Spanish Irregular Verbs: Patterns and Common Lists

How this guide was made. The rules follow the Real Academia Española and Instituto Cervantes reference materials listed at the end. The verb lists come from the 50 high-frequency Spanish verbs on Lingostar’s conjugation charts. It explains the grammar and does not claim classroom testing.

Most Spanish irregular verbs follow a small number of patterns, so you can learn them in groups instead of one by one. The main patterns are stem-changing verbs (pensar gives pienso), verbs with an irregular yo form (tener gives tengo), irregular preterite stems (tener gives tuve), irregular future stems (tener gives tendré), irregular past participles (hacer gives hecho) and a handful of very irregular verbs (ser, ir, estar, dar, ver, saber). Of the 50 high-frequency verbs on Lingostar’s charts, 32 are flagged as irregular: their present, imperfect or preterite differs from the regular pattern, and that includes two spelling-change verbs (llegar and buscar).

What “irregular” means

A regular verb keeps its stem and takes predictable endings, as hablar does (hablo, hablas, habla). An irregular verb changes its stem, its endings, or both. Irregular verbs are common in everyday speech, because many of the most frequent verbs (ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder, ir, decir) are irregular. Learning the pattern behind each change is faster than memorizing every form. Start with the guide on how to conjugate Spanish verbs if you need the regular endings first.

Pattern 1: stem-changing verbs

In the present tense, some verbs change the vowel in the stressed syllable of the stem. The change appears in yo, tú, él and ellos, but not in nosotros and vosotros, so the pattern looks like a boot in a conjugation chart.

The verbs on Lingostar’s charts follow these groups:

• e → ie: pensar, querer, empezar, comenzar, perder, entender and sentir
• o → ue: poder, contar, volver, encontrar and recordar
• e → i: pedir and seguir

Jugar is the only verb that changes u to ue (juego). Most stem-changing -ir verbs also change in the third person of the preterite and in the gerund: dormir gives durmió and durmiendo, pedir gives pidió and pidiendo, and sentir gives sintió and sintiendo.

Pattern 2: irregular yo forms

Many verbs are regular except for the first-person singular of the present. The -go and -zco forms also carry into the present subjunctive and formal commands (tengo gives tenga), which is why they are worth learning well (see the subjunctive guide). Five of the verbs in the “Other” row have their own subjunctive forms instead of following yo: soy gives sea, voy gives vaya, doy gives dé, estoy gives esté and sé gives sepa.

Some verbs combine patterns. Tener and venir have the -go form and also change e to ie (tengo, tienes; vengo, vienes), and decir has digo and changes e to i (dices).

Pattern 3: irregular preterite stems

Many common verbs use a special stem in the preterite, with one set of endings that has no accent marks: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. After a stem ending in j, the last ending is -eron (dijeron, trajeron).

The preterite is compared with the imperfect in the preterite vs imperfect guide.

Pattern 4: irregular future and conditional stems

About a dozen verbs use a shortened stem before the future and conditional endings. The endings are the regular ones (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án for the future and -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían for the conditional).

Pattern 5: irregular participles and gerunds

The past participle usually ends in -ado or -ido, but these common verbs are irregular:

Most compounds follow the same pattern: describir gives descrito, descubrir gives descubierto, devolver gives devuelto and deshacer gives deshecho. The exceptions are bendecir and maldecir, whose participles are regular (bendecido, maldecido). Some gerunds are irregular too: leer gives leyendo, ir gives yendo, decir gives diciendo, pedir gives pidiendo, dormir gives durmiendo and poder gives pudiendo.

Pattern 6: spelling changes

Some verbs are regular in sound but change spelling to keep the pronunciation. The Real Academia Española does not count these spelling changes as irregularities, but Lingostar’s charts flag llegar and buscar because the changes make their preterite differ from the basic pattern.

The most irregular verbs in the present

The 32 irregular verbs on Lingostar’s charts, by pattern

Each verb is listed under its most visible pattern, but many belong to more than one: tener, for example, also has an irregular preterite stem and future stem.

Browse all of them in the Spanish verb conjugation charts. Most charts flag the irregular tenses and include a short drill.

How to learn irregular verbs faster

1. Go by frequency. Learn ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder, ir and decir before rarer verbs.
2. Learn the patterns, not the verbs. One rule (e → ie) covers dozens of verbs.
3. Focus on the forms that come out wrong. For most learners, that means the yo form, the preterite and the participle.
4. Practice out loud. Saying tuve, estuve, hice, dije in short sentences builds speed. The pronunciation guide helps with the sounds.
5. Use the charts for review. Look at the flagged tenses, then test yourself with the drill on the charts that include one.

Quick quiz

Put each verb in the tense shown:

1. Yo ___ (tener, present) dos hermanos.
2. Ella ___ (pedir, present) la cuenta.
3. Ayer nosotros ___ (poder, preterite) llegar a tiempo.
4. Mañana yo ___ (salir, future) temprano.
5. Ya he ___ (hacer, participle) la tarea.
6. Ayer ellos ___ (decir, preterite) que sí.
7. Yo no ___ (conocer, present) a tu hermano.
8. Tú ___ (dormir, present) mucho.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are irregular verbs in Spanish?

Irregular verbs are verbs whose stem or endings do not follow the regular pattern of their group. Many of the most common Spanish verbs, such as ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder and ir, are irregular, but most follow a small set of patterns.

What are the most common irregular verbs in Spanish?

Ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder, decir, ir, ver, dar, saber, querer and poner. All of them have charts on Lingostar that flag the irregular tenses.

What are stem-changing verbs?

Stem-changing verbs change the vowel of the stressed syllable in the present: e → ie (pensar, pienso), o → ue (poder, puedo) and e → i (pedir, pido). The change appears in yo, tú, él and ellos, but not in nosotros and vosotros.

Which Spanish verbs have irregular yo forms?

Verbs such as tener (tengo), venir (vengo), poner (pongo), salir (salgo), hacer (hago), decir (digo), conocer (conozco), saber (sé), ver (veo), dar (doy), estar (estoy), ir (voy) and ser (soy).

What are the irregular preterite stems in Spanish?

The u-stems (estuve, tuve, pude, puse, supe), the i-stems (hice, quise, vine) and the j-stems (dije, traje, conduje), plus fui, di and vi. The u-, i- and j-stems share one set of unaccented endings, with -eron after j.

Are ser and ir the same in the preterite?

Yes. Both use fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron, and context tells you which verb is meant. Fui al cine means “I went to the movies”, and Fui profesor means “I was a teacher”.

How many irregular verbs are there in Spanish?

The exact number depends on what you count. Of the 50 high-frequency verbs on Lingostar’s charts, 32 are flagged as irregular, so irregularity is the norm among frequent verbs.

How can I memorize irregular verbs quickly?

Learn the patterns first, start with the most frequent verbs, practice the yo form, the preterite and the participle aloud, and review with charts and drills. Spaced repetition also helps.

Sources and how this was researched

This guide explains grammar from published reference works and does not claim classroom testing. The verb charts come from Lingostar’s conjugation data. Main sources:

• Real Academia Española: the Nueva gramática básica on irregular verbs, the Nueva gramática de la lengua española on vowel-alternating verbs, consonant-alternating verbs and strong preterites and irregular participles, and the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas conjugation models
• Instituto Cervantes: the Plan curricular del Instituto Cervantes, grammar inventories for levels A1 to A2 and B1 to B2
• Fundéu: the recommendations on bendecido and maldecido and on double participles

Related reading

• How to Conjugate Spanish Verbs: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Preterite vs Imperfect in Spanish: Rules and Examples
• Spanish Subjunctive: A Simple Guide With Examples
• Ser vs Estar: Rules, Examples and a Quick Quiz
• Spanish Pronunciation: How to Sound Native in 2026