200 Most Common Spanish Verbs Conjugations to Improve Your Language Skills

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Pilar Casanova – Spanish Tutor. “200 Most Common Spanish Verbs Conjugations to Improve Your Language Skills.” Lingua Linkup, 29 Nov. 2022, lingualinkup.com/common-verbs-in-spanish-conjugation.

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Pilar Casanova – Spanish Tutor. (2022, November 29). 200 Most Common Spanish Verbs Conjugations to Improve Your Language Skills. Lingua Linkup. https://lingualinkup.com/common-verbs-in-spanish-conjugation/

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Pilar Casanova – Spanish Tutor. “200 Most Common Spanish Verbs Conjugations to Improve Your Language Skills.” Lingua Linkup, November 29, 2022. https://lingualinkup.com/common-verbs-in-spanish-conjugation/.

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When you’re learning a new language, there are several aspects that come into play, and it may be a little bit overwhelming at the beginning. A pretty useful tip is to start learning the most frequently used words. 

Here we’ve gathered for you 200 of the most common Spanish verbs you’ll come across in everyday conversations. Knowing their meaning and being able to identify them in context will help you better understand the language. Besides, we also encourage you to create your own list of the most frequently used verbs in Spanish.

We’ll start with a list of ten common Spanish verbs together with its present tense conjugation, then proceed to the list of 200 verbs.  Así que empecemos ahora mismo, shall we?

10 Common Spanish Verbs

1. Ser (to be)

Ser is irregular and almost always present in everyday conjugations, usually paired with its twin verb estar (since both might be rather confusing). Ser is normally used to discuss physical descriptions, professions or titles, to describe items, animals in terms of shape, colors, origin. Example: Soy profesora, soy de EE.UU, soy alta y soy muy educada. (I’m a teacher, I’m from the USA, I’m tall, and I’m very well-educated.)

Ser in the present tense:

• Yo soy
• Tú eres / *Vos sos
• Él/ella es
• Nosotros/as somos
• Vosotros/as sois / *Ustedes son
• Ellos/as son 

*(Rioplatense variety)

2. Estar (to be – second form)

Estar also means to be. It gets a little blurry when we are trying to discover the nuances between the two, “to be” verbs in Spanish. Don’t worry, we got you covered. You can check out the differences in this article: Ser vs. Estar. Just a brief description, estar will be used for locations and emotions, for example: Estoy en el banco, estoy feliz. (I’m at the bank, I’m happy). For more information about ser vs estar, check this link.

Estar in the present tense:

• Yo estoy
• Tú / *Vos estás
• Él/ella está
• Nosotros/as estamos
• Vosotros/as estáis / *Ustedes están
• Ellos/as están 

3. Temer (to fear)

Temer is a regular -er verb. It is one of the standard verbs with the -er ending that is used as an example to conjugate all other regular verbs. It is frequently found in expressions such as: temo que debo decirte algo. (I’m afraid I need to tell you something.) Also as fear, or something that frightens us. 

Check out its present tense conjugation below:

• Yo temo
• Tú temes / *Vos temés
• Él/ella teme
• Nosotros/as tememos
• Vosotros/as teméis / *Ustedes temen
• Ellos/as temen    

4. Partir (to leave)

Another common Spanish verb, partir, is a regular verb. This means you can use its conjugation pattern as a model for other Spanish verbs with -ir endings! Partir has several meanings in Spanish, it may mean to leave a place: parto de aquí y no vuelvo nunca. (I leave from here, and I never come back); to break something into pieces: partí la torta de cumpleaños/un vidrio. (I splitted the birthday cake/broke a glass.); to take something as an initial point: parten de la base de que el país es democrático.(start from the fact that the country is democratic.) 

Here it is conjugated in the present tense:

• Yo parto
• Tú partes / *Vos partís
• Él/ella parte
• Nosotros/as partimos
• Vosotros/as partís / *Ustedes parten
• Ellos/as parten

5. Pedir (to ask)

This verb is found in typical phrases such as requesting to go to the bathroom or in any sort of shop where you may purchase something. Of course there are other synonyms that could be used, but: te pido un café; pedimos un taxi/la cuenta; te pido permiso para…(Can I have a coffee; let’s get a taxi/the bill; can I ask you please…) are some of the common phrases where this verb appears. For more information about pedir, check this link.

Here is the present tense conjugation of this verb:

• Yo pido
• Tú pides / *Vos pedís
• Él/ella pide
• Nosotros/as pedimos
• Vosotros/as pedís / *Ustedes piden
• Ellos/as piden

6. Poder (to be able to/ can)

Similar to pedir, although its use is strictly relatable with can/could, so it will be used for abilities, petitions, abilities in the past. ¿Puedo ir al baño? (Can I go to the toilet?). Cuando tenía cinco podía bailar. (When I was 5 I could dance.) For more information about poder, check this link.

Present tense conjugation for poder:

• Yo puedo
• Tú puedes / *Vos podés
• Él/ella puede
• Nosotros/as podemos
• Vosotros/as podéis / *Ustedes pueden
• Ellos/as pueden

7. Haber (to have)

Haber is a verb you’d be using a lot in Spanish, and it means “to have” but this one is used as an auxiliary verb, impersonal tenses or verb phrases. Check out its present tense conjugation below. Hay + noun is similar to the there is/are in English: Hay bananas en la mesa. For more information about haber, check this link.

• Yo he
• Tú / *Vos has
• Él/ella ha
• Nosotros/as hemos
• Vosotros/as habéis / *Ustedes han
• Ellos/as han

8. Tener (to have – second form)

Another Spanish verb that means “to have”; tener is an irregular verb. It is used in about the same way as you would use “to have” in English. For more information about tener, check this link.

See the present tense conjugation below:

• Yo tengo
• Tú tienes / *Vos tenés
• Él/ella tiene
• Nosotros/as tenemos
• Vosotros/as tenéis / *Ustedes tienen
• Ellos/as tienen    

9. Ir (to go)      

¿Qué onda, vamos a la fiesta? Ir is frequently used in Spanish conversations, but watch out, it is highly irregular! One of the most complicated irregularities this verb suffers is in the past tense, where it shares the same form as ser: fui-fuimos. For more information about ir, check this link.

Here’s a sample of how it is conjugated in the present tense below:

• Yo voy
• Tú / *Vos vas
• Él/ella va
• Nosotros/as vamos
• Vosotros/as vais / *Ustedes van
• Ellos/as van

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10. Jugar (to play)           

No quiero jugar a las cartas, estoy cansado. Jugar is a stem-changing verb in the sense that it changes from u to ue. But there’s no change in the nosotros and vosotros forms in the present tense. Jugar is used as a synonym of play except when we are talking about instruments, with which we would use tocar instead. For more information about jugar, check this link

Here’s the present tense conjugation: 

• Yo juego
• Tú juegas / *Vos jugás
• Él/ella juega
• Nosotros/as jugamos
• Vosotros/as jugáis / *Ustedes juegan
• Ellos/as juegan

200 Most Common Spanish Verbs

About the Author:

Specializations: Spanish Tutors on Zoom

Bio: I am Pilar Casanova, and I have been teaching (and translating En/Sp) for over 22 years with great passion, through both in-person and online lessons. I regard teaching as a way of sharing some piece of experience, and that's why I usually adapt each class to every student's requirements. The best about teaching is getting to know other people's cultures; since that's language, after all. My students ages range from 3 to 60, and their interests from travelling to preparing congress papers, etc. I am also learning Chinese and Korean, which I enjoy a lot, but it also puts me in the role of the student.

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