Ser, Estar, Ir, Haber: Present Tense
Drill the present-tense forms and core uses of Spanish's four highest-frequency irregular verbs.
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Questions Covered in This Set
12 cards to master
Conjugate SER in the present (all six forms)
soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son
Conjugate ESTAR in the present (all six forms)
estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están
Conjugate IR in the present (all six forms)
voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van
Conjugate HABER in the present (auxiliary, all six forms)
he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han
Which four verbs have a yo-form ending in -oy?
ser (soy), estar (estoy), ir (voy), dar (doy)
What's the working rule for ser vs. estar?
Ser identifies or classifies (identity, origin, material, profession, time, events); estar locates or describes a state (location, health, mood, progressive, results of change).
Es aburrido vs. está aburrido
Es aburrido = he's boring; está aburrido = he's bored
Es listo / es rico / es verde vs. estar versions
es listo (clever) vs. está listo (ready); es rico (wealthy) vs. está rico (tastes delicious); es verde (green in color) vs. está verde (unripe)
What is 'ir a + infinitive' and why does it matter?
The periphrastic future ('going to...'), used more in speech than the real future: Voy a estudiar esta noche. Vamos also serves as the nosotros command: ¡Vamos!
How does 'hay' work, and what is the common native error?
Hay = 'there is/there are'; it never pluralizes (Hay veinte libros). Other tenses: había, hubo, habrá, haya — all singular. The error is *habían muchas personas* instead of había muchas personas.
Where do object pronouns go with haber + participle?
In front of the whole unit: 'Lo he visto', never *he lo visto* — nothing may separate haber from the participle.
Which preterite forms do ser and ir share?
fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron — identical for both verbs (ir's imperfect is iba, ibas, iba…)
