Home  Grammar index  Spanish dictionary  Basic Spanish phrases  Translate  

Verbs with irregular first person singular forms (ctd):
verbs with additional irregularities

On the previous page we saw some common Spanish verbs with irregular yo forms. We also mentioned that some verbs (namely tener, venir, decir and oír have some minor irregularities. We'll look at and practise these additional irregularities on this page.

The irregularities aren't too difficult, as they're similar to ones found in other verbs. The stem of these verbs changes before unstressed endings, as we'll see below.

First, a reminder of the yo forms of these verbs:

VerbPresent tense yo form
caber
to fit
quepo
I fit, there's room for me
dar
to give
doy
I give
decir*
to say
digo
I say
hacer
to make, do
hago
I make, do
oír1
to hear, listen
oigo
I listen
poner
to put
pongo
I put
VerbPresent tense yo form
saber
to know

I know
salir
to go out, leave
salgo
I go out, leave
tener*
to have
tengo
I have
traer
to bring
traigo
I('ll) bring
valer
to be worth
valgo
(I'm worth)2
venir*
to come
vengo
I come
Common Spanish verbs with irregular present tense yo forms.

Vowel change in tener, venir and decir

The present tense of tener and venir is also radical-changing. In other words, the e changes to ie when this vowel is stressed. (Recall that the vowel is stressed except in the nosotros and vosotros forms, which have the stressed syllable on the ending: tenemos, venís.) So that gives forms tienes and vienes.

The verb decir follows a similar pattern, but the e changes to i: dices, dice, decimos decís, dicen.

Forms of oír

As well as the irregular yo form, this verb adds y before an ending that doesn't begin with í: oyes, oye, oímos, oís, oyen. Notice that the nosotros form (oímos) also has a written accent on the í vowel, to mark the fact that it is a separate vowel to o. The word is thus pronounced as three syllables: o-í-mos (contrast with oigo, which is pronounced as two syllables: oi-go).

Practise the present tense of these irregular verbs (including tener, venir, decir, oír)

To practise the present tense of the verbs above, fill in the grid below. Remember:

  • If it's the I form, then you use the form from the grid above;
  • If it's one of the other forms, you need to add the regular verb endings depending on the infinitive (e.g. singular you give > das);
  • Before an unstressed ending, tener and venir change e to ei; decir channges e to i.
comments powered by Disqus

 Español-Inglés home  Introduction to Spanish verbs  Spanish-English dictionary


Copyright © Javamex UK 2012. All rights reserved.