Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense

Spanish irregular verbs aren’t conjugated following standard conjugation patterns. Therefore, they need to be memorised individually.
They are typically grouped into categories based on their common irregularities. Such categories include ‘Stem-Changing Verbs’, ‘Spelling Change Verbs’ and ‘Irregular -Yo Form Verbs’.
‘Stem-changing verbs’ have a vowel change in their stem (the part of the verb before the -ar, -er, -ir ending) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros. Example: dormir (to sleep) becomes duermo, duermes, duerme, dormimos, dormís, duermen.
‘Spelling-change verbs’ experience a spelling change in all forms. Examples include hacer (to make/do) – hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen and venir (to come) - vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, venís, vienen.
‘Irregular -Yo form verbs’ are special as they only present irregularity in the first person singular (yo). Examples include: conozco (conocer - to know), doy (dar - to give), sé (saber - to know), and voy (ir - to go).
Two irregular verbs that do not fit into these categories and should be memorized independently are ‘ser’ (to be) and ‘ir’ (to go). The present tense forms are: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son, and voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van, respectively.
Practice is key to mastering irregular verbs. Regular verb conjugation exercises targeting irregular verbs can help greatly with this.
Whilst learning irregular verbs, it’s crucial to also focus on their meaning and how they are used in different contexts.
It’s also helpful to learn common phrases or sentences that use irregular verbs to understand their natural usage.
Verb charts and flashcards can be beneficial tools for remembering the different forms of these irregular verbs.
Lastly, even native Spanish speakers may sometimes make mistakes with irregular verbs, so don’t be discouraged if they’re challenging at first!