Spanish -IR Verbs: 40 Essential Verbs for Beginners
🇪🇸 Spanish · 40 cards · A1 · by Lucía Herrera
-IR is the smallest of the three Spanish verb families, but it holds words you need from day one: ir, decir, salir, dormir, pedir. This deck has 40 of them. I start with the fully regular ones (vivir, abrir, subir) so the endings stick, then move on to the stem-changers and the real irregulars.
Two things trip up my students. In the present tense, -ir and -er verbs differ only in nosotros and vosotros: vivimos, vivís. And many high-frequency -ir verbs change their stem (pido, duermo, prefiero), so learn each one inside a sentence, not as a bare infinitive. Read the notes — that is where I put the false friends and the Spain/Latin America differences.
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
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All 40 cards
| # | Spanish | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vivir Completely regular: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven. | to live | Vivo en el centro desde hace tres años. I've lived downtown for three years. | |
| 2 | abrir Regular in the present, but the past participle is irregular: abierto. | to open | ¿Puedes abrir la ventana, por favor? Can you open the window, please? | |
| 3 | escribir Past participle: escrito. | to write | Le escribo a mi abuela todos los domingos. I write to my grandmother every Sunday. | |
| 4 | subir Also subir al autobús (get on the bus) and subir una foto (upload a photo). | to go up, to get on, to upload | Subimos por la escalera porque no hay ascensor. We're going up the stairs because there's no lift. | |
| 5 | recibir Fully regular. Preterite yo: recibí. | to receive, get | Recibo muchos correos por la mañana. I get a lot of emails in the morning. | |
| 6 | decidir Takes an infinitive directly, with no preposition: decidir salir. | to decide | Decidimos ir a la playa el sábado. We decided to go to the beach on Saturday. | |
| 7 | compartir Works for food, flats and social media posts alike. | to share | ¿Compartimos un postre? Shall we share a dessert? | |
| 8 | añadir In Mexico and much of Latin America, agregar is more common. | to add | Añade un poco de sal al arroz. Add a bit of salt to the rice. | |
| 9 | cumplir Cumplir años is the normal way to talk about birthdays. | to turn (an age), to fulfil | Mañana cumplo treinta años. Tomorrow I turn thirty. | |
| 10 | permitir Slightly formal; in everyday speech dejar is more common: aquí no dejan entrar perros. | to allow, let | Aquí no permiten perros. They don't allow dogs here. | |
| 11 | discutir Usually means to argue (heatedly). For a calm discussion say hablar de or debatir. | to argue, to discuss | Mis vecinos discuten todas las noches. My neighbours argue every night. | |
| 12 | describir Past participle: descrito. | to describe | Describe tu barrio en tres frases. Describe your neighbourhood in three sentences. | |
| 13 | sufrir Regular. Sufrir de + illness: sufre de asma. | to suffer | Mi padre sufre mucho con el calor. My father suffers a lot in the heat. | |
| 14 | existir Mostly used in the third person. | to exist | Ese restaurante ya no existe. That restaurant doesn't exist anymore. | |
| 15 | ocurrir Almost always third person. Se me ocurre una idea = an idea comes to me. | to happen, occur | ¿Qué ocurre? Te veo preocupada. What's going on? You look worried. | |
| 16 | descubrir Past participle: descubierto. | to discover, find out | Descubrí una cafetería genial cerca de casa. I discovered a great café near my place. | |
| 17 | asistir Always asistir a + event. It can mean 'to assist' in medical contexts (asistir a un enfermo), but 'to help' is normally ayudar. | to attend | Asisto a clase de yoga los martes. I attend a yoga class on Tuesdays. | |
| 18 | aburrirse Reflexive but regular: me aburro, te aburres, se aburre. | to get bored | Me aburro un poco en esta clase. I'm getting a bit bored in this class. | |
| 19 | ir Totally irregular: voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van. Ir a + infinitive = to be going to do something; ¡vamos! = let's go. | to go | Voy al mercado, ¿vienes conmigo? I'm going to the market, are you coming with me? | |
| 20 | venir Irregular: vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, venís, vienen. Informal command: ven. | to come | Ven aquí un momento. Come here for a second. | |
| 21 | decir Irregular: digo, dices, dice, decimos, decís, dicen. Participle: dicho. | to say, tell | ¿Qué dices? No te oigo bien. What are you saying? I can't hear you well. | |
| 22 | salir Only the yo form is odd: salgo. Salir con alguien = to date someone. | to go out, to leave | Salgo de casa a las ocho. I leave the house at eight. | |
| 23 | dormir Stem change o→ue: duermo, duermes, but dormimos, dormís. Dormirse = to fall asleep. | to sleep | Los niños duermen en el sofá. The kids are sleeping on the sofa. | |
| 24 | morir o→ue: muero, mueres. Participle: muerto. In speech, morirse is very common. | to die | Se me murió la planta otra vez. My plant died on me again. | |
| 25 | pedir e→i: pido, pides, but pedimos, pedís. Not preguntar, which is to ask a question. | to ask for, to order | Yo pido una cerveza, ¿tú qué quieres? I'll order a beer, what do you want? | |
| 26 | servir e→i: sirvo, sirves. No sirve = it's useless / it doesn't work. | to serve, to be useful | Esta llave no sirve. This key is no good. | |
| 27 | seguir e→i plus a spelling change in yo: sigo. Seguir + gerund = to keep doing something: sigo estudiando. | to follow, to keep on | Sigue recto hasta el semáforo. Keep going straight until the traffic light. | |
| 28 | conseguir Same pattern as seguir: consigo, consigues, conseguimos. | to get, to manage to | No consigo abrir este bote. I can't manage to open this jar. | |
| 29 | repetir e→i: repito, repites, but repetimos, repetís. | to repeat | ¿Puedes repetir más despacio? Can you repeat that more slowly? | |
| 30 | vestirse Reflexive with e→i: me visto, te vistes, nos vestimos. | to get dressed | Me visto rápido y nos vamos. I'll get dressed quickly and we'll go. | |
| 31 | elegir e→i plus g→j in the yo form: elijo. Escoger is a common synonym. | to choose | Elige tú la película esta noche. You pick the film tonight. | |
| 32 | preferir e→ie: prefiero, prefieres, but preferimos, preferís. Prefiero A a B = I prefer A to B. | to prefer | Prefiero el té al café. I prefer tea to coffee. | |
| 33 | sentir e→ie: siento, sientes. Sentirse + adjective = to feel a certain way: me siento mal. | to feel, to be sorry | Lo siento mucho, fue culpa mía. I'm very sorry, it was my fault. | |
| 34 | mentir e→ie: miento, mientes, but mentimos, mentís. | to lie | No me mientas, por favor. Don't lie to me, please. | |
| 35 | sugerir e→ie: sugiero, sugieres, but sugerimos. | to suggest | Te sugiero el pescado del día. I suggest the fish of the day. | |
| 36 | divertirse Reflexive with e→ie: me divierto, te diviertes, but nos divertimos (which is also the preterite form). | to have fun, enjoy oneself | Me divierto mucho en tus clases. I have a lot of fun in your classes. | |
| 37 | oír Irregular: oigo, oyes, oye, oímos, oís, oyen. Escuchar = to listen on purpose. | to hear | No te oigo, habla más alto. I can't hear you, speak louder. | |
| 38 | reír Usually reflexive: me río, te ríes, se ríe, nos reímos, os reís, se ríen. Reírse de algo = to laugh at something. | to laugh | Nos reímos mucho con esa película. We laughed a lot at that film. | |
| 39 | conducir Yo form: conduzco. In Mexico and most of Latin America people say manejar. | to drive | Conduzco al trabajo todos los días. I drive to work every day. | |
| 40 | construir Verbs in -uir insert a y: construyo, construyes, construye, construyen (but construimos, construís). | to build | Están construyendo un hotel enfrente. They're building a hotel across the street. |
Native Spanish speaker from Valencia, now in Mexico City. I tutor Spanish online and keep a notebook of the words my students trip over. Every deck here comes from that notebook.
Questions about this deck
- How do you conjugate regular -IR verbs in the present tense?
- Drop the -ir and add -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven. These endings are identical to -er verbs except in nosotros and vosotros (comemos/coméis vs. vivimos/vivís), so those two forms are the only ones you really have to keep apart.
- Which -IR verbs in this deck are irregular?
- Fully irregular: ir, venir, decir and oír, plus the yo forms of salir (salgo) and conducir (conduzco). Stem change e→i: pedir, servir, seguir, conseguir, repetir, elegir, vestirse. Stem change e→ie: preferir, sentir, mentir, sugerir, divertirse. Stem change o→ue: dormir, morir. Construir inserts a y (construyo) and reír keeps a written accent (me río). Abrir, escribir, describir and descubrir are regular in the present but have irregular participles: abierto, escrito, descrito, descubierto.
- What's the difference between pedir and preguntar?
- Pedir means to ask for something or to order: pido un café, le pedí ayuda. Preguntar means to ask a question: le pregunté la hora. If a thing or a favour follows, use pedir; if you want information, use preguntar. Both take an indirect object for the person: te pido / te pregunto.
- Do -IR verbs behave differently in the past?
- In the preterite, -ir and -er verbs share the same endings (-í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron), but -ir stem-changers also change the vowel in the third person: pidió/pidieron, durmió/durmieron, sintió/sintieron. Regular -er verbs never do that. Note too that for -ir verbs the nosotros preterite looks exactly like the present (vivimos, salimos, nos divertimos), and the imperfect uses -ía: vivía, salía, decía.
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