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Spanish irregular verbs

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Spanish verbs are a complex area of Spanish grammar, with many combinations of tenses, aspects and moods (up to fifty conjugated forms per verb). Although conjugation rules are relatively straightforward, a large number of verbs are irregular. 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 all Romance languages, many irregularities in Spanish verbs can be retraced to Latin grammar.

Orthographic changes

Due to the rules of Spanish orthography, some predictable changes are needed to keep the same consonant sound before a or o and e or i, 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 and i-dropping, some of which are sometimes considered as irregularities. The examples are several forms of otherwise regular preterites:

Stem-vowel changes

There are two kinds of changes that can affect stem vowels of some Spanish verbs: diphthongization and vowel 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 the mid vowels -e- and -o- to the corresponding high vowels: -i- and -u- respectively. Some verbs, in their various forms, can exhibit both kinds of changes (e.g. Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes (e-ie-i**ir); Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes) (o-ue-u).

Diphthongization

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 the diphthong, because, in the infinitive form, the stress is on the ending, not the stem. Exceptionally, the -u- of Template:Wiktes (u-ue -gar, -jugar) and the -i- of Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes (i-ie) also are subject to diphthongization (Template:Wiktes, etc.; Template:Wiktes, etc.).

In word-initial position, *ie- is written ye- (Template:Wiktes > Template:Wiktes) (e-ie > ye) and *ue- is written hue- (Template:Wiktes > Template:Wiktes) (o-ue > hue, oler). Also, the -ue- diphthong is written -üe- after g, with the diaeresis to indicate that the letter is not silent (Template:Wiktes > Template:Wiktes) (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):

Present indicative

Verbs yo tú vos él
ella
usted		 nosotros
nosotras		 vosotros
vosotras		 ellos
ellas
ustedes
Template:Wiktes pienso piensas pensás piensa pensamos pensáis piensan
Template:Wiktes cuento cuentas contás cuenta contamos contáis cuentan
Template:Wiktes pierdo pierdes perdés pierde perdemos perdéis pierden
Template:Wiktes muelo mueles molés muele molemos moléis muelen
Template:Wiktes huelo hueles olés huele olemos oléis huelen
Template:Wiktes siento sientes sentís siente sentimos sentís sienten
Template:Wiktes duermo duermes dormís duerme dormimos dormís duermen

Present subjunctive

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 America pensés, contés, etc. are used,[2] but Spanish Royal Academy prescribes pienses, cuentes, etc., according to Rioplatense Spanish.

Imperative

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
(*) Only used in Spain. Formal conjugations of the plural imperative end in -d, but in colloquial use the most common conjugation ends in -r instead: pensar, contar, etc.

The verbs sentir and dormir also undergo vowel raising. Additional diphthongizing verbs include Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (e-ie), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (-zar e-ie, -ezar), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (e-ie), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (o-ue, -morir), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (o-ue, -poder), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (e-ie, -querer), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), Template:Wiktes (e-ie-i), Template:Wiktes (e-ie, -tener, G-Verb), Template:Wiktes (e-ie, -venir, G-Verb), Template:Wiktes (o-ue), and Template:Wiktes (o-ue, -olver).

Many verbs with -e- or -o- in the root do not alternate. Common non-diphthongizing verbs include Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, and Template:Wiktes.

Less frequent verbs of this kind are often a source of mistakes for children learning to speak, and also for some adults:

  • Template:Wiktes → yo *rebueso, él *rebuesa... instead of yo reboso, él rebosa...

Vowel raising

Vowel raising appears only in verbs of the third conjugation (-ir verbs), and in this group it affects Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes (alternative of the more common Template:Wiktes) and nearly all verbs which have -e- as their last stem vowel (e.g. Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes); exceptions include Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes (all three diphthongizing, e-ie).

Affected forms

The forms that exhibit the change can be described negatively as those in which the stem vowel is not diphthongized and the ending does not contain stressed i[3] or the -ir- sequence. In other words, vowel raising affects the forms whose endings do not contain an i which is not part of a diphthong, taking into account that diphthongizing overrides vowel raising.

In effect, for diphthongizing verbs (e.g. Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes), the vowel-raising forms are:

  • the first-person and second-person plural of the present subjunctive (sintamos, sintáis, durmamos, durmáis);
  • the gerund (sintiendo, durmiendo);
  • the third-person singular and plural of the preterite (sintió, sintieron, durmió, durmieron);
  • all forms of the imperfect subjunctive (sintiera/sintiese..., durmiera/durmiese...) and of the future subjunctive (sintiere..., durmiere...).

For non-diphthongizing verbs (e.g. Template:Wiktes) it affects these same forms (pidamos, pidáis, pidiendo, pidió, pidieron, pidiera...), plus:

  • in the present indicative, all singular forms and the third-person plural (pido, pides, pide, piden);
  • the remaining forms of the present subjunctive (pida, pidas, pidan);
  • the tú form of the imperative (pide).

The forms which do not undergo either diphthongizing or vowel raising are:

  • the first-person and second-person plural of the present indicative (sentimos, sentís), because these forms have stressed /í/ in their endings.
  • the infinitive (sentir), past participle (sentido), imperfect indicative (sentía...) and the vos and vosotros/as forms of the imperative (sentí, sentid), for the same reason.
  • the future (sentiré...) and conditional (sentiría...), whose endings contain the -ir- sequence.

Affected verbs

Verbs which are diphthongizing and vowel-raising include:

The diphthongizing -er verb Template:Wiktes exceptionally undergoes vowel rising in the gerund (Template:Wiktes), but the first- and second-person plural of the present subjunctive are regular (podamos, podáis).

Non-diphthongizing vowel-rising verbs include:

The vowel-raising verb Template:Wiktes is usually diphthongizing (with ye- forms as yergo...), not-diphthongizing forms are however valid but rare (irgo...) (e-ie > ye-i -guir, -erguir).

Diphthongs and hiatus

Cambio vs. envío

Diphthongs in the infinitive may be preserved throughout the conjugation or broken in the forms which are stressed on the stem, depending on whether the i or u in contact with a/e/o take the stress or not. The stressed vowel is marked bold in the examples: Template:Wiktes > cambio, but Template:Wiktes > envío (requiring an acute accent to indicate the resulting hiatus). The Real Academia Española does not consider either behaviour as irregular, but illustrates each with six "regular" models, one for each possible diphthong in the infinitive: Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes for diphthong-keeping verbs and Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes for diphthong-breaking ones. Remember that the presence of a silent h does not break a diphthong, so a written accent is needed anyway in rehúso.

All verbs ending in -guar are diphthong-keeping, as well as Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes. Two diphthongs are kept in Template:Wiktes > desahucio (again the -h- makes no difference), which thus follows both the anunciar and causar models.

Diphthong-breaking verbs include Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes. The verbs Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes 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 verbs Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes both options are valid: adecuo or adecúo.

The ui diphthong in Template:Wiktes is kept throughout the conjugation despite the fact of the i getting the stress in forms such as cuido (written without stress mark).

Verbs ending in -uir and -oír

All verbs ending in -uir (e.g. Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes) add a medial -y- before all endings not starting with i: construyo, construyes, construya... Taking into account that these verbs also undergo the change of unstressed intervocalic i to y (see orthographic changes above), they have many forms containing y.

This also applies to the forms of Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes that do not undergo the -ig- change: oyes, oye, oyen

Some regular forms of Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes are written without stress mark if considered monosyllabic, but may bear it if pronounced as bisyllabic: vosotros huis or huís (present), yo hui or huí (preterite).

Logically, Template:Wiktes loses the diaeresis before y: arguyo, arguyó (gü-gu, -güir)...

Other common irregular patterns

Endings starting with o/a in er/ir verbs

In er and ir verbs, the first person singular of the present indicative and the whole present subjunctive are the only forms whose endings start with o/a instead of e/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:
  • 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:

G-verbs

Before o (in the first person singular of the indicative present tense) and a (that is, in all persons of the present subjunctive), the so-called G-verbs (sometimes "Go-Yo verbs" or "Yo-Go" verbs or "Go" verbs) add a medial -g- after l and n (also after s in asir), add -ig- when the root ends in a vowel, or substitute -g- for -c-. This change overrides diphthongization (tener, venir) but combines with vowel-raising (decir). Many of these verbs are also irregular in other ways. For example:

Template:Wiktes: yo salgo, tú sales... Stem: sal- (-salir)
Template:Wiktes: yo valgo, tú vales... Stem: val- (-valer)
Template:Wiktes: yo pongo, tú pones... Stem: pon- (-poner)
Template:Wiktes: yo tengo, tú tienes... Stem: ten- tien- (e-ie) (-tener)
Template:Wiktes: yo vengo, tú vienes... Stem: ven- vien- (e-ie)
Template:Wiktes: yo caigo, tú caes... Stem: ca-
Template:Wiktes: yo traigo, tú traes... Stem: tra-
Template:Wiktes: yo oigo, tú oyes... Stem: o-, oy- (-ír)
Template:Wiktes: yo hago, tú haces... Stem: hac- haz- (-cer verb)
Template:Wiktes: yo digo, tú dices... Stem: dec-, dic- (e-i) (-cir)
Template:Wiktes: yo asgo, tú ases... Stem: as-

ZC-verbs

This group of verbs—which originated in the Latin inchoative verbs but now includes other verbs as well—substitute -zc- for stem-final -c- before o and a. The group includes nearly all verbs ending in -acer (except Template:Wiktes and derived verbs), -ecer (except Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes), -ocer (except Template:Wiktes and derived verbs), and -ucir. For example:

Template:Wiktes: yo nazco, tú naces...
Template:Wiktes: yo crezco, tú creces...
Template:Wiktes: yo conozco, tú conoces...
Template:Wiktes: yo produzco, tú produces... (-ducir)
Template:Wiktes: yo yazco/yago/yazgo, tú yaces... (-yacer)

Template:Wiktes may alternatively be conjugated with -zc- (Template:Wiktes), -g- (G-Verb) (Template:Wiktes) or a compromise -zg- (Template:Wiktes).

Irregular forms in the future, conditional and imperative

Some -er and -ir verbs (most G-verbs plus Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes) also change their stem in the future and conditional tenses. This involves syncope:

Many of these verbs also have shortened tú imperative forms (apocope): tener → Template:Wiktes, contener → Template:Wiktes, poner → Template:Wiktes, disponer → Template:Wiktes, venir → Template:Wiktes, salir → Template:Wiktes, hacer → Template:Wiktes, decir → Template:Wiktes. However, all verbs derived from decir are regular in this form: bendice, maldice, desdícete, predice, contradice.

Anomalous stems in the preterite and derived tenses

Some verbs (including most G-verbs and most verbs ending in -ducir) have a somewhat different stem in the preterite. These stems are very old and often are found in Latin 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:

  • they are stressed in the first and third persons singular, ending in unstressed -e and -o respectively (while in all other cases the preterite is stressed on the suffix).
  • the rest of the endings are the usual for -er/-ir verbs, and even for the -ar verbs Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes.
  • in the verbs with -je preterite (Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes and most verbs ending in -ducir) unstressed i is dropped between the j and a vowel: ellos trajeron, yo trajera... This does not happen with regular or vowel-raising -ger/-jer/-gir/-jir verbs (Template:Wiktes > protegieron, Template:Wiktes > tejieron, Template:Wiktes > corrigieron, Template:Wiktes > crujieron).
Further information: Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish § Irregular verbs

Examples:

Template:Wiktes: yo estuve, tú/vos estuviste(s), él estuvo..., ellos estuvieron; yo estuviera...
Template:Wiktes: yo anduve, tú/vos anduviste(s), él anduvo..., ellos anduvieron; yo anduviera...
Template:Wiktes: yo tuve, tú/vos tuviste(s), él tuvo..., ellos tuvieron; yo tuviera...
Template:Wiktes: yo hube, tú/vos hubiste(s), él hubo..., ellos hubieron; yo hubiera...
Template:Wiktes: yo cupe, tú/vos cupiste(s), él cupo..., ellos cupieron; yo cupiera...
Template:Wiktes: yo supe, tú/vos supiste(s), él supo..., ellos supieron; yo supiera...
Template:Wiktes: yo vine, tú/vos viniste(s), él vino..., ellos vinieron; yo viniera...
Template:Wiktes: yo pude, tú/vos pudiste(s), él pudo..., ellos pudieron; yo pudiera...
Template:Wiktes: yo puse, tú/vos pusiste(s), él puso..., ellos pusieron; yo pusiera...
Template:Wiktes: yo hice, tú/vos hiciste(s), él hizo..., ellos hicieron; yo hiciera...
Template:Wiktes: yo reduje, tu/vos redujiste(s), él redujo..., ellos redujeron; yo condujera...
Template:Wiktes: yo dije, tú/vos dijiste(s), él dijo..., ellos dijeron; yo dijera...

The verb Template:Wiktes 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 forms yo vide, él vido are sometimes seen.

Irregular past participles

Main article: List of Spanish irregular participles

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, as Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes, but for some other verbs this is their only irregularity (such as Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes), while some very irregular verbs (such as Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes) have regular past participles. Examples:

Most of these verbs have derivatives with the same irregularity. For example, alongside volver → vuelto and poner → puesto, there are Template:Wiktes → Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes → Template:Wiktes; alongside Template:Wiktes → Template:Wiktes there is Template:Wiktes → Template:Wiktes (but note Template:Wiktes → Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes → Template:Wiktes are regular, though they also have the adjectival forms Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes). Similarly Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, etc. Solver is obsolete, but its derivatives Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes (Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes) are in common use. The participle of Template:Wiktes is Template:Wiktes in some regions, but Template:Wiktes 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 verbs Template:Wiktes and Template:Wiktes, but the irregular form is generally the only one used as an adjective:

A number of other "strong" past participles, such as Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, Template:Wiktes, and a number of others, are obsolete for general use, but are occasionally used in Spain (and to a much lesser extent in Spanish America) among educated, style-conscious writers, or in linguistic archaisms such as proverbs (refranes).

Others

The verbs Template:Wiktes (to be) and Template:Wiktes (to go) both exhibit irregularities in the present, imperfect and preterite forms (note that these two verbs have the same preterite fui). Together with Template:Wiktes (to see) and Template:Wiktes (to foresee), they are the only four verbs with irregular imperfect indicative. Their tú imperative forms are sé, ve (for both ir and ver, although Template:Wiktes is more common than ver in commands) and prevé. Their vos imperative forms are sé, andá (the verb Template:Wiktes replaces ir), ve and prevé.

  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

Remember 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 verbs Template:Wiktes (to give) and Template:Wiktes (to be) both exhibit irregularities in the present indicative and present subjunctive because their stems cannot be stressed (in dar the stem is just d-, in estar it was originally st-). The form dé is so written to distinguish it from the preposition Template:Wiktes. Both verbs are also irregular in the preterite and derived tenses: dar follows the pattern of regular -er/-ir verbs, while estar has an anomalous 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

References

  1. ^ Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, "tilde"2. n.1.2.
  2. ^ Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, voseo, section 2.1.2.1.b
  3. ^ Terrell, Tracy D., and Salgués de Cargill, Maruxa, Lingüística aplicada a la enseñanza del español a anglohablantes (New York: Wiley, 1979), p. 97.
For a list of words relating to Spanish irregular verbs, see the Spanish irregular verbs category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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