Spanish has a small group of verbs whose present-indicative yo form is too irregular to predict from the infinitive — sé, doy, veo, quepo. Because the present subjunctive is built from the yo form of the indicative, these verbs need to be learned as units in the subjunctive too. This page covers the four most important: saber, dar, ver and caber. They are all B1-level essentials because they pair with the same triggers that other subjunctives pair with — no creo que sepa, quiero que me lo dé, cuando lo veas, no creo que quepamos todos — and each one has its own small spelling trap that no other page on the site covers in full.
saber → sepa
Saber is the first verb most learners meet whose subjunctive does not start from its indicative yo form. The indicative yo of saber is sé — a single accented monosyllable — but the subjunctive stem is sep-, taken from an older Latin form (sapiam > sepa) that survives only here.
| Subject | saber |
|---|---|
| yo | sepa |
| tú | sepas |
| él / ella / usted | sepa |
| nosotros / nosotras | sepamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sepáis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sepan |
Notice that, like every -er subjunctive, the vosotros form carries a written accent on the á (sepáis) and yo and él share a form (sepa). The stem sep- itself is invariant — there is no stem change, no spelling change, nothing irregular beyond the bare fact that the stem isn't predictable from the infinitive.
No creo que sepa la respuesta — mejor pregúntale a Marta.
I don't think he knows the answer — better ask Marta.
Es importante que sepáis dónde está la salida de emergencia.
It's important that you all know where the emergency exit is.
Quiero que sepan ustedes que cuentan con todo nuestro apoyo.
I want you all to know that you have our full support.
dar → dé
Dar is a -ar verb, so its subjunctive endings are the -e / -es / -e / -emos / -éis / -en set you already know from hablar. The stem is just d-.
| Subject | dar |
|---|---|
| yo | dé |
| tú | des |
| él / ella / usted | dé |
| nosotros / nosotras | demos |
| vosotros / vosotras | deis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | den |
The paradigm itself is perfectly regular; the trap is orthographic. The yo and él form would be written de — exactly the same as the preposition de ("of", "from") — so Spanish writes it with a written accent: dé. This is what the Real Academia calls a tilde diacrítica — an accent whose only job is to distinguish two identical-looking words in writing.
The two monosyllables sound identical in speech. The accent matters only when you write. Compare:
Espero que me dé una respuesta hoy mismo.
I hope he gives me an answer this very day.
Quiero un regalo de mi abuela.
I want a present from my grandmother.
The first dé is the present subjunctive of dar; the second de is the preposition. Without the accent on the first, the sentence becomes illegible — Espero que me de una respuesta parses to a Spanish reader as broken grammar.
Note that the accent disappears in demos and deis, because those forms are already distinguishable from anything else in the language. The accent is only written where it does diacritic work.
No quiero que le des más vueltas — decide y ya.
I don't want you to keep thinking it over — just decide.
Es probable que nos den el resultado el viernes.
It's likely they'll give us the result on Friday.
ver → vea
Ver preserves an older long vowel stem ve- (from Latin videam) that disappeared from most of the indicative paradigm. The subjunctive stem matches the indicative yo (veo), once you drop the -o.
| Subject | ver |
|---|---|
| yo | vea |
| tú | veas |
| él / ella / usted | vea |
| nosotros / nosotras | veamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | veáis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | vean |
There is no stem change, no spelling change and no accent quirk beyond the predictable veáis for vosotros. The whole paradigm is two syllables across the board, with stress always on the -e- of the stem (VE-a, VE-as, ve-A-mos, ve-Á-is).
Cuando veas a tu hermano, dile que le he llamado.
When you see your brother, tell him I called him.
No creo que veáis la diferencia a simple vista.
I don't think you all will see the difference with the naked eye.
Es una pena que no veamos más a nuestros vecinos.
It's a shame we don't see our neighbours more.
A useful pattern to internalise: cuando + veas / veáis / vean is the everyday way to set up a future event tied to seeing someone. The subjunctive marks the seeing as not-yet-happened. In the indicative (cuando veo) the sentence describes a habit ("when I see him, I always say hi"); in the subjunctive (cuando vea) it points forward ("when I see him — at some point — I'll tell him").
caber → quepa
Caber ("to fit") is the rarest of the four for beginners, but it's worth learning at B1 because (a) Spaniards use no caber and caber every day for physical fit (el coche no cabe en el garaje, no cabemos todos en el ascensor), and (b) the subjunctive quepa is one of those forms that look genuinely strange and are often miswritten as cuepa or cepa.
| Subject | caber |
|---|---|
| yo | quepa |
| tú | quepas |
| él / ella / usted | quepa |
| nosotros / nosotras | quepamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | quepáis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quepan |
The stem is quep-, with the qu spelling required before e to preserve the /k/ sound (Spanish never writes ke or ki). This is exactly the same orthographic rule that gives you que, queso, quitar. The subjunctive stem comes from the indicative yo form quepo, with the -o dropped.
Dudo que quepamos todos en el coche con las maletas.
I doubt we'll all fit in the car with the suitcases.
No creo que quepa otra mesa en este salón.
I don't think another table fits in this living room.
Es posible que no quepan los regalos en la maleta.
It's possible the presents won't fit in the suitcase.
In set phrases, caber also takes a metaphorical meaning ("to be possible / there is room for"). The subjunctive shows up in idioms like no cabe duda (no doubt fits — i.e. there's no doubt), and in counterfactuals: aunque quepa la posibilidad de… ("even though the possibility exists that…").
Comparison with English
English doesn't morphologically mark any of this. Where Spanish uses four distinct yo-irregular subjunctive forms (sepa, dé, vea, quepa), English just uses the bare verb or the indicative, regardless of mood: I don't think he knows / sees / fits. The Spanish form carries the mood inside the verb itself, which is why the irregularity has to be memorised — the verb is doing more semantic work than its English translation.
A second contrast: English has nothing like dé vs de. The closest analogue might be the spelling difference between its (possessive) and it's (it is), or between whose and who's — homophones distinguished only on paper. Treat dé the way English treats it's: if you write it without the mark, your reader will assume you don't know the language.
Common Mistakes
❌ No creo que sabe la respuesta.
Incorrect — saber needs the subjunctive sepa after no creo que.
✅ No creo que sepa la respuesta.
I don't think he knows the answer.
❌ Espero que me de una respuesta hoy.
Incorrect — the verb form needs the accent: dé, not de.
✅ Espero que me dé una respuesta hoy.
I hope he gives me an answer today.
❌ Cuando vees a Pablo, dile que lo llamé.
Incorrect — the subjunctive of ver is veas, not vees.
✅ Cuando veas a Pablo, dile que lo llamé.
When you see Pablo, tell him I called him.
❌ Dudo que cabamos todos en el coche.
Incorrect — the subjunctive stem of caber is quep-, not cab-.
✅ Dudo que quepamos todos en el coche.
I doubt we'll all fit in the car.
❌ Quiero que sabéis la verdad.
Incorrect — the form has to be subjunctive (sepáis), not indicative.
✅ Quiero que sepáis la verdad.
I want you all to know the truth.
Key Takeaways
- saber → sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan. Stem sep- is not predictable from the infinitive; learn it as a unit.
- dar → dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den. Regular -ar endings on stem d-, but dé (yo and él/ella/usted) carries a tilde diacrítica to distinguish it from the preposition de. Demos and deis take no accent.
- ver → vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean. Completely regular once you take the stem ve-; the only diacritic is the predictable veáis for vosotros.
- caber → quepa, quepas, quepa, quepamos, quepáis, quepan. Stem quep- (spelled with qu before e); used constantly in everyday Spanish for "fit" and idiomatically for "be possible."
Now practice Spanish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Otros 'yo' irregulares: sé, doy, veo, quepoA2 — The four leftover yo-irregular verbs that don't fit the -go or -zco patterns: saber, dar, ver, and caber. Each is unique, and each has spelling traps that catch learners and even some natives.
- Disparadores del subjuntivo: panoramaB1 — A master inventory of every grammatical trigger that forces the present subjunctive in peninsular Spanish — wishes, emotions, doubt, impersonal judgments, time, purpose, condition and more.
- Presente de subjuntivo: verbos regulares en -er e -irB1 — The shared present-subjunctive endings for regular -er and -ir verbs in Spain, including the obligatory vosotros forms comáis and viváis.
- Tildes diacríticas: el/él, tu/tú, mi/míA2 — The diacritical accents that distinguish otherwise identical monosyllables — el/él, tu/tú, mi/mí, si/sí, mas/más, de/dé, se/sé, te/té, aun/aún — plus the words that look like they need accents but don't (ti, fue, vio, dio, solo).