• Yo huelo – I smell
• Tú hueles (vos olés) – you smell
• Él/ella/usted huele – he/she smells
• Nosotros olemos – we smell
• Vosotros oléis – you (pl.) smell
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes huelen – they smell

Simple past tense (oler preterite): yo olí - I smelled

4. Poner – to put

Present tense:

• Yo pongo – I put
• Tú pones (vos ponés) – you put
• Él/ella/usted pone – he/she puts
• Nosotros ponemos – we put
• Vosotros ponéis – you (pl.) put
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes ponen – they put

Simple past tense (poner preterite): yo puse - I put

5. Ser – to be

Present tense:

• Yo soy – I am
• Tú eres (vos sos) – you are
• Él/ella/usted es – he/she is
• Nosotros somos – we are
• Vosotros sóis – you (pl.) are
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes son – they are

Simple past tense (ser preterite): yo fui - I was

We highly recommend you to learn these conjugations by heart since the verb “to be” is constantly used in Spanish conversations, reading and writing.

This verb is used to tell the time in Spanish.

• Es la una de la tarde. (It´s one in the afternoon)
• Son las siete de la mañana. (It 's seven in the morning).

6. Tener – to have

Present tense:

• Yo tengo – I have
• Tú tienes (vos tenés) – you have
• Él/ella/usted tiene – he/she has
• Nosotros tenemos – we have
• Vosotros tenéis – you (pl.) have
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes tienen – they have

Simple past tense (tener preterite): yo tuve - I had

7. Venir – to come

Present tense:

• Yo vengo – I come
• Tú vienes (vos venís) – you come
• Él/ella/usted viene – he/she comes
• Nosotros venimos – we come
• Vosotros venís – you (pl.) come
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes vienen – they come

Simple past tense (venir preterite): yo vine - I came