The 30 Most Common IR Verbs in Spanish and How to Use Them

If you’re learning Spanish, the ir verbs in Spanish are one of the three groups you’ll need to master. Along with -ar and -er verbs, -ir verbs make up one of the three main verb conjugations in the language.

The good news? Once you recognize the pattern, regular -ir verbs become surprisingly easy to conjugate. The tricky part comes with the irregular verbs, which can change their stems in ways that aren’t always obvious at first.

That’s why we’ve put together 30 of the most common -ir verbs in Spanish, divided into regular and irregular groups. You’ll learn the basic present-tense endings, see each verb in everyday examples, and discover the most common patterns behind irregular -ir verbs.

We’ll start with the regular verbs, then work through the major irregular patterns, including e→i, e→ie, and o→ue stem changes. By the end, you’ll have a practical list of 30 essential -ir verbs and a better idea of how to conjugate similar verbs you encounter in Spanish.

And if you want to test yourself afterward, stick around for the exercises at the end.

What are -ir verbs in Spanish?

The infinitive form of Spanish ‑ir verbs all end in ‑ir. To conjugate ‑ir verbs, we simply drop the ‑ir to get the stem, then add the ending depending on the tense and the subject. We also explain how to do this in our post on the Spanish infinitive form, so make sure to check that one out for a more in-depth dive into the topic.

For example:

• vivir → viv-
• vivir + o → vivo → I live
• vivir + es → vives → you live
• vivir + e → vive → he/she lives

In Spanish, we refer to this ‑ir verb group as verbos de la tercera conjugación, or third conjugation verbs. We call ‑ar verbs primera conjugación and ‑er verbs segunda conjugación.

Regular vs Irregular ‑ir verbs in Spanish

The main difference between regular and irregular -ir verbs is whether they follow the standard conjugation pattern.

Regular -ir verbs keep the same stem and use the same endings throughout their conjugations. Once you learn the pattern, you can apply it to dozens of verbs.

Irregular -ir verbs change their stem, spelling, or endings in certain conjugations. These changes aren’t completely random, though. Many irregular verbs follow recognizable patterns, particularly in the present tense.

One particularly useful thing to remember is that nosotros and vosotros often keep the regular stem even when other forms of an irregular -ir verb change.

So while irregular verbs require some extra memorization, they aren’t quite as unpredictable as they might first appear.

Conjugating ‑ir verbs in Spanish: Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense is one of the most commonly used tenses in Spanish, making it a great place to start when learning how to conjugate -ir verbs in Spanish. In this section, we’ll focus on regular -ir verbs in the present tense. 

To conjugate a regular -ir verb in the simple present tense, remove the -ir from the infinitive to find the verb stem, then add the appropriate ending. For example, vivir (to live) has the regular stem viv-.

Here are the -ir verb endings in the present tense, using vivir as an example:

Grammatical person	Subject	-ir ending	vivir
first-person singular	yo	-o	vivo
second-person singular	tú	-es	vives
third-person singular	él, ella, usted	-e	vive
first-person plural	nosotros, nosotras	-imos	vivimos
second-person plural	vosotros, vosotras	-ís	vivís
third-person plural	ellos, ellas, ustedes	-en	viven

As you can see, regular -ir verbs in Spanish follow a predictable pattern in the present tense. Once you learn these six endings, you can apply them to hundreds of regular verbs.

If you’re unfamiliar with the six grammatical persons in the table above, check out our beginner-friendly guide to Spanish subject pronouns.

Regular ‑ir verbs in Spanish

Now that you know the basic conjugation pattern for Spanish ‑ir verbs, let’s see the 15 most common regular ‑ir verbs that you should learn first. We’ll start with our list of ‑ir verbs, and then see each one in use below.

Spanish -ir verb	English
abrir	to open
admitir	to admit
compartir	to share
confundir	to confuse
cubrir	to cover
describir	to describe
descubrir	to discover
dividir	to divide, to split
escribir	to write
existir	to exist
permitir	to allow, to permit
recibir	to receive
subir	to go up, to get on, to upload
unir	to join, to unite, to connect
vivir	to live

Now let’s see a bunch of example sentences with each of these common regular Spanish ‑ir verbs:

Abrir

• La tienda abre todos los días de la semana. – The store opens every day of the week.
• Nosotros abrimos los regalos con emoción. – We open the gifts with excitement.

 

Admitir: 

• La universidad admite estudiantes cada semestre. – The university admits students every semester.
• Ellos admiten sus errores. – They admit their mistakes.

 

Compartir

• Él comparte su experiencia con todos. – He shares his experience with everyone.
• Vosotros compartís la pizza. – You share the pizza.

• Confundir
• Yo confundo las palabras fácilmente. – I confuse the words easily.
• Ellos confunden las instrucciones. – They confuse the instructions.

Cubrir 

• Jorge cubre a su hijo con una manta. – Jorge covers his son with a blanket.
• Ellas cubren sus plantas cuando hace frío. – They cover their plants when it’s cold.

Describir: 

• Yo describo el lugar con muchos detalles. – I describe the place with many details.
• Ella describe el personaje con precisión. – She describes the character accurately.

 

Descubrir

• Tú descubres tus talentos poco a poco. – You discover your talents little by little.
• Nosotros descubrimos una canción nueva cada día. – We discover a new song every day.

 

Dividir

• Ella divide el pastel para todos. – She divides the cake for everyone.
• Ustedes dividen el trabajo equitativamente. – You divide the work fairly.

Escribir

• : Ana escribe un artículo para la revista. – Ana writes an article for the magazine.
• Vosotros escribís cartas a vuestros amigos. – You all write letters to your friends.

 

Existir

• Esa palabra no existe. – That word does not exist.
• ¿Crees que existen los fantasmas? – Do you believe ghosts exist?

Permitir

• : El profesor permite libros en el examen. – The teacher allows books in the exam.
• No permitimos mascotas aquí. – We don’t allow pets here.

 

Recibir

• Nosotros recibimos el correo en la oficina. – We receive the email at the office.
• Ellos reciben a los invitados con alegría. – They welcome the guests happily.

Subir

• Yo subo fotos a las redes sociales. – I upload photos to social media.
• Nosotros subimos al autobús. – We get on the bus.

 

Unir

• Ella une los cables correctamente. – She connects the cables correctly.
• Unimos nuestras ideas en un solo proyecto. – We unite our ideas in a single project.

Vivir

• Yo vivo en un país hermoso. – I live in a beautiful country.
• Tú vives cerca de la playa. – You live near the beach.

Irregular -ir verbs in Spanish

Now for the trickier half of our list: irregular -ir verbs.

These verbs don’t always follow the standard pattern, but there’s a lot more logic to them than it might seem. Many irregular -ir verbs belong to recognizable groups, where the same stem change appears again and again.

Two things will make these verbs easier to learn:

• The endings are often the same, or very similar, to regular -ir endings.
• The nosotros and vosotros conjugations don’t usually exhibit irregular patterns.

We’ll group the verbs according to their conjugation patterns so you can learn the rules instead of memorizing every verb separately.

Spanish -ir verb	English
construir	to build, to construct
dormir	to sleep
invertir	to invest
ir	to go
medir	to measure
mentir	to lie
morir	to die
oír	to hear
pedir	to ask for, to request
reír	to laugh
repetir	to repeat
seguir	to follow
sentir	to feel
servir	to serve
venir	to come

e → i stem-changing -ir verbs

In the case of pedir, repetir, servir, and medir, we switch the ‑e‑ to ‑i‑ to get the irregular stem. As we mentioned above, this change doesn’t apply to the nosotros or vosotros conjugations, and the ‑ir endings remain the same.

Let’s see the full conjugation for pedir, followed by example sentences using each of the irregular ‑ir verbs in this group. Other Spanish ‑ir verbs that follow this pattern include consebir, despedir, expedir, investir, rendir, vestir, desvestir, and revestir.

	singular	plural
first-person	pido	pedimos
second-person	pides	pedís
third-person	pide	piden

• Pedir: Ella pide ayuda para terminar el trabajo. – She asks for help to finish the job.
• Pedir: Nosotros pedimos comida para llevar. – We order takeout.

• Repetir: Yo repito las palabras para practicar. – I repeat the words to practice.
• Repetir: ¿Por qué repites siempre lo mismo? – Why do you always repeat the same thing?

• Servir: El mesero sirve las cervezas. – The waiter serves the beers.
• Servir: Servimos el desayuno a las ocho. – We serve breakfast at eight.

• Medir: ¿Cómo mides el éxito? – How do you measure success?
• Medir: Ellos miden la temperatura cada hora. – They measure the temperature every hour.

We can include reír in this same group of irregular e→i verbs, with a caveat concerning the accent marks. The irregular stems follow the e→í pattern, while the original accented í remains in the two conjugations that follow a regular pattern. This same rule applies to other tenses as well.

Let’s see the present tense conjugations of reír in Spanish. This pattern applies to a few other Spanish ‑ír verbs such as sonreír, meaning to smile, and freír, meaning to fry.

río	reímos
ríes	reís
ríe	ríen

• Reír: Tú ríes con cualquier chiste. – You laugh at any joke.
• Reír: Nosotros reímos contando historias graciosas. – We laugh telling funny stories.

e → ie stem-changing -ir verbs

Similarly to the e→i pattern we saw above, many common Spanish ‑ir verbs follow a pattern of e→ie in the same way. The endings remain the same, the nosotros and vosotros don’t exhibit the change, while the other conjugations simply replace the ‑e‑ with ‑ie‑ to get the irregular stem.

From our list of the most important ‑ir verbs in Spanish, mentir, sentir, and invertir all follow this pattern. Some of the other Spanish verbs that follow this pattern include advertir, consentir, convertir, digerir, divertir, hervir, preferir, referir, requerir, sugerir, and transferir.

Let’s see this irregular conjugation applied to mentir, meaning to lie, and then see a series of example sentences.

miento	mentimos
mientes	mentís
miente	mienten

• Mentir: Él miente todo el tiempo. – He lies all the time.
• Mentir: Tú mientes cuando estás nervioso. – You lie when you’re nervous.

• Sentir: Siento un poco de frío. – I feel a little cold.
• Sentir: Nosotros sentimos alegría al verte. – We feel joy when we see you.

• Invertir: Yo invierto en proyectos sostenibles. – I invest in sustainable projects.
• Invertir: Ellos invierten mucho en tecnología. – They invest a lot in technology.

o → ue stem-changing -ir verbs

Only a couple of verbs follow this irregular o→ue conjugation pattern, but they’re very important words to know! Dormir means to sleep, while morir means to die. The only other verb that follows this pattern is premorir, meaning to predecease.

Like we’ve seen with the other irregular ‑ir verbs so far, we only change the vowel for four of the six grammatical persons, and the endings remain the same. Let’s look at our dormir conjugation and then see a few example sentences.

duermo	dormimos
duermes	dormís
duerme	duermen

• Dormir: Tú duermes ocho horas cada noche. – You sleep eight hours every night.
• Dormir: Ustedes duermen en la otra habitación. – You guys sleep in the other room.

• Morir: La planta muere sin agua. – The plant dies without water.
• Morir: Ellos mueren de risa con esa película. – They’re dying of laughter over that movie.

Other irregular -ir verbs

So far, the irregular -ir verbs we’ve seen have followed fairly predictable patterns. Most involve a single stem change that affects four of the six grammatical persons, while nosotros and vosotros keep the regular stem.

A few verbs are a little trickier, with additional spelling changes or different stem changes depending on the person. Let’s look at these one by one.

First up is seguir, meaning to follow. It follows the e→i pattern we saw with pedir, but the yo form also has a spelling change: seguir becomes yo sigo, dropping the -u- from -gu- before the -o ending.

This keeps the pronunciation consistent. The -u- is effectively silent in -gue, but would need to be pronounced distinctly in -guo.

Here are the present tense conjugations of seguir, with the irregular forms in bold. No other Spanish verb follows this exact pattern:

sigo	seguimos
sigues	seguís
sigue	siguen

• Seguir: Yo te sigo, ve tú delante. – I follow you, you go ahead.
• Seguir: Tú sigues una rutina saludable. – You follow a healthy routine.

Next we’ll see venir, meaning to come. Its irregular stems mostly follow the e→ie pattern we saw above with mentir, except for the first-person singular conjugation which falls into the broader family of yo ‑go verbs. A few related verbs follow this exact pattern, such as convenir, intervenir, and prevenir.

vengo	venimos
vienes	venís
viene	vienen

• Venir: Yo vengo de una familia grande. – I come from a big family.
• Venir: Ellos vienen a la fiesta más tarde. – They’re coming to the party later.

Oír, meaning to hear, has a similar yo ‑go conjugation in the first-person singular, but the other irregular stems require a spelling change of ‑í‑ to ‑y‑ to maintain consistent pronunciation. Notice that the accent is dropped in the irregular yo oigo, while it’s maintained in nosotros oímos and vosotros oís. Oír is the only verb that follows this exact pattern.

oigo	oímos
oyes	oís
oye	oyen

• Oír: ¿Oyes ese ruido? – Do you hear that noise?
• Oír: No oigo nada, sube el volumen. – I do not hear anything, turn up the volume.

Construir, meaning to build, exhibits a similar spelling change to facilitate consistent pronunciation, adding a ‑y‑ at the end of all four irregular stems before adding the regular endings. Other Spanish ‑uir verbs that follow this same pattern include atribuir, constituir, contribuir, destituir, diluir, distribuir, instruir, obstruir, reconstituir, reconstruir, and restituir.

construyo	construimos
construyes	construís
construye	construyen

• Construir: Yo construyo maquetas en mi tiempo libre. – I build models in my free time.
• Construir: Construimos una casita para el perro. – We’re building a little house for the dog.

The last irregular ‑ir verb in Spanish that we need to cover today is ir, meaning to go. There would be no stem left if we were to drop the ‑ir from this one, so ir is considered one of the language’s highly irregular verbs. Its conjugations in some tenses are even identical to those of ser, meaning to be, which is another vital but highly irregular verb in Spanish.

Ir is one of the most important verbs in Spanish, used constantly in everyday conversation to talk about movement. It also has a pronominal form, irse, which is used to talk about leaving, as in to get going. To talk about the near future, ir is used as an auxiliary verb along with the infinitive of the action verb to say we’re going to do something.

We’ll stick with the simple present tense here, but we highly recommend learning additional conjugations of ir in other tenses. Since it’s such a highly irregular verb, no other Spanish verbs exhibit all the same conjugation patterns as ir. Note the unique form for yo voy, while all of the other endings take -a- in contrast to the other -ir verbs. In addition, the vosotros form has no accent.

voy	vamos
vas	vais
va	van

• Ir: Yo voy al gimnasio todos los días. – I go to the gym every day.
• Ir: Diego y María van a la iglesia todos los domingos. – Diego and María go to church every Sunday.

Conclusion: The most common -ir verbs in Spanish

Learning -ir verbs in Spanish gets much easier once you stop seeing irregular verbs as a collection of random exceptions. There’s a pattern behind most of them. Learn the regular endings first, then pay attention to the vowel changes and spelling changes that come up again and again.

That’s also why learning pedir, sentir, dormir, or venir is more useful than simply adding another verb to your vocabulary list. Each one gives you a pattern you can recognize when you meet another verb with a similar conjugation.

And you don’t need to master all 30 at once. Start with the verbs you’re most likely to use, practice them in sentences, and let the less familiar ones become easier as you encounter them in context. Before long, -ir will stop looking like a special category of Spanish grammar and start feeling like just another verb pattern you know how to use.

Ready to put them to the test? Try the exercises below and see how many of these Spanish -ir verbs you can recognize and conjugate.

Exercises: Spanish ‑ir verbs

Let’s start with an easy vocab quiz in this first set of sentences. How many of the ‑ir verbs do you remember? Based on the context and the translation, fill in the blank with the correct Spanish ‑ir verb in the infinitive form.

1. Tú historia me hizo _____. – Your story made me laugh.
   2. Prefiero _____ el fin de semana. – I prefer to sleep on the weekend.
   3. Ana va a _____ un libro. – Ana is going to write a book.
   4. ¿Puedes _____ por favor? – Can you repeat, please?
   5. A las 8:00 pm voy a _____ la cena. – I’m going to serve dinner at 8pm.
   6. Cuando sea grande me gustaría _____ mi propia casa. – When I grow up, I’d like to build my own house.
   7. ¿Quieren _____ la cuenta entre todos? – Do you all want to split the bill between all of us?
   8. En ese restaurante me gusta _____ las hamburguesas. – I like to order hamburgers at that restaurant.
   9. No me gusta _____. Siempre digo la verdad. – I don’t like to lie. I always tell the truth.
   10. Vas a _____ de la risa cuando escuches esta historia. – You’re going to die of laughter when you hear this story.

Now we’ll make things a little bit harder, since you’ll not only need to remember the vocabulary, but also properly conjugate each of the ‑ir verbs. Fill in the blanks using the proper present tense conjugation of the correct Spanish ‑ir verb. Remember that many of them follow irregular conjugation patterns!

11. ¿Tú _____ al cine esta noche? – Are you going to the movies tonight?
    12. Ellos _____ temprano entre semana. – They sleep early during the week.
    13. Nosotros _____ muchas fotos a internet. – We upload many photos to the internet.
    14. Tú _____ ayuda cuando la necesitas. – You ask for help when you need it.
    15. Yo _____ con ese chiste. – I laugh at that joke.
    16. Él _____ para evitar problemas. – He lies to avoid problems.
    17. Yo no _____ que fue mi culpa. – I don’t admit that it was my fault.
    18. Ellos _____ la piscina en invierno. – They cover the pool in winter.
    19. ¿Tú _____ conmigo al museo? – Are you coming with me to the museum?
    20. Yo _____ un poco de miedo. – I feel a little scared.
    21. Ellas _____ los pasos del baile. – They repeat the dance steps.
    22. Mi hermano siempre _____ torres con sus Legos. – My brother always builds towers with his Legos.
    23. Tú _____ tiempo en aprender idiomas. – You invest time in learning languages.
    24. Yo _____ los ingredientes con precisión. – I measure the ingredients precisely.
    25. Ellas _____ las noticias en redes sociales. – They follow the news on social media.
    26. El mesero _____ la cena rápido. – The waiter serves dinner quickly.
    27. Yo no _____ nada desde aquí. – I don’t hear anything from here.
    28. Ella _____ por ese chocolate. – She’s dying for that chocolate.
    29. Yo _____ en un apartamento pequeño. – I live in a small apartment.
    30. ¿Crees que _____ vida en otros planetas? – Do you think life exists on other planets?

Answers

How did you do? Here are all of the correct answers for today’s exercises on the most important Spanish ‑ir verbs!

1. Tu historia me hizo reír.
   2. Prefiero dormir el fin de semana.
   3. Ana va a escribir un libro.
   4. ¿Puedes repetir por favor?
   5. A las 8:00 pm voy a servir la cena.
   6. Cuando sea grande me gustaría construir mi propia casa.
   7. ¿Quieren dividir la cuenta entre todos?
   8. En ese restaurante me gusta pedir las hamburguesas.
   9. No me gusta mentir. Siempre digo la verdad.
   10. Vas a morir de la risa cuando escuches esta historia.
2. ¿Tú vas al cine esta noche?
   12. Ellos duermen temprano entre semana.
   13. Nosotros subimos muchas fotos a internet.
   14. Tú pides ayuda cuando la necesitas.
   15. Yo río con ese chiste.
   16. Él miente para evitar problemas.
   17. Yo no admito que fue mi culpa.
   18. Ellos cubren la piscina en invierno.
   19. ¿Tú vienes conmigo al museo?
   20. Yo siento un poco de miedo.
   21. Ellas repiten los pasos del baile.
   22. Mi hermano siempre construye torres con sus Legos.
   23. Tú inviertes tiempo en aprender idiomas.
   24. Yo mido los ingredientes con precisión.
   25. Ellas siguen las noticias en redes sociales.
   26. El mesero sirve la cena rápido.
   27. Yo no oigo nada desde aquí.
   28. Ella muere por ese chocolate.
   29. Yo vivo en un apartamento pequeño.
   30. ¿Crees que existe vida en otros planetas?