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0z\"\u002F>",true,{"id":36,"title":37,"author":38,"authorsTake":39,"body":40,"category":1608,"cefrLevel":1609,"date":1610,"description":1611,"extension":1612,"faqs":1613,"heroImage":1609,"intro":1609,"language":1609,"lastUpdated":1610,"meta":1626,"navigation":34,"path":1627,"seo":1628,"socialDescription":1609,"stem":1629,"tags":1630,"tldr":1635,"verbSlugs":1609,"__hash__":1636},"resources\u002Fresources\u002Fspanish\u002Ftop-100-spanish-verbs.md","Top 100 Spanish Verbs: The Ones That Carry Adult Conversation","Michael McGettrick","My Erasmus year in Madrid is when ser\u002Festar stopped being a memorisation problem and started being a coverage problem. I had spent two years of degree-level Spanish drilling the rules of which one to use with which adjective, and I could still hesitate for a full second mid-sentence between es and está. The moment it dropped was the moment I noticed that around a quarter of every conversation I had with my flatmates was running through those two verbs and three others (tener, hacer, ir), and that hesitating once a quarter-sentence was not a grammar problem, it was a fluency problem. I stopped trying to remember the rule and started drilling the conjugations until they were automatic. Three weeks of that did more than two years of textbook rule-following had done.\n\nThe position I will defend is that an adult learner with limited time should drill the irregular present indicative of the top 25 verbs to automatic recall before any other grammar move. Not the subjunctive. Not the preterite. Not the imperfect. The present indicative of ser, estar, haber, tener, hacer, poder, decir, ir, querer, ver, parecer, saber, deber, dar, venir, poner, salir, oír, conocer, pensar, entender, encontrar, sentir, volver, seguir. Twenty-five verbs. Most of them irregular at this tense, which is exactly why they are the ones to drill: the regular ones will fall out of the patterns for free; the irregular ones will not.\n\nMy sharper take is that gustar is the verb that exposes whether an English-speaking learner has actually internalised Spanish syntax or is still translating in their head. Me gusta el café is not \"I like coffee\" with rearranged words. It is \"coffee is pleasing to me\", and the entire mental model of who-does-what-to-whom flips. Until that sentence feels natural rather than backwards, the learner is still operating in English. Once it feels natural, they have crossed a threshold the apps will not show on any progress bar.\n",{"type":41,"value":42,"toc":1596},"minimark",[43,47,56,59,64,67,136,144,148,151,216,220,223,297,301,304,405,409,412,493,497,503,1453,1468,1472,1479,1482,1508,1525,1529,1532,1584],[44,45,37],"h1",{"id":46},"top-100-spanish-verbs-the-ones-that-carry-adult-conversation",[48,49,50,51,55],"p",{},"Spanish has around 12,000 verb lemmas in active use across the Hispanic world, and a typical adult uses around 2,000 of them in any given week. The distribution is not flat. The top 100 verbs, ranked by frequency in Mark Davies's ",[52,53,54],"em",{},"A Frequency Dictionary of Spanish"," (drawn from the 20-million-word RAE CREA corpus and its spoken-Spanish subcorpora), account for the majority of verb tokens you will hear and say in a normal day. The top 7 alone do around 30% of the work.",[48,57,58],{},"The strategic implication is unromantic. Learn these in full (every tense, every person) before any others. Drill the irregular present indicative of the top 25 to automatic recall before you study anything else in the language. This article lists the 100, links each to its full conjugation page on the site, and groups them by what they actually do in conversation rather than by frequency rank alone.",[60,61,63],"h2",{"id":62},"the-top-7-the-verbs-that-do-30-of-the-work","The top 7: the verbs that do 30% of the work",[48,65,66],{},"These seven verbs account for around 30% of all verb tokens in spoken Spanish (Davies). All seven are irregular in the present indicative. Learn them to automatic recall first; everything else gets easier afterwards.",[68,69,70,82,91,100,109,118,127],"ul",{},[71,72,73,81],"li",{},[74,75,77],"a",{"href":76},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fser",[78,79,80],"strong",{},"ser"," (to be: identity). Identity, profession, origin, time, material, defining characteristics. Soy escocés. Son las tres. Es de madera. The verb that classifies.",[71,83,84,90],{},[74,85,87],{"href":86},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Festar",[78,88,89],{},"estar"," (to be: state). State, location, ongoing action, temporary condition. Estoy cansado. Está en Madrid. Estamos comiendo. The verb that locates and describes a moment.",[71,92,93,99],{},[74,94,96],{"href":95},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fhaber",[78,97,98],{},"haber"," (to have: auxiliary; there is\u002Fare). The compound-tense auxiliary (he comido, había llegado) and the impersonal hay (there is, there are). Haber is the most syntactically loaded verb in Spanish: every perfect tense runs through it. Hay does everything English does with \"there is\" and most of what English does with \"exists\".",[71,101,102,108],{},[74,103,105],{"href":104},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Ftener",[78,106,107],{},"tener"," (to have, to possess). Possession, age, obligation, sensation. Tengo un perro. Tengo veinte años. Tengo que salir. Tengo hambre. Spanish uses tener where English uses \"have\", \"be\" (age, sensation) and \"must\" (obligation), so this verb is doing three jobs at once.",[71,110,111,117],{},[74,112,114],{"href":113},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fhacer",[78,115,116],{},"hacer"," (to do, to make). Action, creation, weather, time-elapsed. Hago la cena. Hace frío. Hace tres años que vivo aquí. Like English \"do\u002Fmake\", but also the weather verb and the time-elapsed verb, which is unintuitive at first and unavoidable after.",[71,119,120,126],{},[74,121,123],{"href":122},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpoder",[78,124,125],{},"poder"," (to be able to, can). Ability and permission. Puedo nadar. ¿Puedo entrar? The modal verb that scaffolds most polite requests and most expressions of capability.",[71,128,129,135],{},[74,130,132],{"href":131},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdecir",[78,133,134],{},"decir"," (to say, to tell). The speech verb. Digo que sí. Dice que no viene. Reported speech runs through decir in every register from casual to formal.",[48,137,138,139,143],{},"The ser\u002Festar split is the most-cited learner wall in Spanish and the one most worth flattening fast. The traditional \"permanent vs temporary\" rule is a useful approximation that breaks down in edge cases (está muerto is permanent; es joven is not). The structural fix is to drill the conjugations to automatic recall and then let input volume teach you the distribution. The ",[74,140,142],{"href":141},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fconjugation","Spanish conjugation guide"," covers the full paradigms.",[60,145,147],{"id":146},"the-modal-cluster-abstract-verbs","The modal cluster: abstract verbs",[48,149,150],{},"These are the verbs that connect intention to action. Most B1-and-above conversation runs through them, because adult conversation is mostly about what people want, need, should do, think, and like.",[68,152,153,162,171,180,189,198,207],{},[71,154,155,161],{},[74,156,158],{"href":157},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fquerer",[78,159,160],{},"querer"," (to want, to love). Volition and affection. Quiero un café. Te quiero. The verb that triggers subjunctive in subordinate clauses (quiero que vengas), which is why it shows up in any subjunctive lesson before B1.",[71,163,164,170],{},[74,165,167],{"href":166},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdeber",[78,168,169],{},"deber"," (to have to, must, to owe). Obligation and inference. Debo ir. Debe de ser tarde. The softer modal next to tener que; carries moral weight where tener que carries practical necessity.",[71,172,173,179],{},[74,174,176],{"href":175},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsaber",[78,177,178],{},"saber"," (to know facts; to know how to). Factual knowledge and learned skills. Sé la respuesta. Sé conducir. The verb that pairs with conocer in the two-way Spanish split of \"know\", where saber is information and conocer is acquaintance.",[71,181,182,188],{},[74,183,185],{"href":184},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fparecer",[78,186,187],{},"parecer"," (to seem, to appear). Inference and reported impression. Parece cansado. Me parece bien. The hedging verb; the polite-disagreement verb; the verb that turns a flat statement into a perspective.",[71,190,191,197],{},[74,192,194],{"href":193},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fgustar",[78,195,196],{},"gustar"," (to like, to be pleasing). The verb that inverts English syntax. Me gusta el café means \"coffee is pleasing to me\", not \"I like coffee\". Until that flip feels natural, the learner is still translating from English in their head. There is no rule-shortcut; only repetition.",[71,199,200,206],{},[74,201,203],{"href":202},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fnecesitar",[78,204,205],{},"necesitar"," (to need). Practical necessity. Necesito ayuda. Quieter than querer, more concrete than deber.",[71,208,209,215],{},[74,210,212],{"href":211},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fimportar",[78,213,214],{},"importar"," (to matter). Importance and concern. No me importa. ¿Te importa si abro la ventana? Like gustar, it inverts English syntax: the thing that matters is the subject, the person who cares is the indirect object.",[60,217,219],{"id":218},"the-perception-cluster","The perception cluster",[48,221,222],{},"These verbs do most of the work when you talk about subjective experience: what you see, hear, feel, remember and think. They scaffold most internal-state vocabulary at B1 and above.",[68,224,225,234,243,252,261,270,279,288],{},[71,226,227,233],{},[74,228,230],{"href":229},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fver",[78,231,232],{},"ver"," (to see, to watch). Visual perception and television-watching. Veo la tele. Te veo mañana. Also the verb you reach for in \"let's see\" (a ver) and \"I see\" (ya veo) as filler at conversational speed.",[71,235,236,242],{},[74,237,239],{"href":238},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Foir",[78,240,241],{},"oír"," (to hear). Auditory perception, distinct from escuchar (to listen) the way English distinguishes hear from listen. Oigo un ruido is involuntary; escucho la radio is intentional. Note the accent: always oír, never oir.",[71,244,245,251],{},[74,246,248],{"href":247},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsentir",[78,249,250],{},"sentir"," (to feel). Physical sensation and emotion. Siento dolor. Lo siento. The verb behind \"I'm sorry\" (lo siento) and most expressions of empathy.",[71,253,254,260],{},[74,255,257],{"href":256},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fmirar",[78,258,259],{},"mirar"," (to look at, to watch). Directed visual attention. Mira esto. Mirar pairs with ver the way escuchar pairs with oír: intentional vs. involuntary perception.",[71,262,263,269],{},[74,264,266],{"href":265},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fescuchar",[78,267,268],{},"escuchar"," (to listen). Intentional auditory attention. Escucho música. The companion to oír.",[71,271,272,278],{},[74,273,275],{"href":274},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Frecordar",[78,276,277],{},"recordar"," (to remember, to remind). Both memory and prompting. Recuerdo aquel verano. Recuérdame mañana. Spanish does not split the two senses the way English does.",[71,280,281,287],{},[74,282,284],{"href":283},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpensar",[78,285,286],{},"pensar"," (to think, to plan). Cognition and intention. Pienso que sí. Pienso ir mañana. The verb behind most \"I think\" statements and most plans.",[71,289,290,296],{},[74,291,293],{"href":292},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcreer",[78,294,295],{},"creer"," (to believe, to think). Opinion and belief. Creo que tienes razón. Softer than pensar; closer to English \"I reckon\" than to English \"I believe\" in everyday register.",[60,298,300],{"id":299},"the-movement-and-action-cluster","The movement and action cluster",[48,302,303],{},"These spatial and action verbs scaffold most narrative. Anything you describe in motion runs through this cluster.",[68,305,306,315,324,333,342,351,360,369,378,387,396],{},[71,307,308,314],{},[74,309,311],{"href":310},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fir",[78,312,313],{},"ir"," (to go). The motion verb, irregular and shared root with ser in the preterite (fui means both \"I went\" and \"I was\", disambiguated by context). Also the future-tense workaround: voy a comer is the everyday future.",[71,316,317,323],{},[74,318,320],{"href":319},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fvenir",[78,321,322],{},"venir"," (to come). Movement towards the speaker. Vengo de la oficina. Irregular in the present (vengo, vienes), regular elsewhere.",[71,325,326,332],{},[74,327,329],{"href":328},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fllegar",[78,330,331],{},"llegar"," (to arrive, to reach). Arrival and reaching. Llego tarde. The verb behind most logistics conversations.",[71,334,335,341],{},[74,336,338],{"href":337},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsalir",[78,339,340],{},"salir"," (to go out, to leave). Departure and going-out. Salgo a las ocho. Also the verb for \"to date\" (salir con alguien).",[71,343,344,350],{},[74,345,347],{"href":346},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fentrar",[78,348,349],{},"entrar"," (to enter). Movement inward. Entro en la casa. Regular and predictable.",[71,352,353,359],{},[74,354,356],{"href":355},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fvolver",[78,357,358],{},"volver"," (to return). Return motion. Vuelvo a casa. Irregular o-to-ue stem change.",[71,361,362,368],{},[74,363,365],{"href":364},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fllevar",[78,366,367],{},"llevar"," (to carry, to take, to wear, to have been). Llevar is doing several jobs: carrying physical things (llevo la maleta), wearing clothes (llevo gafas), and the duration construction (llevo dos años aquí means \"I've been here two years\"). The duration sense is the one English speakers miss most often.",[71,370,371,377],{},[74,372,374],{"href":373},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Ftraer",[78,375,376],{},"traer"," (to bring). Movement of an object towards the speaker, paired with llevar the way venir pairs with ir.",[71,379,380,386],{},[74,381,383],{"href":382},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdar",[78,384,385],{},"dar"," (to give). Transfer. Doy un regalo. Highly irregular in the preterite (di, diste, dio) and worth drilling for that reason.",[71,388,389,395],{},[74,390,392],{"href":391},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fponer",[78,393,394],{},"poner"," (to put, to place, to turn on). Placement and switching-on. Pongo la mesa. Pongo la radio. Irregular root (pongo, ponga) and the model for compuesto, supuesto, etc.",[71,397,398,404],{},[74,399,401],{"href":400},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdejar",[78,402,403],{},"dejar"," (to leave, to let, to allow). Permissive and abandoning. Dejo la llave aquí. Déjame en paz. Wears multiple senses depending on construction.",[60,406,408],{"id":407},"the-communication-cluster","The communication cluster",[48,410,411],{},"Communication verbs are over-represented in transcribed spoken Spanish because most conversation is about communication itself (he says, she asked, I told them). They appear higher in spoken-Spanish frequency lists than in written corpora.",[68,413,414,421,430,439,448,457,466,475,484],{},[71,415,416,420],{},[74,417,418],{"href":131},[78,419,134],{}," (to say, to tell). Already covered in the top 7. Worth restating: this is the highest-frequency speech verb in Spanish and the engine of all reported speech.",[71,422,423,429],{},[74,424,426],{"href":425},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fhablar",[78,427,428],{},"hablar"," (to speak, to talk). Speaking in general. Hablo español. Distinct from decir the way English speak is distinct from say: hablar is the activity, decir is the content.",[71,431,432,438],{},[74,433,435],{"href":434},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fllamar",[78,436,437],{},"llamar"," (to call, to phone, to knock). Calling and naming. Te llamo mañana. Me llamo Michael. Reflexive llamarse does the job English does with \"is called\".",[71,440,441,447],{},[74,442,444],{"href":443},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpreguntar",[78,445,446],{},"preguntar"," (to ask, to question). Asking for information. Pregunto la hora. Distinct from pedir (to request something) in a split English does not make.",[71,449,450,456],{},[74,451,453],{"href":452},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpedir",[78,454,455],{},"pedir"," (to ask for, to order). Requesting things and ordering food. Pido una cerveza. The companion to preguntar; the source of most English-speaker errors at A2.",[71,458,459,465],{},[74,460,462],{"href":461},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fresponder",[78,463,464],{},"responder"," (to answer). Replying. Respondo a tu pregunta. Regular and predictable.",[71,467,468,474],{},[74,469,471],{"href":470},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcontar",[78,472,473],{},"contar"," (to count, to tell a story). Both counting and narrating. Cuento hasta diez. Te cuento una historia. The narrating sense is the one to internalise; it is heavy in everyday speech.",[71,476,477,483],{},[74,478,480],{"href":479},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fescribir",[78,481,482],{},"escribir"," (to write). Writing. Escribo un correo. The past participle is irregular (escrito) and worth remembering.",[71,485,486,492],{},[74,487,489],{"href":488},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fleer",[78,490,491],{},"leer"," (to read). Reading. Leo el periódico. Regular; the irregularity is only in the spelling (leyó, leyendo).",[60,494,496],{"id":495},"the-remaining-frequent-verbs","The remaining frequent verbs",[48,498,499,500,502],{},"The verbs below complete the top 100. Frequency rank from Davies's ",[52,501,54],{},". Each links to its full conjugation page.",[504,505,506,522],"table",{},[507,508,509],"thead",{},[510,511,512,516,519],"tr",{},[513,514,515],"th",{},"Rank",[513,517,518],{},"Verb",[513,520,521],{},"Translation",[523,524,525,540,554,568,582,594,608,622,636,650,664,678,692,706,720,734,748,762,776,790,804,818,832,846,860,872,886,900,914,928,942,956,970,984,998,1012,1026,1040,1054,1068,1082,1096,1110,1124,1138,1152,1166,1180,1194,1208,1221,1235,1249,1263,1277,1291,1305,1319,1333,1345,1357,1371,1383,1397,1411,1425,1439],"tbody",{},[510,526,527,531,537],{},[528,529,530],"td",{},"304",[528,532,533],{},[74,534,536],{"href":535},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsuponer","suponer",[528,538,539],{},"to suppose, to assume",[510,541,542,545,551],{},[528,543,544],{},"306",[528,546,547],{},[74,548,550],{"href":549},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fentender","entender",[528,552,553],{},"to understand",[510,555,556,559,565],{},[528,557,558],{},"311",[528,560,561],{},[74,562,564],{"href":563},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpasar","pasar",[528,566,567],{},"to pass, to happen, to spend time",[510,569,570,573,579],{},[528,571,572],{},"313",[528,574,575],{},[74,576,578],{"href":577},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsignificar","significar",[528,580,581],{},"to mean, to signify",[510,583,584,587,591],{},[528,585,586],{},"335",[528,588,589],{},[74,590,403],{"href":400},[528,592,593],{},"to leave, to let, to allow",[510,595,596,599,605],{},[528,597,598],{},"360",[528,600,601],{},[74,602,604],{"href":603},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fencontrar","encontrar",[528,606,607],{},"to find, to meet",[510,609,610,613,619],{},[528,611,612],{},"375",[528,614,615],{},[74,616,618],{"href":617},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Ftomar","tomar",[528,620,621],{},"to take, to drink, to have",[510,623,624,627,633],{},[528,625,626],{},"417",[528,628,629],{},[74,630,632],{"href":631},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Ftrabajar","trabajar",[528,634,635],{},"to work",[510,637,638,641,647],{},[528,639,640],{},"437",[528,642,643],{},[74,644,646],{"href":645},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Firse","irse",[528,648,649],{},"to leave, to go away",[510,651,652,655,661],{},[528,653,654],{},"440",[528,656,657],{},[74,658,660],{"href":659},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fvivir","vivir",[528,662,663],{},"to live",[510,665,666,669,675],{},[528,667,668],{},"469",[528,670,671],{},[74,672,674],{"href":673},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fmorir","morir",[528,676,677],{},"to die",[510,679,680,683,689],{},[528,681,682],{},"470",[528,684,685],{},[74,686,688],{"href":687},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fconocer","conocer",[528,690,691],{},"to know, to be acquainted with",[510,693,694,697,703],{},[528,695,696],{},"473",[528,698,699],{},[74,700,702],{"href":701},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcomer","comer",[528,704,705],{},"to eat",[510,707,708,711,717],{},[528,709,710],{},"486",[528,712,713],{},[74,714,716],{"href":715},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Ftratar","tratar",[528,718,719],{},"to treat, to try, to deal with",[510,721,722,725,731],{},[528,723,724],{},"487",[528,726,727],{},[74,728,730],{"href":729},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fbuscar","buscar",[528,732,733],{},"to look for, to search",[510,735,736,739,745],{},[528,737,738],{},"490",[528,740,741],{},[74,742,744],{"href":743},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Famar","amar",[528,746,747],{},"to love",[510,749,750,753,759],{},[528,751,752],{},"497",[528,754,755],{},[74,756,758],{"href":757},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fseguir","seguir",[528,760,761],{},"to follow, to continue",[510,763,764,767,773],{},[528,765,766],{},"507",[528,768,769],{},[74,770,772],{"href":771},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fesperar","esperar",[528,774,775],{},"to wait, to hope, to expect",[510,777,778,781,787],{},[528,779,780],{},"518",[528,782,783],{},[74,784,786],{"href":785},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpreocuparse","preocuparse",[528,788,789],{},"to worry",[510,791,792,795,801],{},[528,793,794],{},"521",[528,796,797],{},[74,798,800],{"href":799},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fquedar","quedar",[528,802,803],{},"to remain, to arrange to meet",[510,805,806,809,815],{},[528,807,808],{},"523",[528,810,811],{},[74,812,814],{"href":813},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fmatar","matar",[528,816,817],{},"to kill",[510,819,820,823,829],{},[528,821,822],{},"542",[528,824,825],{},[74,826,828],{"href":827},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdormir","dormir",[528,830,831],{},"to sleep",[510,833,834,837,843],{},[528,835,836],{},"544",[528,838,839],{},[74,840,842],{"href":841},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fayudar","ayudar",[528,844,845],{},"to help, to assist",[510,847,848,851,857],{},[528,849,850],{},"545",[528,852,853],{},[74,854,856],{"href":855},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fconseguir","conseguir",[528,858,859],{},"to get, to manage to",[510,861,862,865,869],{},[528,863,864],{},"585",[528,866,867],{},[74,868,367],{"href":364},[528,870,871],{},"to carry, to wear, to have been",[510,873,874,877,883],{},[528,875,876],{},"590",[528,878,879],{},[74,880,882],{"href":881},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Facabar","acabar",[528,884,885],{},"to finish, to end",[510,887,888,891,897],{},[528,889,890],{},"601",[528,892,893],{},[74,894,896],{"href":895},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fempezar","empezar",[528,898,899],{},"to start, to begin",[510,901,902,905,911],{},[528,903,904],{},"620",[528,906,907],{},[74,908,910],{"href":909},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fjugar","jugar",[528,912,913],{},"to play",[510,915,916,919,925],{},[528,917,918],{},"634",[528,920,921],{},[74,922,924],{"href":923},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fperder","perder",[528,926,927],{},"to lose",[510,929,930,933,939],{},[528,931,932],{},"646",[528,934,935],{},[74,936,938],{"href":937},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fusar","usar",[528,940,941],{},"to use",[510,943,944,947,953],{},[528,945,946],{},"679",[528,948,949],{},[74,950,952],{"href":951},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcambiar","cambiar",[528,954,955],{},"to change",[510,957,958,961,967],{},[528,959,960],{},"703",[528,962,963],{},[74,964,966],{"href":965},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fhaz","haz",[528,968,969],{},"do, make (informal command)",[510,971,972,975,981],{},[528,973,974],{},"715",[528,976,977],{},[74,978,980],{"href":979},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fencantar","encantar",[528,982,983],{},"to delight, to love (something)",[510,985,986,989,995],{},[528,987,988],{},"720",[528,990,991],{},[74,992,994],{"href":993},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fganar","ganar",[528,996,997],{},"to win, to earn",[510,999,1000,1003,1009],{},[528,1001,1002],{},"729",[528,1004,1005],{},[74,1006,1008],{"href":1007},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdisculpar","disculpar",[528,1010,1011],{},"to excuse, to forgive",[510,1013,1014,1017,1023],{},[528,1015,1016],{},"755",[528,1018,1019],{},[74,1020,1022],{"href":1021},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fpagar","pagar",[528,1024,1025],{},"to pay",[510,1027,1028,1031,1037],{},[528,1029,1030],{},"760",[528,1032,1033],{},[74,1034,1036],{"href":1035},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Focurrir","ocurrir",[528,1038,1039],{},"to happen, to occur",[510,1041,1042,1045,1051],{},[528,1043,1044],{},"794",[528,1046,1047],{},[74,1048,1050],{"href":1049},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fquedarse","quedarse",[528,1052,1053],{},"to stay, to remain",[510,1055,1056,1059,1065],{},[528,1057,1058],{},"796",[528,1060,1061],{},[74,1062,1064],{"href":1063},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcomprar","comprar",[528,1066,1067],{},"to buy, to purchase",[510,1069,1070,1073,1079],{},[528,1071,1072],{},"876",[528,1074,1075],{},[74,1076,1078],{"href":1077},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsentarse","sentarse",[528,1080,1081],{},"to sit down",[510,1083,1084,1087,1093],{},[528,1085,1086],{},"878",[528,1088,1089],{},[74,1090,1092],{"href":1091},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fintentar","intentar",[528,1094,1095],{},"to try, to attempt",[510,1097,1098,1101,1107],{},[528,1099,1100],{},"886",[528,1102,1103],{},[74,1104,1106],{"href":1105},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fterminar","terminar",[528,1108,1109],{},"to finish, to complete",[510,1111,1112,1115,1121],{},[528,1113,1114],{},"887",[528,1116,1117],{},[74,1118,1120],{"href":1119},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Ftemer","temer",[528,1122,1123],{},"to fear, to be afraid of",[510,1125,1126,1129,1135],{},[528,1127,1128],{},"890",[528,1130,1131],{},[74,1132,1134],{"href":1133},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fprometer","prometer",[528,1136,1137],{},"to promise",[510,1139,1140,1143,1149],{},[528,1141,1142],{},"907",[528,1144,1145],{},[74,1146,1148],{"href":1147},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fjurar","jurar",[528,1150,1151],{},"to swear, to vow",[510,1153,1154,1157,1163],{},[528,1155,1156],{},"908",[528,1158,1159],{},[74,1160,1162],{"href":1161},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fmantener","mantener",[528,1164,1165],{},"to maintain, to keep",[510,1167,1168,1171,1177],{},[528,1169,1170],{},"935",[528,1172,1173],{},[74,1174,1176],{"href":1175},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fandar","andar",[528,1178,1179],{},"to walk, to go around",[510,1181,1182,1185,1191],{},[528,1183,1184],{},"945",[528,1186,1187],{},[74,1188,1190],{"href":1189},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Falegrarse","alegrarse",[528,1192,1193],{},"to be glad, to rejoice",[510,1195,1196,1199,1205],{},[528,1197,1198],{},"985",[528,1200,1201],{},[74,1202,1204],{"href":1203},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fabrir","abrir",[528,1206,1207],{},"to open",[510,1209,1210,1213,1219],{},[528,1211,1212],{},"1000",[528,1214,1215],{},[74,1216,1218],{"href":1217},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsuceder","suceder",[528,1220,1039],{},[510,1222,1223,1226,1232],{},[528,1224,1225],{},"1027",[528,1227,1228],{},[74,1229,1231],{"href":1230},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fbeber","beber",[528,1233,1234],{},"to drink",[510,1236,1237,1240,1246],{},[528,1238,1239],{},"1036",[528,1241,1242],{},[74,1243,1245],{"href":1244},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fregresar","regresar",[528,1247,1248],{},"to return, to go back",[510,1250,1251,1254,1260],{},[528,1252,1253],{},"1040",[528,1255,1256],{},[74,1257,1259],{"href":1258},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsacar","sacar",[528,1261,1262],{},"to take out, to get",[510,1264,1265,1268,1274],{},[528,1266,1267],{},"1065",[528,1269,1270],{},[74,1271,1273],{"href":1272},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsalvar","salvar",[528,1275,1276],{},"to save",[510,1278,1279,1282,1288],{},[528,1280,1281],{},"1068",[528,1283,1284],{},[74,1285,1287],{"href":1286},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fjoder","joder",[528,1289,1290],{},"to mess up; damn (vulgar)",[510,1292,1293,1296,1302],{},[528,1294,1295],{},"1072",[528,1297,1298],{},[74,1299,1301],{"href":1300},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcenar","cenar",[528,1303,1304],{},"to have dinner",[510,1306,1307,1310,1316],{},[528,1308,1309],{},"1075",[528,1311,1312],{},[74,1313,1315],{"href":1314},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fexistir","existir",[528,1317,1318],{},"to exist",[510,1320,1321,1324,1330],{},[528,1322,1323],{},"1080",[528,1325,1326],{},[74,1327,1329],{"href":1328},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fsoler","soler",[528,1331,1332],{},"to usually do something",[510,1334,1335,1338,1342],{},[528,1336,1337],{},"1116",[528,1339,1340],{},[74,1341,455],{"href":452},[528,1343,1344],{},"to ask for, to order",[510,1346,1347,1350,1354],{},[528,1348,1349],{},"1139",[528,1351,1352],{},[74,1353,491],{"href":488},[528,1355,1356],{},"to read",[510,1358,1359,1362,1368],{},[528,1360,1361],{},"1140",[528,1363,1364],{},[74,1365,1367],{"href":1366},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fparar","parar",[528,1369,1370],{},"to stop",[510,1372,1373,1376,1380],{},[528,1374,1375],{},"1145",[528,1377,1378],{},[74,1379,482],{"href":479},[528,1381,1382],{},"to write",[510,1384,1385,1388,1394],{},[528,1386,1387],{},"1152",[528,1389,1390],{},[74,1391,1393],{"href":1392},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fdoler","doler",[528,1395,1396],{},"to hurt, to ache",[510,1398,1399,1402,1408],{},[528,1400,1401],{},"1169",[528,1403,1404],{},[74,1405,1407],{"href":1406},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fconfiar","confiar",[528,1409,1410],{},"to trust",[510,1412,1413,1416,1422],{},[528,1414,1415],{},"1188",[528,1417,1418],{},[74,1419,1421],{"href":1420},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Falegrar","alegrar",[528,1423,1424],{},"to gladden, to cheer up",[510,1426,1427,1430,1436],{},[528,1428,1429],{},"1189",[528,1431,1432],{},[74,1433,1435],{"href":1434},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fbailar","bailar",[528,1437,1438],{},"to dance",[510,1440,1441,1444,1450],{},[528,1442,1443],{},"1196",[528,1445,1446],{},[74,1447,1449],{"href":1448},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Faprender","aprender",[528,1451,1452],{},"to learn",[48,1454,1455,1456,1459,1460,1463,1464,1467],{},"A few of these reward a sentence of attention even outside their cluster. ",[74,1457,1458],{"href":1328},"Soler"," is the habitual-action verb (suelo desayunar a las ocho means \"I usually have breakfast at eight\"); English has no clean equivalent and learners under-use it badly. ",[74,1461,1462],{"href":799},"Quedar"," does at least four jobs (to remain, to arrange to meet, to look good on, to be located) and is worth its own study session. ",[74,1465,1466],{"href":1392},"Doler"," is the body-pain verb, follows the gustar inversion (me duele la cabeza), and is the only verb you need for the doctor's surgery at A2.",[60,1469,1471],{"id":1470},"the-conjugation-pattern-split","The conjugation pattern split",[48,1473,1474,1475,1478],{},"Of the top 100 Spanish verbs, around 40% are irregular at some tense. The top 7 are all irregular in the present indicative; that pattern continues down the frequency list and is the universal cross-linguistic finding that high-frequency verbs resist regularisation (Bybee, ",[52,1476,1477],{},"Frequency of Use and the Organization of Language",", 2007).",[48,1480,1481],{},"The patterns themselves are limited. Spanish irregularity falls mostly into a handful of buckets:",[68,1483,1484,1490,1496,1502],{},[71,1485,1486,1489],{},[78,1487,1488],{},"Stem-changing verbs"," (e to ie, o to ue, e to i): poder, querer, volver, encontrar, pensar, sentir, dormir, pedir, seguir. Predictable once the pattern is recognised.",[71,1491,1492,1495],{},[78,1493,1494],{},"Yo-form irregular verbs"," (the -go group): tener, venir, poner, salir, hacer, decir, traer, oír. Irregular only in the first-person singular present and the subjunctive built from it.",[71,1497,1498,1501],{},[78,1499,1500],{},"Wholly irregular verbs",": ser, estar, ir, haber, dar. These have to be learnt as paradigms; there is no shortcut.",[71,1503,1504,1507],{},[78,1505,1506],{},"Spelling-change verbs",": buscar (busqué), pagar (pagué), llegar (llegué), empezar (empecé). Regular phonetically; the spelling shifts to preserve the sound.",[48,1509,1510,1511,1514,1515,1519,1520,1524],{},"The ",[74,1512,1513],{"href":141},"conjugation guide"," covers the patterns in full. This article points to which verbs use which pattern; the guide explains the patterns themselves. For the next layer of grammar, ",[74,1516,1518],{"href":1517},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fintermediate","intermediate grammar"," and ",[74,1521,1523],{"href":1522},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fadvanced","advanced grammar"," cover the tenses and constructions these verbs scaffold.",[60,1526,1528],{"id":1527},"how-to-actually-learn-these","How to actually learn these",[48,1530,1531],{},"The Kilo Lingo prescription, in priority order:",[1533,1534,1535,1541,1547,1558,1573],"ol",{},[71,1536,1537,1540],{},[78,1538,1539],{},"Present indicative of the top 25, to automatic recall."," No hesitation, no mental conjugation, no rule-checking. Ser, estar, haber, tener, hacer, poder, decir, ir, querer, ver, parecer, saber, deber, dar, venir, poner, salir, oír, conocer, pensar, entender, encontrar, sentir, volver, seguir. These are the non-negotiable 25. Drill them in isolation until they are reflexes, then in sentences until the sentences are reflexes.",[71,1542,1543,1546],{},[78,1544,1545],{},"Preterite and imperfect of the same 25."," Spanish narrates the past constantly in everyday speech; the past tenses do more work than English speakers expect, and the preterite\u002Fimperfect split is its own learning curve. Most of the top 25 are irregular in the preterite (fui, tuve, hice, pude, dije, vi, di, supe, puse, vine), which is why this is the second step rather than the third.",[71,1548,1549,1552,1553,1557],{},[78,1550,1551],{},"Subjunctive of querer, poder, dudar, ojalá."," Not the whole subjunctive system. Just the present subjunctive triggered by the three most common verbs and the one most common particle. Quiero que vengas. Puedo que llegue tarde. Dudo que sea verdad. Ojalá que llueva. These four patterns cover the majority of subjunctive usage at B1, and getting them automatic flattens the subjunctive cliff that learners famously hit between A2 and B1. The ",[74,1554,1556],{"href":1555},"\u002Fresources\u002Fspanish\u002Fspanish-subjunctive-explained","Spanish subjunctive article"," covers the rest of the system.",[71,1559,1560,1563,1564,1519,1568,1572],{},[78,1561,1562],{},"Spaced repetition for the remaining 75."," The ",[74,1565,1567],{"href":1566},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fquiz","Spanish vocab quiz",[74,1569,1571],{"href":1570},"\u002Ftools\u002Fflashcards","flashcards tool"," handle the rote work. Aim for translation-only recall first, then add one or two conjugated forms per verb as recall stabilises.",[71,1574,1575,1578,1579,1583],{},[78,1576,1577],{},"Input volume to absorb the distributions."," The rules give you the system; input gives you the feel for which verb you actually reach for in a given situation. The ",[74,1580,1582],{"href":1581},"\u002Fresources\u002Fspanish\u002Fspanish-reading-list-by-cefr","Spanish reading list"," is the structured way in; podcasts, Spanish-language TV and unsubtitled film are the unstructured way.",[48,1585,1510,1586,1590,1591,1595],{},[74,1587,1589],{"href":1588},"\u002Fspanish","Spanish pillar page"," covers the wider learning approach; the ",[74,1592,1594],{"href":1593},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fwords\u002Fcore-1000","core-1000 word list"," is the wider vocabulary target these 100 verbs sit inside. The verbs are the load-bearing part of the 1,000; get them automatic and the rest of the list becomes a noun-and-adjective filling exercise.",{"title":1597,"searchDepth":1598,"depth":1598,"links":1599},"",2,[1600,1601,1602,1603,1604,1605,1606,1607],{"id":62,"depth":1598,"text":63},{"id":146,"depth":1598,"text":147},{"id":218,"depth":1598,"text":219},{"id":299,"depth":1598,"text":300},{"id":407,"depth":1598,"text":408},{"id":495,"depth":1598,"text":496},{"id":1470,"depth":1598,"text":1471},{"id":1527,"depth":1598,"text":1528},"Resources",null,"2026-06-10T00:00:00+00:00","The 100 most-frequent Spanish verbs, ranked, with translations and links to full conjugations. The seven verbs that do 30% of the work, the modal cluster, the perception cluster, and which irregulars are unavoidable.","md",[1614,1617,1620,1623],{"q":1615,"a":1616},"How many Spanish verbs do I need to know to be fluent?","Around 1,000 to 2,000 verbs covers the vocabulary of comfortable B2 to C1 conversation, but the distribution is heavily front-loaded. The top 100 verbs account for the majority of verb tokens in spoken Spanish (Mark Davies, A Frequency Dictionary of Spanish, drawn from a 20-million-word corpus); the top 500 cover almost everything you will say in a normal week. Aim for the top 100 first with full conjugations, then add the next 400 by translation only and conjugate them through the regular patterns.",{"q":1618,"a":1619},"Are the top 100 Spanish verbs all irregular?","No, but the most frequent ones disproportionately are. Around 40% of the top 100 are irregular at some tense, and the top 7 (ser, estar, haber, tener, hacer, poder, decir) are all irregular in the present indicative. The pattern is universal across languages: the highest-frequency verbs resist regularisation because their forms are reinforced often enough to survive without analogical pressure. Drill the irregular top 25 explicitly; the regular ones in positions 26 to 100 follow the standard -ar, -er, -ir paradigms covered in the [conjugation guide](\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fconjugation).",{"q":1621,"a":1622},"Which Spanish verb tense should I learn first?","Present indicative of the top 25, then preterite, then the subjunctive of querer, poder and dudar. Spanish narrates everyday speech in the preterite and the imperfect more than English narrates in the past tense, so the preterite is the second-priority tense, not the future. The future tense is rarely used in everyday Spanish; ir + a + infinitive does most of the future work and is easier to conjugate. The subjunctive comes earlier than most learners are taught because querer que and dudar que trigger it in the most common sentence patterns at B1.",{"q":1624,"a":1625},"What is the difference between ser and estar?","Both translate as 'to be' in English but they partition the semantic space differently. Ser covers identity, essential characteristics, time, profession, origin and material (soy escocés, es médico, son las tres). Estar covers states, location, ongoing actions and temporary conditions (estoy cansado, está en Madrid, estamos comiendo). The traditional 'permanent vs temporary' rule is a useful approximation but breaks down in real cases (está muerto is permanent; es joven is not). The honest fix is to drill the conjugations to automatic recall, then absorb the distribution from input volume rather than from rules.",{},"\u002Fresources\u002Fspanish\u002Ftop-100-spanish-verbs",{"title":37,"description":1611},"resources\u002Fspanish\u002Ftop-100-spanish-verbs",[1631,1632,1633,1634],"spanish verbs","spanish vocabulary","spanish conjugation","adult learners","The top 100 most-frequent Spanish verbs cover the vast majority of everyday Spanish utterance; seven irregular verbs (ser, estar, haber, tener, hacer, poder, decir) account for around 30% of all verb tokens; the modal cluster (poder, querer, deber, saber) does most of the abstract conversational work; the perception cluster (ver, oír, sentir) does most of the experiential work; learning the irregular present indicative of these 25 verbs is the highest-leverage grammar move in Spanish.","N6kmYjXRouvR2f3rj99SEN5-1P4088aHaXPO3e43lls",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1638},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Ccircle cx=\"12\" cy=\"12\" r=\"4\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"M12 2v2m0 16v2M4.93 4.93l1.41 1.41m11.32 11.32l1.41 1.41M2 12h2m16 0h2M6.34 17.66l-1.41 1.41M19.07 4.93l-1.41 1.41\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1640},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M12 15V3m9 12v4a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H5a2 2 0 0 1-2-2v-4\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"m7 10l5 5l5-5\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1642},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M13 21h8M15 5l4 4m2.174-2.188a1 1 0 0 0-3.986-3.987L3.842 16.174a2 2 0 0 0-.5.83l-1.321 4.352a.5.5 0 0 0 .623.622l4.353-1.32a2 2 0 0 0 .83-.497z\"\u002F>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1644},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Crect width=\"18\" height=\"18\" x=\"3\" y=\"3\" rx=\"2\" ry=\"2\"\u002F>\u003Ccircle cx=\"9\" cy=\"9\" r=\"2\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"m21 15l-3.086-3.086a2 2 0 0 0-2.828 0L6 21\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1646},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M6 22a2 2 0 0 1-2-2V4a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h8a2.4 2.4 0 0 1 1.704.706l3.588 3.588A2.4 2.4 0 0 1 20 8v12a2 2 0 0 1-2 2z\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"M14 2v5a1 1 0 0 0 1 1h5M10 9H8m8 4H8m8 4H8\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",1781519467988]