15 Common Spanish Verbs Every Beginner Should Know

A small group of verbs carries most of everyday Spanish. If you learn these fifteen verbs well, you can talk about yourself, your home, your plans, and your opinions long before you master the full grammar. Many of them are irregular in the present tense, so this article shows the full conjugation for each one and explains the pattern behind the irregularity.

How Spanish verbs work

Spanish verb endings tell you who is doing the action, so the subject pronoun (yo, tú, él) is often dropped. The verb infinitive ends in -ar, -er, or -ir. Regular verbs keep the same stem and change only the ending. Irregular verbs change their stem, their ending, or both in the present tense.

• Regular -ar: hablar → hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan
• Regular -er: comer → como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen
• Regular -ir: vivir → vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven

In Latin America “vosotros” (habláis, coméis) is replaced by “ustedes” (hablan, comen), so the plural forms you hear there are the same as the third-person plural. This guide shows the forms for “tú” and “ustedes/ellos” where they matter most.

1. Ser and 2. Estar: the two verbs for “to be”

“Ser” covers identity, origin, profession, time, and permanent characteristics. “Estar” covers location, temporary states, and feelings. Both are conjugated irregularly in the present tense.

• Ser: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son
• Estar: estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están

3. Tener and 4. Ir: two essential irregular verbs

“Tener” (to have) is used for possession and for many expressions where English uses “to be”: tener hambre (to be hungry), tener sed (to be thirsty), tener años (to be … years old). “Ir” (to go) is one of the most irregular verbs in Spanish, but it is also one of the most useful.

• Tener: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen
• Ir: voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van

5. Hacer, 6. Poder, 7. Querer

“Hacer” means “to do” or “to make” and appears in many everyday expressions, such as hacer la cena (to make dinner) and hacer deporte (to do sport). Its only irregularity is the first person: hago. “Poder” (can) and “querer” (to want) both change the stem vowel, so the stressed syllable keeps the vowel and the rest of the verb stays regular.

• Hacer: hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen
• Poder: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden
• Querer: quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren

8. Decir, 9. Saber, 10. Venir

“Decir” (to say) changes its stem from e to i. “Saber” (to know a fact or how to do something) has an irregular first person, sé. “Venir” (to come) follows the same pattern as “tener”. Remember that “saber” is for facts and skills, while “conocer” is for knowing people and places.

• Decir: digo, dices, dice, decimos, decís, dicen
• Saber: sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben
• Venir: vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, venís, vienen

11. Gustar, 12. Llamarse, 13. Necesitar, 14. Pensar, 15. Empezar

“Gustar” is used with indirect object pronouns: me gusta (I like), te gusta (you like), le gusta (he/she likes). “Llamarse” is the reflexive verb you use to introduce yourself. “Necesitar”, “pensar” (to think), and “empezar” (to start) are regular or stem-changing and very common in daily speech.

• Gustar: me gusta, te gusta, le gusta, nos gusta (+ a singular or infinitive)
• Gustar: me gustan, te gustan (+ a plural noun)
• Llamarse: me llamo, te llamas, se llama
• Necesitar: necesito, necesitas, necesita
• Pensar: pienso, piensas, piensa (e → ie)
• Empezar: empiezo, empiezas, empieza (e → ie)

How to learn them without memorising a table

Do not memorise the whole table at once. Learn one verb per day, say its six forms out loud, and then write one sentence about yourself using it. Group the irregular verbs by pattern: tener and venir change in the same way, poder and querer share a stem change, and decir, pedir, and servir change e to i. Within a week you will recognise most of them in real speech.