Spanish Top 100 Common Verbs Reference

Verbs carry the load of any Spanish sentence. A learner who masters the 100 most frequent Spanish verbs - and knows the conjugations of the top 20 in the present, preterite, and imperfect - can construct comprehensible sentences about nearly any everyday topic.

Frequency lists for Spanish from corpora at the Real Academia Espanola and the CREA corpus consistently place ser, haber, estar, tener, hacer, ir, decir, poder, ver, and saber in the top ten. The distribution is power-law: a small number of verbs account for a majority of usage, which means focused study on a short list yields outsized returns.

This reference lists the top 100 verbs by frequency, marks regular vs irregular, provides full present-tense conjugations for the twenty most important, and groups the verbs into functional categories. Mastering a conjugation table is not the same as mastering a verb.

The verb ser is trivial to memorize in the present (soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son) but is used so broadly - for identity, profession, nationality, time, ownership, and the passive voice - that students who have "learned" its forms still make errors for years.

Study each top-20 verb with its typical contexts, not just its paradigm. For the conjugation rules underlying the patterns, see the Spanish verb conjugation guide for present tense and the Spanish verb conjugation system -AR -ER -IR reference.

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The Top 20 Verbs: Present-Tense Conjugations

Table 1. Ser (to be - identity/essence). Irregular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	soy
tu	eres
el / ella / usted	es
nosotros/as	somos
vosotros/as	sois
ellos / ellas / ustedes	son

For ser vs estar, see the dedicated ser vs estar guide.

Table 2. Haber (auxiliary "have"). Irregular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	he
tu	has
el / ella / usted	ha
nosotros/as	hemos
vosotros/as	habeis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	han

Haber is the auxiliary for compound tenses (he comido = I have eaten) and the source of the impersonal hay (there is / there are).

Table 3. Estar (to be - state/location). Irregular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	estoy
tu	estas
el / ella / usted	esta
nosotros/as	estamos
vosotros/as	estais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	estan

Table 4. Tener (to have). Stem-changing + irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	tengo
tu	tienes
el / ella / usted	tiene
nosotros/as	tenemos
vosotros/as	teneis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	tienen

Table 5. Hacer (to do, to make). Irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	hago
tu	haces
el / ella / usted	hace
nosotros/as	hacemos
vosotros/as	haceis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hacen

Table 6. Ir (to go). Highly irregular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	voy
tu	vas
el / ella / usted	va
nosotros/as	vamos
vosotros/as	vais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	van

Ir is the verb behind the "going to" future: Voy a comer = I'm going to eat. This periphrastic future is used constantly and often replaces the one-word future tense in spoken Spanish.

Table 7. Decir (to say). Stem-changing + irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	digo
tu	dices
el / ella / usted	dice
nosotros/as	decimos
vosotros/as	decis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	dicen

Table 8. Poder (to be able to). Stem-changing.

Pronoun	Form
yo	puedo
tu	puedes
el / ella / usted	puede
nosotros/as	podemos
vosotros/as	podeis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	pueden

Table 9. Ver (to see). Irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	veo
tu	ves
el / ella / usted	ve
nosotros/as	vemos
vosotros/as	veis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	ven

Table 10. Saber (to know - facts). Irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	se
tu	sabes
el / ella / usted	sabe
nosotros/as	sabemos
vosotros/as	sabeis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	saben

Table 11. Querer (to want, to love). Stem-changing.

Pronoun	Form
yo	quiero
tu	quieres
el / ella / usted	quiere
nosotros/as	queremos
vosotros/as	quereis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	quieren

Table 12. Llegar (to arrive). Regular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	llego
tu	llegas
el / ella / usted	llega
nosotros/as	llegamos
vosotros/as	llegais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	llegan

Table 13. Pasar (to pass, to happen, to spend). Regular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	paso
tu	pasas
el / ella / usted	pasa
nosotros/as	pasamos
vosotros/as	pasais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	pasan

Table 14. Dar (to give). Irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	doy
tu	das
el / ella / usted	da
nosotros/as	damos
vosotros/as	dais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	dan

Table 15. Deber (must, should, to owe). Regular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	debo
tu	debes
el / ella / usted	debe
nosotros/as	debemos
vosotros/as	debeis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	deben

Table 16. Poner (to put, to place). Irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	pongo
tu	pones
el / ella / usted	pone
nosotros/as	ponemos
vosotros/as	poneis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	ponen

Table 17. Parecer (to seem). Irregular yo.

Pronoun	Form
yo	parezco
tu	pareces
el / ella / usted	parece
nosotros/as	parecemos
vosotros/as	pareceis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	parecen

Table 18. Quedar (to remain, to stay, to meet up). Regular.

Pronoun	Form
yo	quedo
tu	quedas
el / ella / usted	queda
nosotros/as	quedamos
vosotros/as	quedais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	quedan

Table 19. Creer (to believe). Regular (with spelling shift).

Pronoun	Form
yo	creo
tu	crees
el / ella / usted	cree
nosotros/as	creemos
vosotros/as	creeis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	creen

Table 20. Hablar (to speak, to talk). Regular -ar.

Pronoun	Form
yo	hablo
tu	hablas
el / ella / usted	habla
nosotros/as	hablamos
vosotros/as	hablais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablan

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Verbs 21-50: The Second Tier

Table 21. Verbs 21-50 by frequency.

Spanish	English	Type
llevar	to carry, to wear	regular
dejar	to leave, to let	regular
seguir	to follow, to continue	stem-changing
encontrar	to find	stem-changing (o-ue)
llamar	to call	regular
venir	to come	irregular
pensar	to think	stem-changing (e-ie)
salir	to leave, to go out	irregular yo
volver	to return	stem-changing (o-ue)
tomar	to take, to drink	regular
conocer	to know (person/place)	irregular yo (conozco)
vivir	to live	regular
sentir	to feel, to regret	stem-changing (e-ie)
tratar	to try, to deal with	regular
mirar	to look at	regular
contar	to count, to tell	stem-changing (o-ue)
empezar	to begin	stem-changing (e-ie)
esperar	to wait, to hope	regular
buscar	to look for	regular
existir	to exist	regular
entrar	to enter	regular
trabajar	to work	regular
escribir	to write	regular
perder	to lose	stem-changing (e-ie)
producir	to produce	irregular yo
ocurrir	to happen	regular
entender	to understand	stem-changing (e-ie)
pedir	to ask for, to order	stem-changing (e-i)
recibir	to receive	regular
recordar	to remember	stem-changing (o-ue)

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Verbs 51-100: The Extended Core

Table 22. Verbs 51-100.

Spanish	English
terminar	to end, to finish
permitir	to permit, to allow
aparecer	to appear
conseguir	to get, to obtain
comenzar	to begin
servir	to serve
sacar	to take out
necesitar	to need
mantener	to maintain
resultar	to result
leer	to read
caer	to fall
cambiar	to change
presentar	to present
crear	to create
abrir	to open
considerar	to consider
oir	to hear
aceptar	to accept
realizar	to realize, to carry out
suponer	to suppose
comprender	to understand
lograr	to achieve
explicar	to explain
preguntar	to ask
tocar	to touch, to play (instrument)
reconocer	to recognize
estudiar	to study
alcanzar	to reach, to achieve
nacer	to be born
dirigir	to direct
correr	to run
utilizar	to use
pagar	to pay
ayudar	to help
gustar	to please / to like
escuchar	to listen
cumplir	to fulfill
ofrecer	to offer
descubrir	to discover
levantar	to lift
intentar	to try
usar	to use
decidir	to decide
repetir	to repeat
olvidar	to forget
sentar	to sit
ensenar	to teach
romper	to break
bajar	to go down

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Regular vs Irregular Patterns

Regular -ar verb pattern. (Hablar model.)

Pronoun	Ending
yo	-o
tu	-as
el	-a
nosotros	-amos
vosotros	-ais
ellos	-an

Regular -er verb pattern. (Comer model.)

Pronoun	Ending
yo	-o
tu	-es
el	-e
nosotros	-emos
vosotros	-eis
ellos	-en

Regular -ir verb pattern. (Vivir model.)

Pronoun	Ending
yo	-o
tu	-es
el	-e
nosotros	-imos
vosotros	-is
ellos	-en

Note that -er and -ir verbs share everything except nosotros and vosotros endings.

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Main Irregular Patterns

Stem-changing verbs (present tense only). These change the stem vowel in the first three singular persons and the third person plural, but keep the regular stem in nosotros/vosotros.

E to IE. pensar (pienso, piensas, piensa, pensamos, pensais, piensan). Also: querer, empezar, entender, perder, sentir, preferir, cerrar, despertar, recomendar.

O to UE. volver (vuelvo, vuelves, vuelve, volvemos, volveis, vuelven). Also: poder, dormir, morir, encontrar, contar, recordar, soler, mover.

E to I. pedir (pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedis, piden). Only -ir verbs: pedir, servir, repetir, seguir, conseguir, vestir, reir.

U to UE. jugar (juego, juegas, juega, jugamos, jugais, juegan). Only jugar.

Irregular yo. Many common verbs have an irregular first-person singular but are regular elsewhere:

• tener: tengo
• hacer: hago
• poner: pongo
• salir: salgo
• traer: traigo
• caer: caigo
• dar: doy
• ver: veo
• saber: se
• conocer: conozco

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Functional Groups

Communication verbs. decir, hablar, contar, explicar, preguntar, contestar, escribir, leer, escuchar, oir, llamar.

Movement verbs. ir, venir, llegar, salir, entrar, volver, correr, caminar, subir, bajar, pasar.

Cognitive verbs. pensar, saber, conocer, entender, comprender, creer, recordar, olvidar, aprender, ensenar.

Daily routine verbs. despertarse, levantarse, ducharse, desayunar, vestirse, trabajar, comer, cenar, acostarse, dormir.

Emotional verbs. sentir, gustar, encantar, amar, querer, odiar, preocupar, alegrar, enfadar.

Verbs like gustar, encantar, preocupar behave "backwards" from English: the thing is the grammatical subject, the person is the indirect object. Me gusta el cafe literally means "coffee pleases me." For the full pattern, see the Spanish pronouns reference.

Modal verbs. poder (can), deber (must), tener que (have to), saber (know how to), querer (want), soler (usually do).

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Common Mistakes

• Confusing ser and estar. Both translate "to be" but cover different territory. See the ser vs estar guide.
• Confusing saber and conocer. Saber = know facts, information, or how to do something. Conocer = know people, places, or things through familiarity. Se la respuesta (I know the answer) vs Conozco a Maria (I know Maria).
• Using poder with a conjugated verb. Poder takes an infinitive: Puedo hablar, never Puedo hablo.
• Confusing tener with haber. Tener = to possess. Haber = auxiliary for compound tenses and the impersonal hay. Tengo un libro (I have a book) vs He comido (I have eaten).
• Conjugating gustar with the person as subject. Yo gusto el cafe is wrong; Me gusta el cafe is correct.
• Missing stem changes. Yo puedo (not yo podo); yo quiero (not yo quero).
• Mishandling the -zco irregular yo. Conozco, conduzco, produzco, parezco, traduzco all have -zco in the first person.

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Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Top 10 verbs to memorize first.

1. ser - to be (identity)
2. estar - to be (state)
3. haber - to have (auxiliary)
4. tener - to have (possess)
5. hacer - to do, to make
6. ir - to go
7. decir - to say
8. poder - to be able
9. ver - to see
10. saber - to know

Top 10 useful daily verbs.

11. hablar - to speak
12. comer - to eat
13. vivir - to live
14. trabajar - to work
15. estudiar - to study
16. llegar - to arrive
17. querer - to want
18. dar - to give
19. tomar - to take
20. salir - to leave

Stem-change patterns to drill.

• e -> ie: pensar, querer, entender
• o -> ue: volver, poder, dormir
• e -> i: pedir, servir, seguir

Irregular yo forms to memorize.

• tener -> tengo
• hacer -> hago
• poner -> pongo
• salir -> salgo
• saber -> se
• conocer -> conozco
• dar -> doy

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See Also

• Spanish verb conjugation guide present tense
• Spanish verb conjugation system -AR -ER -IR reference
• Ser vs estar complete guide with examples
• Spanish past tense preterite vs imperfect
• Spanish subjunctive mood reference
• Spanish pronouns direct indirect object reflexive
• Spanish grammar rules complete beginners guide
• Verb tense systems compared across languages