Verbs in Spanish
21 words Spanish words on the topic “verbs”: soy — to be, quiero — I want, ir — to go, comer — to eat. 21 words can be played from recordings.
21 words on the topic
- soyto beThe I-form of ser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. Soy de Londres, soy médico. For states and locations Spanish reaches for the other linking verb, estar: estoy bien, estoy en casa
- quieroI wantFrom querer, which also means 'to love': te quiero is 'I love you', not 'I want you'
- irto goThe most irregular verb in Spanish: of the root almost nothing survives — voy, vas, va, vamos
- comerto eatIn Spain comer also means to have lunch on its own: comemos a las dos? — shall we have lunch at two?
- beberto drinkDrinking in the plain sense. Tomar is broader and politer: tomamos algo? — shall we get something?
- leerto readThe two e's in a row are said separately: leh-EHR. Una persona leída is a well-read person
- hablarto speakTo speak and to talk. Saying something specific is already decir: dice que sí — he says yes
- trabajarto workThe j is a throaty h: trah-bah-HAR. Working on something is trabajar en; working as something is trabajar de
- vivirto liveTo live somewhere and to be alive. Vivir en is to live in a place, vivir de is to live on something
- tenerto haveSpanish uses it for age, hunger and cold: tengo treinta años, tengo hambre, tengo frío
- haythere is / there areAn impersonal form: it changes for no person and no number — hay un café, hay dos cafés
- me gustaI likeThe verb agrees with the thing liked, not with the person: me gusta el café, but me gustan los libros
- aprenderto learnLearning by yourself is aprender; teaching somebody else is enseñar
- verto seeTo see with your eyes; to look on purpose is mirar. Irregular in the present: yo veo. Nos vemos — see you
- oírto hearTwo syllables, oh-EER: the accent splits the oi
- dormirto sleepThe stem's o turns to ue: duermo, duermes. Dormirse is to fall asleep
- llevarto carryThe ll sounds like y in yes: yeh-VAR
- ponerto putPut, place, set — one verb for all of it. Irregular: yo pongo. Poner la mesa already means to set the table in the course
- romperto breakIts participle is the irregular roto, already in the course as broken. Romperse — to break on its own
- construirto buildkohn-stroo-EER — stress at the end
- calentarto heatTo give heat: la estufa calienta bien. The course also uses it for reheating food — Spanish has no other verb for that. The stem's e turns to ie: calienta
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
soy — to be. The I-form of ser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. Soy de Londres, soy médico. For states and locations Spanish reaches for the other linking verb, estar: estoy bien, estoy en casa
quiero — I want. From querer, which also means 'to love': te quiero is 'I love you', not 'I want you'
ir — to go. The most irregular verb in Spanish: of the root almost nothing survives — voy, vas, va, vamos
comer — to eat. In Spain comer also means to have lunch on its own: comemos a las dos? — shall we have lunch at two?
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is soy — to be.
- What is this word?
It is leer — to read.
- What is this word?
It is hay — there is / there are.
- What is this word?
It is dormir — to sleep.
- What is this word?
It is calentar — to heat.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to be” in Spanish?
The I-form of ser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. Soy de Londres, soy médico. For states and locations Spanish reaches for the other linking verb, estar: estoy bien, estoy en casa
- How do you say “to read” in Spanish?
The two e's in a row are said separately: leh-EHR. Una persona leída is a well-read person
- How do you say “there is / there are” in Spanish?
An impersonal form: it changes for no person and no number — hay un café, hay dos cafés
- How do you say “to sleep” in Spanish?
The stem's o turns to ue: duermo, duermes. Dormirse is to fall asleep
- How do you say “to heat” in Spanish?
To give heat: la estufa calienta bien. The course also uses it for reheating food — Spanish has no other verb for that. The stem's e turns to ie: calienta
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to be” in Spanish?
«soy». The I-form of ser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. Soy de Londres, soy médico. For states and locations Spanish reaches for the other linking verb, estar: estoy bien, estoy en casa. It is one of 21 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 21 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 21 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.