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Verbs in Spanish

21 words in Spanish on the topic “verbs”: soy — to be, quiero — I want, ir — to go, comer — to eat. 21 words can be played from recordings.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

21 words on the topic

  • 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?
  • beber
    to drink
    Drinking in the plain sense. Tomar is broader and politer: tomamos algo? — shall we get something?
  • leer
    to read
    The two e's in a row are said separately: leh-EHR. Una persona leída is a well-read person
  • hablar
    to speak
    To speak and to talk. Saying something specific is already decir: dice que sí — he says yes
  • trabajar
    to work
    The j is a throaty h: trah-bah-HAR. Working on something is trabajar en; working as something is trabajar de
  • vivir
    to live
    To live somewhere and to be alive. Vivir en is to live in a place, vivir de is to live on something
  • tener
    to have
    Spanish uses it for age, hunger and cold: tengo treinta años, tengo hambre, tengo frío
  • hay
    there is / there are
    An impersonal form: it changes for no person and no number — hay un café, hay dos cafés
  • me gusta
    I like
    The verb agrees with the thing liked, not with the person: me gusta el café, but me gustan los libros
  • aprender
    to learn
    Learning by yourself is aprender; teaching somebody else is enseñar
  • ver
    to see
    To see with your eyes; to look on purpose is mirar. Irregular in the present: yo veo. Nos vemos — see you
  • oír
    to hear
    Two syllables, oh-EER: the accent splits the oi
  • dormir
    to sleep
    The stem's o turns to ue: duermo, duermes. Dormirse is to fall asleep
  • llevar
    to carry
    The ll sounds like y in yes: yeh-VAR
  • poner
    to put
    Put, place, set — one verb for all of it. Irregular: yo pongo. Poner la mesa already means to set the table
  • romper
    to break
    Its participle is the irregular roto, meaning broken. Romperse — to break on its own
  • construir
    to build
    kohn-stroo-EER — stress at the end
  • calentar
    to heat
    To give heat: la estufa calienta bien. The same word also covers reheating food — Spanish has no other verb for that. The stem's e turns to ie: calienta

Download the word set (CSV) · Open the printable sheet

The CSV contains spelling, reading guides, translations and links to word pages. Use the browser menu to save the printable sheet as a PDF.

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.

  1. What is this word?

  2. What is this word?

  3. What is this word?

  4. What is this word?

  5. What is this word?

Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.

  1. How do you say “to be” in Spanish?

  2. How do you say “to read” in Spanish?

  3. How do you say “there is / there are” in Spanish?

  4. How do you say “to sleep” in Spanish?

  5. How do you say “to heat” in Spanish?

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of 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.

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?

The whole set on this page is 21 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.

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.

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