Spanish verbs are a complex area ofSpanish grammar, with many combinations of tenses, aspects and moods (up to fifty conjugated forms per verb). Althoughconjugation rules are relatively straightforward, a large number of verbs areirregular. Among these, some fall into more-or-less defined deviant patterns, whereas others are uniquely irregular. This article summarizes the common irregular patterns.
As in allRomance languages, many irregularities in Spanish verbs can be retraced toLatin grammar.
Due to the rules ofSpanish orthography, some predictable changes are needed to keep the same consonant sound beforea oro ande ori, but these are not usually considered irregularities. The following examples use the first person plural of the present subjunctive:
Other predictable changes involve stress marks,i—y alternations andi-dropping, some of which are sometimes considered as irregularities. These examples are several forms of otherwise regular preterites:
There are two kinds of changes that can affect stem vowels of some Spanish verbs:diphthongization andvowel raising. Both changes affect-e- or-o- in the last (or only) syllable of a verb stem. Diphthongization changes-e- to-ie-, and-o- to-ue-. Vowel raising changes themid vowels-e- and-o- to the correspondinghigh vowels:-i- and-u- respectively. Some verbs, in their various forms, can exhibit both kinds of changes (e.g.sentir,siente,sintió (e-ie-i);dormir,duerme,durmió) (o-ue-u).
Some verbs with-e- or-o- in their stem are inherently diphthongizing, whereas others are not: their identities must be learned individually. In a diphthongizing verb, the change turns-e- into-ie- and-o- into-ue- when the syllable in question is stressed, which in effect happens only in the singular persons and third-person plural of the present indicative and present subjunctive, and in the imperative (all other tenses and forms are stressed on their endings, not their stems). The dictionary form always has the vowel, not thediphthong, because, in the infinitive form, the stress is on the ending, not the stem. Exceptionally, the-u- ofjugar (u-ue -gar, -jugar) and the-i- ofadquirir andinquirir (i-ie) also are subject to diphthongization (juega, etc.;adquiere, etc.).
In word-initial position,*ie- is writtenye- (errar >yerro) (e-ie > ye) and*ue- is writtenhue- (oler >huele) (o-ue > hue, oler). Also, the-ue- diphthong is written-üe- afterg, with thediaeresis to indicate that the letter is not silent (avergonzarse >me avergüenzo) (reflexive, go-güe -zar).
The following examples show that all three conjugations (-ar,-er, and-ir verbs) include some diphthongizing verbs (only some tenses and persons are shown, for contrasting purposes):
| Verbs | yo | tú | vos | él, ella, usted | nosotros, nosotras | vosotros, vosotras | ellos, ellas, ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pensar | pienso | piensas | pensás | piensa | pensamos | pensáis | piensan |
| contar | cuento | cuentas | contás | cuenta | contamos | contáis | cuentan |
| perder | pierdo | pierdes | perdés | pierde | perdemos | perdéis | pierden |
| moler | muelo | mueles | molés | muele | molemos | moléis | muelen |
| oler | huelo | hueles | olés | huele | olemos | oléis | huelen |
| sentir | siento | sientes | sentís | siente | sentimos | sentís | sienten |
| dormir | duermo | duermes | dormís | duerme | dormimos | dormís | duermen |
| Verbs | yo | tú | vos (*) | él ella usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos ellas ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pensar | piense | pienses | pienses / pensés | piense | pensemos | penséis | piensen |
| contar | cuente | cuentes | cuentes / contés | cuente | contemos | contéis | cuenten |
| perder | pierda | pierdas | pierdas / perdás | pierda | perdamos | perdáis | pierdan |
| moler | muela | muelas | muelas / molás | muela | molamos | moláis | muelan |
| oler | huela | huelas | huelas /olás | huela | olamos | oláis | huelan |
| sentir | sienta | sientas | sientas / sintás | sienta | sintamos | sintáis | sientan |
| dormir | duerma | duermas | duermas / durmás | duerma | durmamos | durmáis | duerman |
(*) In Central Americapensés,contés, etc. are used,[2] but Spanish Royal Academy prescribespienses,cuentes, etc., according toRioplatense Spanish.
| Verbs | tú | vos | vosotros / vosotras (*) | usted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pensar | piensa | pensá | pensad | piense |
| contar | cuenta | contá | contad | cuente |
| perder | pierde | perdé | perded | pierda |
| moler | muele | molé | moled | muela |
| oler | huele | olé | oled | huela |
| sentir | siente | sentí | sentid | sienta |
| dormir | duerme | dormí | dormid | duerma |
The verbssentir anddormir also undergovowel raising. Additional diphthongizing verbs includeacordar(se) (o-ue),divertir(se) (e-ie),doler (o-ue),empezar (-zar e-ie, -ezar),encontrar (o-ue),entender (e-ie),llover (o-ue),morir (o-ue, -morir),mostrar (o-ue),mover (o-ue),poder (o-ue, -poder),probar (o-ue),querer (e-ie, -querer),recordar (o-ue),sentar(se) (e-ie-i),tener (e-ie, -tener, G-Verb),venir (e-ie, -venir, G-Verb),volar (o-ue), andvolver (o-ue, -olver).
Many verbs with-e- or-o- in the root donot alternate. Common non-diphthongizing verbs includeacercar(se),aprender,beber,ceder,coger ²,colar,comer,comprar,conocer,correr,creer,deber,dejar,entrar,esperar,importar,joder ¹,lamentar,llegar,llevar,meter,parecer,perecer,poner,prometer,quedar,regresar,responder,robar,soportar,suceder,temer,tomar and others.
Less frequent verbs of this kind are often a source of mistakes for children learning to speak, and also for some adults:
Vowel raising appears only in verbs of the third conjugation (-ir verbs), and in this group it affectsdormir,morir,podrir (alternative of the more commonpudrir) and nearly all verbs which have-e- as their last stem vowel (e.g.sentir,repetir); exceptions includecernir,discernir andconcernir (all three diphthongizing, e-ie).
The forms that exhibit the change can be described negatively as those in which the stem vowel isnot diphthongized and the ending doesnot contain stressedi[3] or the-ir- sequence. In other words, vowel raising affects the forms whose endings do not contain ani which is not part of a diphthong, taking into account that diphthongizing overrides vowel raising.
In effect, for diphthongizing verbs (e.g.sentir,dormir), the vowel-raising forms are:
For non-diphthongizing verbs (e.g.pedir) it affects these same forms (pidamos,pidáis,pidiendo,pidió,pidieron,pidiera...), plus:
The forms which donot undergo either diphthongizing or vowel raising are:
Verbs which are diphthongizingand vowel-raising include:
The diphthongizing-er verbpoder exceptionally undergoes vowel raising in the gerund (pudiendo), but the first- and second-person plural of the present subjunctive are regular (podamos,podáis).
Non-diphthongizing vowel-raising verbs include:
The vowel-raising verberguir is usually diphthongizing (withye- forms such asyergo...). Non-diphthongizing forms are valid but rare (irgo...).
Diphthongs in the infinitive may be preserved throughout the conjugation or broken in the forms which are stressed on the stem, depending on whether thei oru in contact witha/e/o take the stress or not. The stressed vowel is marked bold in the examples:cambiar >cambio, butenviar >envío (requiring an acute accent to indicate the resultinghiatus). TheReal Academia Española does not consider either behaviour as irregular, but illustrates each with six "regular" models, one for each possible diphthong in the infinitive:anunciar,averiguar,bailar,causar,peinar andadeudar for diphthong-keeping verbs andenviar,actuar,aislar,aunar,descafeinar andrehusar for diphthong-breaking ones. Remember that the presence of a silenth does not break a diphthong, so a written accent is needed anyway inrehúso.
All verbs ending in-guar are diphthong-keeping, as well assaciar,desairar,restaurar andreinar. Two diphthongs are kept indesahuciar >desahucio (again the-h- makes no difference), which thus follows both theanunciar andcausar models.
Diphthong-breaking verbs includeahincar,aislar,aunar,aullar,maullar,aupar,aliar,vaciar,contrariar,evaluar,habituar,reunir. The verbscriar,fiar,guiar,liar andpiar are also diphthong-breaking (crío, guíe), but when the stress falls on the endings the resulting forms are generally considered as monosyllables and thus written without accent:crie,fie,guiais,lieis.... In spite of that, the regular accentuation rules can also be used if they are pronounced as bisyllabic:crié,guiáis....
For the verbslicuar andadecuar both options are valid:adecuo oradecúo.
Theui diphthong incuidar is kept throughout the conjugation despite the fact of thei getting the stress in forms such ascuido (writtenwithout stress mark).
All verbs ending in-uir (e.g.construir,disminuir,distribuir) add a medial-y- before all endingsnot starting withi:construyo,construyes,construya... Taking into account that these verbs also undergo the change of unstressed intervocalici toy (seeorthographic changes above), they have many forms containingy.
This also applies to the forms ofoír anddesoír that do not undergo the-ig- change:oyes,oye,oyen…
Some regular forms offluir,fruir andhuir are written without stress mark if considered monosyllabic, but may bear it if pronounced as bisyllabic:vosotros huis orhuís (present),yo hui orhuí (preterite).
The verbargüir loses thediaeresis beforey:arguyo,arguyó… (gü-gu, -güir).
Iner andir verbs, the first person singular of the present indicative and the whole present subjunctive are the only forms whose endings start witho/a instead ofe/i. These two different phonetic environments made Latin forms evolve differently in many verbs, leading to irregularities.
Whenever the first person singular of the present indicative has an irregularity other than diphthongizing, but still ends in-o, the whole present subjunctive shares the same irregularity. For example:
When the first person singular of the present indicative does not end in-o, the present subjunctive is also irregular, but in a different way:
Beforeo (in the first person singular of the indicative present tense) anda (that is, in all persons of the present subjunctive), the so-calledg-verbs (sometimes "go-yo verbs", "yo-go verbs", or simply "go verbs") add a medial-g- afterl andn (also afters inasir), add-ig- when the root ends in a vowel, or substitute-c- for-g-. This change overrides diphthongization (tener,venir) but combines with vowel-raising (decir). Many of these verbs are also irregular in other ways. For example:
This group of verbs—which originated in the Latininchoative verbs but now includes other verbs as well—substitute-zc- for stem-final-c- beforeo anda. The group includes nearly all verbs ending in-acer (excepthacer and derived verbs),-ecer (exceptmecer andremecer),-ocer (exceptcocer and derived verbs), and-ucir. For example:
Yacer may alternatively be conjugated with-zc- (yazco),-g- (as ag-verb,yago), or a compromise-zg- (yazgo).
Some-er and-ir verbs (mostg-verbs plushaber,saber,poder andquerer) also change their stem in the future and conditional tenses. This involvessyncope:
Many of these verbs also have shortenedtú imperative forms (apocope):tener →ten,contener →contén,poner →pon,disponer →dispón,venir →ven,salir →sal,hacer →haz,decir →di. However, all verbs derived fromdecir are regular in this form:bendice,maldice,desdícete,predice,contradice.
Some verbs (including mostg-verbs and most verbs ending in-ducir) have a somewhat different stem in thepreterite. These stems are very old and often are found inLatin as well. The same irregular stem is also found in the imperfect subjunctive (both in-ra and-se forms) and the future subjunctive. These stems are anomalous also because:
Examples:
The verbver in modern Spanish has a regular-er verb preterite (yo vi,tú viste,él vio—note the lack of written accent on monosyllables), but in archaic texts the irregular preterite formsyo vide,él vido, etc. are sometimes seen.
A number of verbs have irregular past participles, sometimes called "strong" because the change is in the root, rather than an ending. This includes verbs which are irregular in many other ways, such asponer anddecir, but for some other verbs this is their only irregularity (such asabrir andromper), while some very irregular verbs (such asser andir) have regular past participles. Examples:
Most of these verbs have derivatives with the same irregularity. For example, alongsidevolver →vuelto andponer →puesto, there aredevolver →devuelto andcomponer →compuesto; alongsidedecir →dicho there ispredecir →predicho (but notebendecir →bendecido,maldecir →maldecido are regular, though they also have the adjectival formsbendito andmaldito). Similarlyprevisto,rehecho,descubierto,supuesto, etc.Solver is obsolete, but its derivativesabsolver andresolver (absuelto,resuelto) are in common use. The participle ofdescribir isdescrito in some regions, butdescripto in others.
There are three verbs that have both a regular and an irregular past participle. Both forms may be used when conjugating the compound tenses and the passive voice with the auxiliary verbshaber andser, but the irregular form is generally the only one used as an adjective:
A number of other "strong" past participles, such aspinto,ducho,electo, and a number of others, are obsolete for general use, but are occasionally used in Spain (and to a much lesser extent inSpanish America) among educated, style-conscious writers, or in linguistic archaisms such as proverbs (refranes).
The verbsser (to be) andir (to go) both exhibit irregularities in thepresent,imperfect andpreterite forms (note that these two verbs have the same preteritefui). Together withver (to see) andprever (to foresee), they are the only four verbs with irregular imperfect indicative. Theirtú imperative forms aresé,ve (for bothir andver, althoughmirar is more common thanver in commands), andprevé. Theirvos imperative forms aresé,andá (the verbandar replacesir),ve andprevé.
| Present indicative tense | Imperfect indicative | Preterite | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ser | ir | ver | prever | ser | ir | ver | prever | ser/ir | ver | prever | ||||
| yo | soy | voy | veo | preveo | era | iba | veía | preveía | fui | vi | preví | |||
| tú | eres | vas | ves | prevés | eras | ibas | veías | preveías | fuiste | viste | previste | |||
| vos | sos | |||||||||||||
| él/ella | es | va | ve | prevé | era | iba | veía | preveía | fue | vio | previó | |||
| nosotros/as | somos | vamos | vemos | prevemos | éramos | íbamos | veíamos | preveíamos | fuimos | vimos | previmos | |||
| vosotros/as | sois | vais | veis | prevéis | erais | ibais | veíais | preveíais | fuisteis | visteis | previsteis | |||
| ellos/as | son | van | ven | prevén | eran | iban | veían | preveían | fueron | vieron | previeron | |||
Note that whenever the preterite is irregular, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra and-se forms) and the dated future subjunctive (-re) share the same irregularity; indeed, these tenses may always be correctly formed by substituting the appropriate endings for the-ron ending of the third person plural preterite:fueron >fuera/fuese...;fuere....
The verbsdar (to give) andestar (to be) both exhibit irregularities in the present indicative and present subjunctive because their stems cannot be stressed (indar the stem is justd-, inestar it was originallyst-). The formdé is so written to distinguish it from the prepositionde. Both verbs are also irregular in the preterite and derived tenses:dar follows the pattern of regular-er/-ir verbs, whileestar has ananomalous preterite stem and follows the corresponding common pattern:
| Present indicative | Present subjunctive | Preterite | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dar | estar | dar | estar | dar | estar | ||||
| yo | doy | estoy | dé | esté | di | estuve | |||
| tú, vos | das | estás | des | estés | diste | estuviste | |||
| él, ella | da | está | dé | esté | dio | estuvo | |||
| nosotros/as | damos | estamos | demos | estemos | dimos | estuvimos | |||
| vosotros/as | dais | estáis | deis | estéis | disteis | estuvisteis | |||
| ellos/as | dan | están | den | estén | dieron | estuvieron | |||
