Irregular Yo: -Go Verbs | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

A large family of common verbs has a -go ending in the yo form of the present indicative. Some of these verbs are otherwise regular. Others combine -go with a stem change elsewhere in the paradigm.

The -go pattern

Most of these verbs end in -ner, -nir, -ler, -cer, -lir, or -aer, and they add a -g- before the -o ending. For example, salir → salgo, poner → pongo, hacer → hago.

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"Yo go" verbs are some of the most frequent verbs in Spanish. Memorizing the list is one of the highest-value things you can do early in your studies.

The core list

Infinitive	Meaning	Yo form
tener	to have	tengo
venir	to come	vengo
poner	to put, to place	pongo
salir	to leave, to go out	salgo
hacer	to do, to make	hago
decir	to say, to tell	digo
traer	to bring	traigo
caer	to fall	caigo
oír	to hear	oigo
valer	to be worth	valgo

Tener — the key example

Tener combines the -go yo form with an e → ie stem change in the other forms.

Subject	Conjugation
yo	tengo
tú	tienes
él / ella / usted	tiene
nosotros / nosotras	tenemos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	tienen

Yo tengo dos hermanas.

I have two sisters.

¿Cuántos años tienes?

How old are you?

Venir works the same way: vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, vienen.

Verbs that are otherwise regular

Poner, salir, hacer, traer, and valer are regular in every form except yo:

Subject	poner	salir	hacer
yo	pongo	salgo	hago
tú	pones	sales	haces
él / ella / usted	pone	sale	hace
nosotros	ponemos	salimos	hacemos
ellos / ustedes	ponen	salen	hacen

Hago ejercicio todas las mañanas.

I exercise every morning.

Salgo de la casa a las ocho.

I leave the house at eight.

Decir — a triple irregular

Decir combines -go with an e → i stem change, making it extra irregular: digo, dices, dice, decimos, dicen.

Yo siempre digo la verdad.

I always tell the truth.

Oír — another special case

Oír adds a y in the middle forms: oigo, oyes, oye, oímos, oyen.

¿Oyes ese ruido?

Do you hear that noise?

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If you notice a pattern: all of these verbs sneak a -g- into the yo form to protect a consonant sound that would otherwise soften before -o. It's a phonological rescue, not a random spelling.

Common mistakes

❌ Yo haco la tarea.

Wrong: hacer has an irregular yo form.

✅ Yo hago la tarea.

Correct: the yo form is hago, not haco.

❌ Yo pono la mesa.

Wrong: poner uses -go in the yo form.

✅ Yo pongo la mesa.

Correct: pongo follows the -go pattern.

❌ Yo salo temprano.

Wrong: salir uses -go in the yo form.

✅ Yo salgo temprano.

Correct: salgo, not salo.

❌ Yo tengo, tú tieno.

Wrong: only the yo form gets -go; tú follows the stem change.

✅ Yo tengo, tú tienes.

Correct: -go is only for yo; other forms use the e → ie stem change.

❌ Yo dico la verdad.

Wrong: decir changes to digo, not dico.

✅ Yo digo la verdad.

Correct: digo combines -go with the e → i stem change.

Next, look at the sister group of -zco verbs.