Irregular "Yo"

[present indicative]

Basic info:

As the title suggests, these verbs are ONLY irregular when "yo" is the subject. Every other subject's conjugation will follow that verb's typical conjugation rules. 


Categories and examples:

Yo-Go

**YOU WILL NEED TO MEMORIZE THIS LIST**

caer - caigo

[to fall]

decir - digo

[to say / tell]

hacer - hago

[to do / make]

oír - oigo

[to hear]

poner - pongo

[to put]

salir - salgo

[to leave]

tener - tengo 

[to have]

traer - traigo

[to bring]

valer - valgo

[to be worth]

venir - vengo

[to come]

Yo-jo

**THESE INFINITIVES END IN -gir & -ger**

corregir - corrijo

[to correct]

dirigir - dirijo

[to direct or manage / run]

escoger - escojo

[to choose]

exigir - exijo

[to demand]

recoger - recojo

[to pick up / gather / collect]

.... plus many more


These conjugations change to maintain the sound of the infinitive verb (to make an "h" sound rather than a hard "g")


yo-zco

**THESE INFINITIVES END IN -cir & -cer**

aparecer - aparezco

[to appear]

conducir - conduzco

[to drive or direct/manage]

conocer - conozco

[to know a person]

introducir - introduzco

[to introduce]

ofrecer - ofrezco

[to offer]

producir - produzco

[to produce]

reconocer - reconozco

[to recognize]

reducir - reduzco

[to reduce]

traducir - traduzco

[to translate]

.... plus many more


These conjugations change to maintain the sound of the infinitive verb (to make an "sc" sound rather than a hard "k")

yo-guir-go

**THESE INFINITIVES END IN -guir**

conseguir - consigo

[to get / obtain]

distinguir - distingo

[to distinguish / tell apart]

perseguir - persigo

[to chase / follow / go after]

seguir - sigo

[to follow or to continue]

What do you mean by "maintain the sound"?

In the yo-jo and yo-zco categories, I said that the change happens in the "yo" form in order to "maintain the sound" of the original infinitive verb. If we didn't make the change, the verb would not sound like its infinitive. Here are some examples:


INFINITIVE:  conocer --> sounds like "coh-no-sare" when you say it

"YO" FORM WITHOUT THE CHANGE:  conoco --> sounds like "coh-no-koh" when you say it.

"YO" FORM WITH THE CHANGE:  conozco --> sounds like "coh-no-scoh" when you say it.

**The switch is made to keep the "s" sound in the "yo" form conjugation**


INFINITIVE:  escoger --> sounds like "ess-coh-hare" when you say it

"YO" FORM WITHOUT THE CHANGE:  escogo --> sounds like "ess-coh-go" when you say it.

"YO" FORM WITH THE CHANGE:  escojo --> sounds like "ess-coh-ho" when you say it.

**The switch is made to keep the "h" sound in the "yo" form conjugation**

Other verbs with an irregular "yo" form

Saber --> sé

[to know info / facts / how to do something]

Caber --> quepo

[to fit]

Ver --> veo

[to see]

Online practice

o t h e r      t o p i c s

[Present indicative]