There are twenty-five irregular verbs in the Spanish language. Like the regular verbs, these Spanish irregular verbs fall into three categories ?ar, er and ir verbs. However there are no hard and fast rules as to how the irregular verbs end. They do relate to events that are happening in the present. You have to memorize the conjugation of each verb individually in order to be able to conjugate them correctly when you speak or write in Spanish. Once you do start memorizing them, though, you will see that there are patterns in each of the conjugations of the three categories.



The three main irregular verbs you should start with are:

- Tener ?to have

- Ser ?to be, and

- Ir ?to go.

The conjugations of each of these verbs are as follows:

Tener:

I have ?yo tengo

You have ?t'tienes (if you are speaking to a family member or close friend)

You have ?usted tiene (when speaking to strangers)

He, She, It has ?ella tienne

We have ?nosotros tenemos

You have ?vosotros tens (same usage as you singular)

You have ?ustedes tienen ( used for strangers)

They have ?ellos/ellas tienen

Ser:

I am ?yo soy

You are ?t'eres (if you are speaking to a family member or close friend)

You are ?usted es (when speaking to strangers)

He, She, It is ?ella es

We are ?nosotros somos

You are ?vosotros sos (same usage as you singular)

You are ?ustedes son ( used for strangers)

They are ?ellos/ellas son

Ir:

I go ?yo voy

You go ?t'vas (if you are speaking to a family member or close friend)

You go ?usted va (when speaking to strangers)

He, She, It goes ?ella va

We go ?nosotros vamos

You go?vosotros vais (same usage as you singular)

You go ?ustedes van ( used for strangers)

They go ?ellos/ellas von

Some verbs are only irregular when you use the pronoun I. Two examples of these are the verbs aparecer (to appear) and desaparecer (to disappear). One of the rules you can use to help you with conjugating these verbs is that when a verb ends in the letters ? you take off the ?and add zco for yo (I). Irregular verbs that have a ?before the infinitive such as in elegir (to select0 and corregir (to correct) change the g to j in the conjugation of I. Verbs that have qu before the infinitive change to ?in the first person present. When conjugating these verbs all the other conjugations are the same as for regular verbs.

There are other conjugations for the irregular verbs according to the tense that you use. However, to get started with irregular verbs in Spanish it is best to stick to the present tense until you thoroughly understand the material and the process of using these verbs. Your lessons in Spanish will give you plenty of opportunities to practice using the verbs before you move on to more complicated aspects of the grammar.