This Spanish Easy Review grammar quiz takes a look at irregular verbs. If you have already taken the Spanish Easy Review quizzes on conjugating verbs (ar, er and ir verbs) in the present tense, and especially the quiz entitled Conjugating Irregular Verbs, you know that there will be many instances where you will simply have to memorize how a verb is to be conjugated. That is because there is no hard fast rule to follow. Unfortunately, Spanish has many irregular verbs. At this point you should know how to conjugate tener (to have), hacer (to make), ver (to see), and ir (to go).
So now let’s take a look at four more irregular verbs and how they need to be conjugated in the present tense.
DECIR (to tell)
Pronoun | Present Tense | English Meaning |
yo | digo | I tell |
tú | dices | you tell (familiar) |
usted | dice | you tell (formal) |
él | dice | he tells |
ella | dice | she tells |
nosotros/as | decimos | we tell (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
vosotros/as | decís | you tell (plural - familiar) |
ustedes | dicen | you tell (plural - formal) |
ellos/ellas | dicen | they tell (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
Did you notice that in the singular form, the de in decir became di and then it returned to de for the plural we and familiar you and then once again returned to di in the plural formal you and they? That’s kind of a tricky so, again, it takes practice and memorization. Finally, with the pronoun 'I' (yo) the 'c' is changed to a 'g'. See, it causes you to have to scratch your head! Okay, let’s move on.
DORMIR (to sleep)
Pronoun | Present Tense | English Meaning |
yo | duermo | I sleep |
tú | duermes | you sleep (familiar) |
usted | duerme | you sleep (formal) |
él | duerme | he sleeps |
ella | duerme | she sleeps |
nosotros/as | dormimos | we sleep (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
vosotros/as | dormís | you sleep (plural - familiar) |
ustedes | duermen | you sleep (plural - formal) |
ellos/ellas | duermen | they sleep (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
You bet - this is for real! When conjugating dormir the dorm becomes duerm, goes back to dorm, and then returns to duerm. It kind of rattles the brain. Don’t get too nervous though. In time, it will actually become second nature to you just like all of the strange words found in English. Now on to the next head scratcher.
SENTIR (to feel)
Pronoun | Present Tense | English Meaning |
yo | siento | I feel |
tú | sientes | you feel (familiar) |
usted | siente | you feel (formal) |
él | siente | he feels |
ella | siente | she feels |
nosotros/as | sentimos | we feel (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
vosotros/as | sentís | you feel (plural - familiar) |
ustedes | sienten | you feel (plural - formal) |
ellos/ellas | sienten | they feel (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
With this irregular verb, the sent becomes sient in the singular form, returns to sent for the plural we and familiar, plural you and then returns to sient for the plural, formal you and they. This is just another example of why you need to keep on your toes when learning to use Spanish verbs. Now let’s look at the final irregular verb for this quiz.
VENIR (to come)
Pronoun | Present Tense | English Meaning |
yo | vengo | I come |
tú | vienes | you come (familiar) |
usted | viene | you come (formal) |
él | viene | he comes |
ella | viene | she comes |
nosotros/as | venimos | we come (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
vosotros/as | venís | you come (plural - familiar) |
ustedes | vienen | you come (plural - formal) |
ellos/ellas | vienen | they come (note the masculine and feminine forms) |
With the verb venir, a 'g' is added to ven with the pronoun 'I' (yo) and then the ven becomes vien for the singular familiar and formal you, as well as for he and she. Ven then returns for we and the plural, familiar you and returns to vien for the plural, formal you and they.
Now that your head is getting sore, let’s see how well you can remember how each verb will be conjugated as it is used in a sentence. The quiz contains ten sentences with the verb capitalized. From the answers given below the sentence, see if you can locate the correctly conjugated verb in Spanish.