Unit 7 - Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense
Lesson 7.2 - Four More Irregular Verbs: hacer, decir, poder, querer
Exercises 7.2 Quiz 7.2
Topic:

Another batch of four very common but irregular verbs in the present tense.

Four More Common Irregular Verbs

In this lesson, we study four more of the most common verbs in Spanish that are formed irregularly.

  • Hacer means to do or to make
  • Decir means to say
  • Poder means to be able to
  • Querer means to want

Let's get the conjugations out of the way first. Then I'll have some example sentences.

Present Tense Conjugation of hacer (to do, to make)

Subject
Verb Form
Subject
Verb Form
Yo
Play Audio
hago
Nosotros
Play Audio
hacemos
Play Audio
haces
Vosotros
Play Audio
hacéis
Él/Ella
Play Audio
hace
Ellos
Play Audio
hacen

Present Tense Conjugation of decir (to say)

Subject
Verb Form
Subject
Verb Form
Yo
Play Audio
digo
Nosotros
Play Audio
decimos
Play Audio
dices
Vosotros
Play Audio
decís
Él/Ella
Play Audio
dice
Ellos
Play Audio
dicen

Present Tense Conjugation of poder (to be able to)

Subject
Verb Form
Subject
Verb Form
Yo
Play Audio
puedo
Nosotros
Play Audio
podemos
Play Audio
puedes
Vosotros
Play Audio
podéis
Él/Ella
Play Audio
puede
Ellos
Play Audio
pueden

Present Tense Conjugation of querer (to want)

Subject
Verb Form
Subject
Verb Form
Yo
Play Audio
quiero
Nosotros
Play Audio
queremos
Play Audio
quieres
Vosotros
Play Audio
queréis
Él/Ella
Play Audio
quiere
Ellos
Play Audio
quieren

Widely varying forms

As you can tell, the method of forming these verbs varies widely. Hacer is nearly a regular verb, with only the yo form hago out of the norm.

The other three verbs are irregular in 4 out of 5 of the conjugations that interest us, with only the nosotros form following the rules.

But these verbs are so common that you will need to become familiar with them, because you will hear them often.

Some examples

Yo hago todo el trabajo.I do all the work.
¿Por qué siempre me haces eso?Why do you always do that to me?
¡Siempre dices eso!You always say that!
Dicen que él es muy rico.They say he is very rich.
No puedo ir a la fiesta.I can't go to the party.
¿Puedes ayudarme?Can you help me?
¿Quieres más?Do you want more?
No queremos esperar.We don't want to wait.

When you are ready, head to the exercises for practice with these four verbs in the present tense.