Spanish irregular verbs in the first person
Spanish verbs can be divided into several groups. The division is quite more complex than a simple differentation between regular and irregular verbs.
Why? Because for example stem-changing verbs are something between regular and irregular verbs. And so are the verbs that we will see today, as actually, in this case only the first person is different, the rest of them follows the general rules, as we might see in the example below:
As you see, in fact, only the "yo" person is different from the rest, which is why I always call this kind of Spanish verbs “semi-irregular verbs”. I will divide them into different groups so that it will be easier to remember them.
Spanish verbs with -ECER termination
| Change in the 1st person | Example | Meaning | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| C--> ZC | Agradecer | To be thankful | (Yo) agradezco, (Tú) agradeces, (Él, Ella, Usted) agradece (Nosotros) agradecemos, (Vosotros) agradecéis, (Ellos, ellas) agradecen |
| C--> ZC | Parecer | To seem | Parezco, pareces, parece, parecemos, parecéis, parecen |
| C--> ZC | Ofrecer | To offer | Ofrezco, ofreces, ofrece, ofrecemos, ofrecéis, ofrecen |
Other verbs that follow the same pattern are, for example: padecer (to suffer from a disease), crecer (to grow, to rise), amanecer (to begin to get light ), enriquecer (to enrich ) and much more.
Spanish verbs with – UCIR termination
| Change in the 1st person | Example | Meaning | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| C--> ZC | Traducir | To translate | (Yo) traduzco, (Tú) traduces, (Él, Ella, Usted) traduce (Nosotros) traducimos, (Vosotros) traducís, (Ellos, ellas) traducen |
| C--> ZC | Conducir | To drive (a vehicle) | Conduzco, conduces, conduce, conducimos, conducís, conducen |
| C--> ZC | Producir | To produce | Produzco, produces, produce, producimos, producís, producen |
It’s good to know that the verbs wchich terminate on -UCIR are special for one more reason.
They are irregular in a past tense called pretérito indefinido. And since they are iregular instead of saying traducí you have to use the form traduje to say, in this case, I did translate.
Other popular verbs that follow the same rule are, for example: reducir (to reduce), introducir (to introduce), seducir (to seduce) or deducir (to deduce, to work out).
The – GO form in the first person
The verbs in the list below have in common one thing: in the first person the form “go” appears.
| Change in the 1st person | Example | Meaning | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| GO | Salir | To leave | (Yo) salgo, (Tú) sales, (Él, Ella, Usted) sale (Nosotros) salimos, (Vosotros) salís, (Ellos, ellas) salen |
| GO | Poner | To put | Pongo, pones, pone, ponemos, ponéis, ponen |
| GO | Traer | To bring | Traigo, traes, trae, traemos, traéis, traen |
| GO | Caer | To fall | Caigo, caes, cae, caemos, caéis, caen |
| GO | Hacer | To do | Hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen |
| GO | Satisfacer | To satisfy | Satisfago, satisfaces, satisface, satisfacemos, satisfacéis, satisfacen |
| GO | Valer | To be worth | Valgo, vales, vale, valemos, valéis, valen |
Verbs with the irregular first person – other cases
And finally there are also verbs where the first person is not regular but it doesn’t follow any specific pattern. We could say that these forms are the real irregular forms.
| Verb | Meaning | 1st person | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dar | To give | Doy | (Yo) doy, (Tú) das, (Él, Ella, Usted) da (Nosotros) damos, (Vosotros) dais, (Ellos, ellas) dan |
| Caber | To fit | Quepo | Quepo, cabes, cabe, cabemos, cabéis, caben |
| Ver | To see | Veo | Veo, ves, ve, vemos, veis, ven |
| Saber | To know | Sé | Sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben |
Spanish irregular verbs – first person – exercises
- Choose a correct verb
1.Ella siempre ............. todo lo que lee al inglés.
2.Estas empresas ............... el mismo tipo de productos.
3.¿Qué .......... esta tarde, Mariano? - Nada en especial.
4.¿A qué hora tus padres .............. de casa por la mañana?
5.¿Dónde ........ la compra? (yo) ¿Aquí o allí?
6.Vosotros me ............... mucho dinero por este cuadro ¿Por qué?
7.Estas plantas .......... muy rápido.
8.Gracias por tu apoyo, de verdad te lo ….........................
9.No .......... la pena invertir en este negocio.
10.Voy a la tienda. ¿ Os…............ algo?
Spanish irregular verbs – first person – exercises – answers
1.Ella siempre traduce todo lo que lee al inglés.
2.Estas empresas producen el mismo tipo de productos.
3.¿Qué haces esta tarde, Mariano? - Nada en especial.
4.¿A qué hora tus padres salen de casa por la mañana?
5.¿Dónde pongo la compra? (yo) ¿Aquí o allí?
6.Vosotros me ofrecéis mucho dinero por este cuadro ¿Por qué?
7.Estas plantas crecen muy rápido.
8.Gracias por tu apoyo, de verdad te lo agradezco.
9.No vale la pena invertir en este negocio.
10.Voy a la tienda. ¿Os traigo algo?
Definitely you will also like these articles:
If you want to discover more irregular Spanish verbs you should take a look at theses lists:
Spanish stem-changing verbs O:UE