irregulares

Irregulares, in grammar, are verbs that do not follow the regular patterns of conjugation in a given language. They deviate from the expected endings or stem forms in one or more tenses, moods, or persons, requiring special forms that must be memorized.

In Spanish, irregular verbs are common and can be irregular in present, past, future, or subjunctive forms. Irregularities may arise from irregular stems, vowel changes, or wholly irregular first-person forms. Some verbs are irregular in many forms (ser, ir, estar, haber), while others show irregularities only in specific tenses or persons (tener, poder, hacer, decir, venir). There are also orthographic irregularities in the yo form, such as conocer (conozco), parecer (parezco), and dirigir (dirijo). Additionally, several verbs undergo stem changes in the present tense, such as poder (puedo, puedes, puede) and venir (vengo, vienes, viene).

Commonly cited groups include:

- Fully irregulars across tenses (ser, estar, ir, haber).

- Stem-changing verbs in the present (e > ie, o > ue, e > i) like poder, venir, pedir.

- Irregular preterites with stem changes or unique forms (poder → pude, decir → dije, estar → estuve, hacer → hice, ir/ser → fui).

- Yo-form irregulars with orthographic changes (conocer → conozco, parecer → parezco).

Understanding irregulars often requires exposure and practice, as there is no single rule that covers all cases. They are a central feature of the verbal system in Spanish and many other languages, shaping how verb forms are learned and used in context.