Irregular verbs in the present tense

Gramática I, Unidad 7

Contraseña says there are 3 families of irregular verbs, but I prefer to talk about 4 families:

• (1) Verbs that have irregular yo-forms, but that are otherwise totally regular.
• These verbs are poner, salir, hacer, caer, traer and dar.
   
• (2) Verbs that stem change e to ie in the present tense and have an irregular yo-form.
• These verbs are tener (which you've already learned) and venir.
   
• (3) Verbs that stem change e to i in the present tense and have an irregular yo-form.
• These verbs are seguir and decir.
   
• (4) Two verbs that truly are profoundly irregular and must be memorized.
• These verbs are construir and oír.

Family 1:

• Verbs that have irregular yo-forms, but that are otherwise totally regular.
• These verbs are poner, salir, hacer, traer, caer and dar.

• For these 6 verbs, the only thing you have to memorize is each one's irregular yo-form. The rest of the conjugation is completely regular (just stem + ending, like always).
   
• Those forms are:
• poner
• salir
• hacer
• traer
• caer
• dar

All of the remaining forms are completely normal.
Just stem+ ending, as shown below with 4 of our 6 verbs

PONER
Stem: pon

• tú-form: pones
• 3rd person singular form: pone
• nosotros-form: ponemos
• 3rd person plural form: ponen
   

SALIR
Stem: sal

• tú-form: sales
• 3rd person singular form: sale
• nosotros-form: salimos
• 3rd person plural form: salen
   

HACER
Stem: hac

• tú-form: haces
• 3rd person singular form: hace
• nosotros-form: hacemos
• 3rd person plural form: hacen
   

TRAER              stem: tra

• tú-form: traes                           
• nosotros-form: traemos         

• 3rd-person singuar form: trae

• 3rd-person plural form: traen

Family 2:

• Verbs that have irregular yo-forms, but that are otherwise totally regular verbs that stem-change e to ie
• These verbs are tener and venir.
   
• For these 2 verbs, the only thing you have to memorize is each one's irregular yo-form. The rest of the conjugation is completely normal (they behave like all e to ie stem-changing verbs do).
   

Those forms are:

Now we'll add "venir" next to it (conjugating  both verbs really is just stem + ending as usual for stem-changing verbs):

• yo form (irregular and must be memorized): tengo, vengo
   
• tú form (stem change): tienes, vienes
   
• 3rd-person-singular form (stem change): tiene, viene
   
• nosotros form (never a stem change): tenemos, venimos
   
• 3rd-person-plural form (stem change): tienen, vienen

We've already seen "tener" in the present tense.

You can see all these conjugated forms in the Resumen Gramatical in the Gramática I section of Unidad 7.

• Note that any verb created by adding a prefix to "tener" or "venir" (mantener, prevenir) will behave in exacty the same way.

Family 3:

• Verbs that have an irregular yo-form, but that are otherwise  totally regular verbs that stem-change e to i.
• These verbs are decir and seguir.
• For these verbs, the only thing you have to memorize is the irregular yo-form. The rest of the conjugated forms are completely normal (they behave like all e to i stem-changing verbs do).
   
• Those forms are:
• decir: irregular yo-form is digo
• seguir: irregular yo-form is sigo

Conjugating  "decir" and "seguir" really is still just stem + ending as usual for stem-changing verbs. It's just that the stem change is different.

• yo form (irregular--must be memorized): digo, sigo
   
• tú form (stem change): dices, sigues
   
• 3rd-person-singular form (stem change): dice, sigue
   
• nosotros form (never a stem change): decimos, seguimos
   
• 3rd-person-plural form (stem change): dicen, siguen

Let's look at these e to i stem-changing verbs.

Family 4: also presented in this textbook section are the deeply irregular verbs "oír" and "construir".

Let's begin with "oír"--you will need to memorize 5 things about its conjugation.

• First, the yo-form is irregular: it's "oigo".
   
• Second, the tú-form has a spelling change: it's "oyes".
   
• Third, the 3rd-person-singular form has the same spelling change: it's "oye".
   
• Fourth, the nosotros form carries an accent mark: it's "oímos".
   
• Fifth, the 3rd-person-plural form has the same spelling change as the tú- and 3rd-person-singular forms: it's "oyen".

Family 4: also presented in this textbook section are the deeply irregular verbs "oír" and "construir".

And now "construir"--you will need to memorize 4 things about its conjugation.

• 1st: the yo-form is irregular: it's "construyo".
   
• 2nd: the tú-form has the same spelling change: it's "construyes".
   
• 3rd: the 3rd-person-singular form has the same spelling change: it's "construye".
   
• (The nosotros-form is totally normal: "construimos", no accent)
   
• 4th: the 3rd-person-plural form has the same spelling change as the yo, tú- and 3rd-person-singular forms: it's "construyen".

EXAM-FORMAT PRACTICE

For every blank in the exam, you will have to do two things:

• First, choose the correct verb for meaning.
• Second, conjugate the verb you choose in the present tense for its subject.
   
• Tú siempre ____________(hacer/poner) ejercicio.
   
• Yo ____________(salir/traer) de casa a las ocho de la mañana.
   
• ¿Ustedes ___________(venir/seguir) bien las instrucciones?
   
• La profesora ____________(dar/prevenir) explicaciones gramaticales.
   
• Nosotros ___________(decir/caer) las respuestas.

Remember--for every blank in the exam, you must do two things:

• First, choose the correct verb for meaning.
• Second, conjugate the verb you choose in the present tense for its subject.
   
• Tú siempre ____________(hacer/poner) ejercicio.
• hacer
• haces
   
• Yo ____________(salir/traer) de casa a las ocho de la mañana.
• salir
• salgo
   
• ¿Ustedes ___________(venir/seguir) bien las instrucciones?
• seguir
• siguen

Remember--for every blank in the exam, you must do two things:

• First, choose the correct verb for meaning.
• Second, conjugate the verb you choose in the present tense for its subject.
   
• La profesora ____________(dar/prevenir) explicaciones gramaticales.
• dar
• da
   
• Nosotros ___________(decir/caer) las respuestas.
• decir
• decimos (never a stem change in nosotros-forms!)