Voy al cine. Quiero ver una película.I'm going to the cinema. I want to watch a film.

ir (to go), hacer (to do, to make), querer (to want) and poder (to be able to, can) are among the most useful verbs in Spanish, and each one bends the regular pattern in its own way. They are worth learning as small blocks, since you'll meet them in almost every conversation. The regular patterns they depart from are in the lessons on -ar verbs and -er and -ir verbs.

Quick shortcut: ir has its own forms (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van). hacer is regular except for hago. querer and poder change their stem vowel in most forms (quiero, puedo) but keep it in nosotros/as, vosotros/as and vos.

ir (to go)

ir doesn't follow any regular pattern, so its forms are best memorized as one block:

Subject Form Example
yo voy Yo voy al trabajo en autobús. (I go to work by bus.)
tú vas Tú vas a la escuela. (You go to school.)
vos vas Vos vas al gimnasio los lunes. (You go to the gym on Mondays.)
usted / él / ella va Ella va a casa. (She goes home.)
nosotros/as vamos Nosotros vamos a Madrid. (We go to Madrid.)
vosotros/as vais Vosotros vais al parque. (You all go to the park.)
ustedes / ellos / ellas van Ellos van al cine. (They go to the cinema.)

A few things worth noticing:

  • When you name where you are going, the place comes after a: Voy a Madrid, Voy a la playa. Before el, a contracts to al: Voy al cine (see al and del).
  • usted and él/ella share one form (va), and here tú and vos share one too (vas).
  • ir is also the verb behind the near future (voy a comer, "I'm going to eat"), which has its own lesson: Ir a + infinitive (near future).

hacer (to do, to make)

hacer is regular in every form except yo, which takes a g:

Subject Form Example
yo hago Yo hago la cena. (I make dinner.)
tú haces Tú haces la tarea. (You do the homework.)
vos hacés Vos hacés ejercicio. (You exercise.)
usted / él / ella hace Ella hace pan. (She makes bread.)
nosotros/as hacemos Nosotros hacemos la compra. (We do the shopping.)
vosotros/as hacéis Vosotros hacéis mucho ruido. (You all make a lot of noise.)
ustedes / ellos / ellas hacen Ellos hacen deporte. (They play sports.)

English splits this idea into "do" and "make", but Spanish uses hacer for both: hacer la tarea (do homework), hacer la cena (make dinner). It's also the verb for asking what someone does: ¿Qué haces los sábados? (What do you do on Saturdays?) It also appears in impersonal weather expressions, always in the third-person singular: Hace calor. (It's hot.) · Hace frío. (It's cold.)

querer (to want) and poder (can, to be able to)

These two verbs share a pattern: the stem vowel changes when it carries the stress, e → ie in querer and o → ue in poder. That happens in the yo, tú, usted/él/ella and ustedes/ellos/ellas forms. In nosotros/as, vosotros/as and vos, the stem keeps its original vowel:

Subject querer poder
yo quiero puedo
tú quieres puedes
vos querés podés
usted / él / ella quiere puede
nosotros/as queremos podemos
vosotros/as queréis podéis
ustedes / ellos / ellas quieren pueden

The endings themselves are the regular -er ones. This kind of stem change has its own lesson, along with other verbs that work the same way: Present tense: common stem-changing verbs.

Both verbs are usually followed by another verb in the infinitive, with no preposition in between. Only the first verb is conjugated:

  • querer + infinitive (to want to do something): Quiero comer. (I want to eat.) · Queremos ir al parque. (We want to go to the park.)
  • poder + infinitive (to be able to, can): Puedo ayudar. (I can help.) · ¿Puedes hablar más despacio? (Can you speak more slowly?)
  • querer can also take a noun: Quiero un café. (I want a coffee.)

The other very common irregular verbs have lessons of their own: ser, estar and tener. Many other verbs, such as ver (veo), venir (vengo) and decir (digo), also have irregular forms, and they are easiest to pick up as you come across them.

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Yo va al cine. → ✅ Yo voy al cine. (yo takes voy; va goes with él/ella/usted)
  • ❌ Yo haco la tarea. → ✅ Yo hago la tarea. (the yo form of hacer is hago)
  • ❌ Nosotros quieremos ir. → ✅ Nosotros queremos ir. (nosotros keeps the plain e)
  • ❌ Yo podo ir. → ✅ Yo puedo ir. (the yo form of poder has ue)
  • ❌ Quiero a comer. → ✅ Quiero comer. (no a or other preposition between querer and the infinitive)
  • ❌ Voy a el cine. → ✅ Voy al cine. (a + el contracts to al here)

Quick check

Which form of the verb in parentheses completes each sentence?

  1. Yo ___ al gimnasio los lunes. (ir)
  2. Nosotros ___ la cena. (hacer)
  3. Nosotros ___ comer en casa. (querer)
  4. ¿___ hablar ahora? (poder, with tú)
  5. Ellos ___ al cine. (ir)
Show answers
  1. Yo voy al gimnasio los lunes.   2. Nosotros hacemos la cena.   3. Nosotros queremos comer en casa.   4. ¿Puedes hablar ahora?   5. Ellos van al cine.

Key takeaways

  • ir has its own forms: voy, vas, vas (vos), va, vamos, vais, van; the destination comes after a (al before el).
  • hacer is regular except for hago; it covers both "do" and "make", and it's used for asking what someone does and for weather expressions like Hace calor.
  • querer (e → ie) and poder (o → ue) change their stem vowel in yo, tú, usted/él/ella and ustedes/ellos/ellas, and keep it in nosotros/as, vosotros/as and vos.
  • querer and poder are usually followed directly by an infinitive, with no preposition in between.
  • Other very common irregular verbs, such as ser, estar and tener, have their own lessons.