Spanish
Irregular
Verbs
Por: Minerva Martínez
ENGL 360
Prof. E. Lugo
February 9, 2012
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• What are Spanish irregular verbs?
• Irregular verbs are verbs which don't follow standard
rules of conjugation in the different verb tenses.
• The bad news is that they're the most used verbs.
• So you need to focus on them more, the good news is
that you can become familiar with them easily.
Examples:
to go (ir)
to walk (andar)
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• Here we will go through types of irregularity:
• -First person singular present with g: decir (to say), I say= digo. caer
(to fall), I fall= caigo. hacer (to do), I do= hago. salir (to go out), I go
out= salgo...
• -First person present g changes to j: escoger (to choose), I choose=
escojo. corregir (to correct), I correct= corrijo.
• -Stem changes in the third person singular present (e -> ie): negar
(to deny), he denies= niega. cerrar (to close), he closes= cierra.
pensar (to think), he thinks=piensa
» Ex. I go out. – Yo salgo.
» He denies the charges. – El niega los
cargos.
» I choose the blue one. – Yo escojo el
azul.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• -Stem changes in the third person singular present (u ->
ue): jugar (to play), he plays= juega. mostrar (to show),
he shows= muestra. dormir (to sleep),he sleeps=duerme
• -Stem changes in the third person singular present (e ->
i): decir (to say), he says= dice. medir (to measure), he
measures= mide.
» Ex. He sleeps. – El duerme.
» The teacher measures the cup. – La maestra mide la
taza.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• -When we add an e to the last letter of the stem c then (c
-> qu): platicar (to chat), I chatted= platiqué; masticar (to
chew); I chewed=mastiqué
• -When we add an e to the last letter of the stem z then (z> c): lanzar (to throw) I threw= lancé.
• When we add an a or o to the last letter of the stem c
then (c ->zc): conocer (to know) I know= conozco.
» Ex. I chewed gum. – Yo mastiqué
chicle.
» I know the meaning. – Yo conozco el
significado.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• Conjugation:
– Past participle: Most of the time, past participles in Spanish are formed
by changing the ending of -ar verbs to -ado and the ending of -er and -ir
verbs to -ido. However, there are dozens of exceptions.
– Note that many of the verbs can be used with prefixes. In such cases,
the past participle continues to be irregular. For example, the past
participle of posponer (to postpone) is pospuesto, and the past participle
of deshacer (to undo) is deshecho.
– Some verbs have more than one past-participle form. In some cases,
usage varies with region, and in some cases the past participle varies
depending on whether the participle is used with an auxiliary verb or as
an adjective to modify a noun.
» Examples:
» corromper (to spoil, to corrupt), corrompido,
corrupto
» elegir (to elect), elegido, electo
Spanish Irregular Verbs
Past Participle Irregulars
• proveer (to provide)
– Ex. The article was
provided.
– El articulo fue proveído.
Present Perfect
• haber + past participle
proveer (to provide),
– Ex. The merchant has
provided the articles.
– El mercader ha provisto los
articulos.
Present Progressive
• estar + present participle
I am providing (right now, at
this moment)• Estoy proveyendo.
Never use present progressive
for something that will occur in
the future.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
Present Subjunctive - verbs
with irregular first persons in
present indicative
• Ex. Proveer
proveo, provees, provee, proveen,
proveéis, proveemos
Pronoun placement with
commands
• Affirmative commands: attach
to verb
Negative commands: precede
verb
Ex. Provéaselas.
Provide them.
Do not provide them.
No se las provea.
• Tráigaselas.
No se las traiga.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
Indirect commands Use "que +
present subjunctive"
• Que entre María.
Let María come in.
• Que vengan a las cuatro.
Have them come at four
o'clock
Future Perfect
• haber + past participle
habrá hablado, habrá comido,
habrá vivido
Conditional Tense
• Infinitive + ending
(-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, ían)
Ex. Tu irías.
Nosotros iríamos.
I would go.
They would go.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
Conditional Tense Irregulars
• caber
yo cabría – I would
• poner
yo pondría –I would put the phone if…
• decir
yo diría – I would tell if…
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• Let’s review:
• Verb: andar (to walk): (caminar)
Persons
Past Simple Indicative
Imperfect
Subjunctive
Future
Subjunctive
Yo
anduve
anduviese (-viera) anduviere
Tú
anduviste
anduvieses
anduvieres
El/Ella
anduvo
anduviese
anduviere
Nosotros
anduvimos
anduviésemos
anduviéremos
Vosotros
anduvisteis
anduvieseis
anduviereis
Ellos/ellas anduvieron
anduviesen
anduvieren
» I walked. – Yo anduve.
» That you would walk. – Que tú anduvieses.
» We would walk. – Nosotros anduviéremos.
Spanish Irregular Verbs
Present continuous
I am providing: Yo estoy proveyendo
Present perfect
I have provided: Y he provisto
Future
I will provide: Yo proveeré
Future perfect
I will have provided: Yo estaría
proveyendo.
Past continuous
I was providing: Yo estuve
proveyendo
Past perfect
I had provided: Yo había provisto
Future continuous
I will be providing: Yo estaré
proveyendo
Present perfect continuous
I have been providing: Yo he estado
proveyendo
Past perfect continuous
I had been providing: Yo había estado
proveyendo.
Future perfect continuous
I will have been providing: Yo habré
estado proveyendo
Spanish Irregular Verbs
• References:
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http://www.123teachme.com/spanish_verb_conjugation/tener
http://spanish.speak7.com/spanish_irregular_verbs.htm
http://spanish.about.com/od/conjugation/a/irr_participles.htm
http://www.onlinespanish.org/indefinido-irregular.html
http://www.onlinespanish.org/Answers-Indefinido-Irregular.html
http://www.spanicity.com/verbs/spanish-verbs.htm
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/verb-flashcards.htm
http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Spanish/Grammar/Verbs/andar.htm
http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Spanish/Grammar/Verbs/traer.htm