If you have already mastered the Spanish verb tenses, it is time for you to start getting into irregular verbs. These verbs are widely used in everyday Spanish, and it is essential that you know them and how to conjugate them to become a Spanish speaker. At don Quijote you will learn everything you need to know about irregular verbs in Spanish with practical examples.

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What are irregular verbs in Spanish?

Irregular verbs in Spanish are those that do not follow the usual patterns of conjugation in one or more of their tenses and moods. Therefore, they must be learned separately since, when conjugating these verbs, their root changes its form.

How many irregular verbs are there in Spanish?

There are currently more than 100 irregular verbs in Spanish. Although among the most common ones, the list is reduced to about 50 and they constitute an essential part of the daily vocabulary. In fact, many of the most used verbs in Spanish (ser, estar, ir, tener, hacer) are irregular.

Spanish irregular verbs appear very frequently in everyday communication, so it is essential to know their conjugation. Their irregularity is a structural characteristic of the language and does not respond to a choice of the speaker, i.e. they must be memorized, since they do not follow a fixed rule.

Types of irregularities in verbs

Irregular verbs in Spanish can present different types of changes. These are the most common ones:

1.Change in the root by diphthongation or vowel change. They change the vowel in the root in some forms, generally in the present indicative and subjunctive:

• e → ie: pensar → pienso
• o → ue: poder → puedo
• e → i: pedir → pido

2. Change in the first-person singular. These verbs are irregular only in the first-person present indicative:

• poner → pongo
• salir → salgo

3. Irregular roots in the preterite indefinite:

• tener → tuve
• decir → dije

4. Completely irregular verbs. All these conjugated verbs are completely different from their root. For example:

• ser → soy → soy, fui, sea
• ir → voy, fui, vaya
• haber → he, hubo, haya

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Irregular verbs in Spanish

Spanish irregular verbs. Irregular verbs in Spanish are important for your learning. That's why at don Quijote you’ll learn the list of irregular verbs in Spanish.

Grammar Spanish irregular verbs. Irregular verbs in Spanish are important for your learning. Here you’ll learn the list of irregular verbs in Spanish. irregular verbs in spanish, irregular preterite verbs in spanish, imperfect irregular verbs spanish, irregular present tense verbs in spanish, irregular verbs spanish present, irregular conjugations spanish, conjugating irregular verbs in spanish Off Marta Díaz

Here are some more common homographs in Spanish: tomo (Spanish verb tomar/volume of a book); como (Spanish verb comer/conjunction); lima (city/fruit/manicure tool); listo (ready/clever); canto (Spanish verb cantar/edge of something).

Although it may seem very confusing at first and you may find it difficult to understand this type of phenomenon, homonymous words in Spanish are very common, and you will end up using them without even realizing it. Your adventure in learning Spanish has just begun, so don't stop and keep practicing in places where the language is spoken, such as Spain.

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Other very common homophones in Spanish are: tuvo/tubo; cayó/calló; votar/botar; honda/onda; rayar/rallar; hola/ola, haber/ a ver, etc.

Examples of homographs in Spanish

Finally, homographs in Spanish are words that are spelled the same, have different meanings, and, in very rare cases, can sound different due to accent.

Practico:

• El médico me dijo que practico buenos hábitos (The doctor told me to practice good habits)
• El móvil es muy práctico para los viajes (Cell phones are very practical for traveling)

Toco:

• Toco la guitarra todas las noches (I play the guitar every night)
• Cerca del río crece un árbol llamado toco (Near the river grows a tree called toco)

Bajo:

• Bajó del bus en la última parada (He got off the bus at the last stop)
• El sótano está situado bajo el edificio (The basement is located under the building)

Nada:

• Nada lo detuvo en su camino (Nothing stopped him on his way)
• Mi primo nada en el río todas las tardes (My cousin swims in the river every afternoon)

Vino:

• Me gusta más el vino tinto que el vino blanco (I like red wine better than white wine)
• El técnico vino a mi casa a arreglar la fuga de agua (The technician came to my house to fix the water leak)

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Llama:

• La llama escupió al turista (The llama spat at the tourist)
• La llama del fuego se apagó con el viento (The flame of the fire was extinguished by the wind)
• Llama a tu hermana que va a llegar tarde (Call your sister, she's going to be late)

Frente:

• El frente de la casa tiene ventanas grandes (The front of the house has large windows)
• El frente de batalla estaba bien defendido (The front of the battle was well defended)
• El flequillo le tapa la frente (Her fringe covers her forehead)

Here are some other homonyms in Spanish that you may come across: gato (cat/vehicle tool); cola (tail/line of people) or clave (key/central idea).

Examples of homophones in Spanish

Homophones words in Spanish always sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

Rebelar/Revelar:

• El pueblo decidió rebelarse contra las injusticias (The people decided to rebel against injustice)
• Va a revelar su secreto mañana (He is going to reveal his secret tomorrow)

Grabar/Gravar:

• Voy a grabar una canción nueva el viernes (I'm going to record a new song on Friday)
• El Gobierno decidió gravar los productos importados (The government decided to tax imported products)

Basta/Vasta:

• Basta ya de hacer ruido, por favor (Please, stop making noise)
• Una vasta llanura se extiende hasta el horizonte (A vast plain stretch to the horizon)

Haya/Halla:

• Ojalá haya comida en la nevera cuando lleguemos (I hope there is food in the fridge when we get there)
• Si buscas bien, hallarás la respuesta (If you look carefully, you will find the answer)

Vaca/Baca:

• La vaca pasta en el campo (The cow grazes in the field)
• Subieron las maletas en la baca del coche (They put the suitcases in the roof rack of the car)

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Difference between Spanish homonyms, homophones, and homographs

The main characteristic of these types of words is that they always have different meanings, even though they aren’t pronounced or spelled the same. Depending on the context, you will be able to identify their meaning.

Differentiating between these types of words can be challenging, but we will try to explain it as best as possible with this table:

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Type	Writting	Sound	Meaning	Example
Homonyms in Spanish	Can be spelled the same or differently	They can sound the same or differently	Different	Llama (animal/fire)
Homophones in Spanish	Not spelled the same	They always sound the same	Different	Tubo/Tuvo
Homographs in Spanish	Always spelled the same	May sound the same or not	Different	Banco (bank/bench)

 

It should be noted that in modern Spanish, the pronunciation and spelling of most words are the same, meaning that there is no significant difference in their pronunciation. Therefore, pronunciation tends to match spelling, although there are some exceptions.

Although extremely rare, there may be cases where Spanish words of foreign origin, technical terms, or regionalisms sound different from how they are written. For example: práctico and practico. The word is homographic, it is written the same (although one has an accent and the other does not), but the stressed syllable changes and it is pronounced differently. This is a very specific case and one of the few where a homograph has different pronunciations due to its accent.

Examples of homonyms in Spanish

Remember that homonyms words in Spanish sound and/or are spelled the same but have different meanings:

Capital:

• La capital de España es Madrid (The capital of Spain is Madrid)
• Necesito capital para invertir en mi negocio (I need capital to invest in my business)

Cura:

• El cura dio misa el domingo (The priest said Mass on Sunday)
• Esa infección se cura con antibióticos (The infection will be cured with antibiotics)

Banco:

• El banco me otorgó un préstamo (The bank gave me a loan)
• Nos sentamos en el banco del parque (We sat on the bench in the park)
• Vimos un banco de peces en el estanque (We saw a shoal of fish in the pond)

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