Irregular Spanish verbs: 25 verbs with examples

🇪🇸 SpanishA2–B125 words

The most useful Spanish verbs are also the most irregular. This list brings together stem-changing verbs, irregular yo forms and irregular past forms — pedir, dormir, traer, conducir, resolver — each with an example in a common irregular form.

Where you will use it: Mastering the irregular forms you use every day.

Irregular Spanish verbs — The word list

Meanings and translations are in English.

Spanish	Meaning and example
pedir	To ask for; to order.“Siempre pido agua cuando como fuera.”I always order water when I eat out.
dormir	To sleep.“Duermo ocho horas casi todas las noches.”I sleep eight hours almost every night.
sentir	To feel; to regret.“Siento mucho no poder acompañaros mañana.”I'm very sorry I can't join you tomorrow.
preferir	To prefer.“Prefiero viajar en tren por España.”I prefer travelling around Spain by train.
pensar	To think.“¿Qué piensas hacer este fin de semana?”What are you thinking of doing this weekend?
empezar	To begin; to start.“La clase empieza dentro de cinco minutos.”The lesson starts in five minutes.
entender	To understand.“No entiendo lo que pone aquí.”I don't understand what it says here.
perder	To lose; to miss.“Siempre pierdo las llaves por casa.”I'm always losing my keys around the house.
encontrar	To find.“No encuentro mi móvil por ninguna parte.”I can't find my mobile phone anywhere.
recordar	To remember.“Recuerdo muy bien nuestro primer viaje.”I remember our first trip very well.
contar	To count; to tell.“Mi abuela cuenta historias muy divertidas.”My grandmother tells very funny stories.
costar	To cost.“Estos zapatos cuestan cuarenta euros ahora.”These shoes cost forty euros now.
jugar	To play.“Los sábados juego al fútbol con amigos.”On Saturdays I play football with friends.
seguir	To follow; to continue.“Sigo las instrucciones de la receta.”I'm following the instructions in the recipe.
repetir	To repeat.“¿Repites la última frase, por favor?”Can you repeat the last sentence, please?
servir	To serve.“En este bar sirven tapas muy buenas.”They serve very good tapas in this bar.
elegir	To choose.“Siempre elijo una mesa junto a la ventana.”I always choose a table by the window.
reír	To laugh.“Nos reímos mucho con esa película.”We laugh a lot at that film.
oír	To hear.“No oigo bien desde esta mesa.”I can't hear well from this table.
traer	To bring.“Traigo el postre para la cena.”I'm bringing dessert for dinner.
caer	To fall.“Siempre caigo en el mismo error.”I always fall into the same trap.
conducir	To drive.“Conduzco al trabajo cuando llueve mucho.”I drive to work when it rains heavily.
traducir	To translate.“Traduzco textos del inglés al español.”I translate texts from English into Spanish.
construir	To build.“Construyen un colegio nuevo en el barrio.”They're building a new school in the neighbourhood.
resolver	To solve; to resolve.“Hoy hemos resuelto el problema del ordenador.”Today we've solved the problem with the computer.

Tips for learning Spanish words

Learn the article with the nounWrite el billete or la cuenta, not just the noun: the article tells you the gender, and adjectives agree with it.
Say every example aloudSpanish is spelled almost exactly as it sounds. Play the audio, then read the example aloud — it trains your ear and your pronunciation at once.
Type the accentsIn WordNest a missing accent counts as a mistake. Typing está, mañana and también correctly from the start saves relearning them later.

Spanish as spoken in Spain

Spanish is spoken in more than twenty countries, and everyday words differ between them: a car is a coche in Spain and a carro in much of Latin America, a phone is a móvil rather than a celular. These lists follow Spain's usage — vosotros, coger el tren, el ordenador — and WordNest's examples, audio and AI corrections use the same standard. You will still be understood everywhere.

Add five or six of these words a day rather than the whole list at once, keep the example sentence on the card, and review them when they come due. WordNest schedules each word across seven growing intervals — same day, then 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days — so the list is still with you months later. Read how spaced repetition works if you want the reasoning behind those numbers.

Spanish word lists →

Questions about this list

Is this Spanish from Spain or Latin America?

Spanish as spoken in Spain. Where Latin America usually uses a different word, the list gives the Spain one — for example coche instead of carro — but every word is understood across the Spanish-speaking world.

How do I practise Irregular Spanish verbs?

Start with five words, listen and say each example aloud. Then recall the Spanish word from its English meaning and review it over several days.

How many words are in this list?

This list contains 25 words and phrases with English meanings and example sentences. It is a starting set, not a complete course.

Study these words with spaced repetition

Create a free account, choose Spanish as a study language and add these words to your own deck.