Verbos Irregulares en YO

formación

There are a number of verbs that are "irregular" in the present tense YO form, but are regular in all other forms.  (Some of these verbs may, however, be stem-changing, so be careful.)

This may be easier if we study them in categories:


GO

Primero, contesta las preguntas siguientes, con frases completas:
 
 


In your answers, you (should have) used: tengo, digo, salgo and vengo.  These are all words you are familiar with, so I hope it was easy.  There may be a few new words on the following list, too.  You should write them all down in your notebook.  Note again that all compound verbs are conjugated like the root verb.  So bendecir is conjugated by writing "ben" before the correct form of "decir".

These verbs end in "GO" in YO.

caer (to fall): caigo, caes, cae, etc.
decir [e>i] (to say, tell): digo, dices, dice, etc.
hacer (to do, to make): hago, haces, etc.
oír [o> oy] (to hear <with "yo' ear">):  oigo, oyes, oye, etc.
poner (to put, place): pongo, pones, pone, etc.
salir (to leave, to go out): salgo, sales, etc.
satisfacer* (to satisfy) satisfago, satisfaces, satisface, etc. tener [e>ie] (to have): tengo, tienes, etc.
traer (to bring): traigo, traes, trae, etc.
valer (to be worth): valgo, vales, vale, etc.
venir (to come): vengo, vienes, viene, etc.
*actually a compound of "satisf" + "hacer"- to make satisfied
 
Other common compound verbs:  oponer, componer, mantener, detener, convenir, intervenir, atraer, contraer, maldecir, bendecir, obtener, etc.  All these verbs are conjugated like their roots.
Let's answer a few questions to practice these verbs.  Answer in complete sentences, of course.
 
¿Tienes muchos amigos?
¿Qué traes a la clase de matemáticas?
¿Dices mentiras a tus profesores?  Explica.
Mientras tratas de (you try to) dormir, ¿qué oyes?
¿Sales los viernes y los sábados? ¿Con quién?
¿Dónde pones la chaqueta  al llegar a la escuela?
¿Caes de vez en cuando?  Explica.
¿Cuándo haces la tarea?  ¿después de la cena?

ZCO

Ahora, contesta estas preguntas:
 

In your answers you used "conduzco" and "conozco", ¿verdad?  There are quite a few verbs like these two, and, like the "GO" verbs, these verbs are "regular" in all other forms.  Notice that these words all end in a vowel plus "cer" or "cir".  So chances are, if you come across a verb like this, it will probably be a "ZCO" verb.  (There are two exceptions- cocer and tocer- but we deal with them in the section on spelling changing verbs.)
 
 
The following are "ZCO" verbs:

agradecer (to please); aparecer (to appear); crecer (to grow); desaparecer ( to disappear); desobedecer (to disobey); establecer (to establish); introducir (to introduce [but not people, that's "presentar"]);  lucir (to shine or show off [Think, "¿luces debajo de las luces?"]); merecer (to deserve); obedecer (to obey); ofrecer (to offer);  parecer (to seem); permanecer (to belong); producir (to produce); reducir (to reduce); traducir (to translate)

This time, complete each sentence with a "ZCO" verb, trying not to repeat any.  Use the YO form for each, and write the entire sentence in your notebook.  (There are multiple correct answers for some.)
 

Nunca............... a mis padres.
..................de vez en cuando.
.................buenas notas.
..................de español al inglés a veces.
No......................... a ningunos clubes académicos.
.....................cuando actúo en el teatro y cuando canto.
...................flores en mi jardín, y vegetales en la huerta.
.................. a los profesores.
.......................un coche rápido.
...................... a muchas personas porque soy popular.

The following verbs don't fall into any categories like the GO and ZCO verbs, they are just irregular in YO.

¿Sabes nadar?  ¿Sabes la respuesta?  ¿Qué sabes hacer? SÉ ... (from "saber" [to know])

y
¿Ves mucho la telelvisión?  ¿Cuándo la ves?VEO ... (from "ver" [to see, view, watch])
y


¿Cabes en la caja?QUEPO ...  (from "caber" [to fit])
 
 

Wait until finishing the unit on "spelling changes" before doing the studyspanish.com activities.

¡Hasta luego!