Present indicative of ser, estar, haber, and ir

Spanish has four extremely common verbs — ser (to be — identity/origin), estar (to be — location/state), haber (to exist/there is/are), and ir (to go) — whose present-tense forms do not follow the regular -ar, -er, or -ir patterns. Each verb must be memorised individually. Their present-tense forms are among the first things a learner encounters, and errors with them are immediately noticeable to native speakers.

• ser — use for permanent or defining characteristics: identity, nationality, origin, profession, and inherent qualities. «Soy de Perú.» / «Ella es médica.»

• estar — use for location, temporary states, and conditions that can change. «Estoy en Chile.» / «El café está frío.»

• hay (the only present form of haber used at this level) — use to state that something exists or is present. It is invariable: it does not change for singular or plural. «Hay un libro.» / «Hay dos libros.»

• ir — use to express movement toward a destination. «Voy al mercado.» / «Ellos van a la escuela.»

The tables below give the full present-tense paradigm for each verb. Pay attention to the yo forms — they are all irregular — and to the written accents on estar (all forms except estamos and estáis carry a written accent on the final vowel).

• ir: inventing a yo form from the infinitive. The infinitive is ir, so learners sometimes write «*yo io» by analogy with regular verbs. The correct form is voy, which shares no letters with the infinitive and must simply be memorised.

• ser: wrong ending for nosotros. Writing «*nosotros es» copies the third-person singular form. Each person has its own form: nosotros somos. Check the full table and practise each row separately.

• hay: trying to make it agree with a plural noun. Learners sometimes expect a plural verb form and write «*han dos libros» or similar. hay is invariable: «hay un libro» and «hay dos libros» both use exactly the same word.