20 Essential Spanish Verbs for Beginners

By Jorge Navarro

Reading time: 0 minute

March 31, 2025

Contents

Introduction

Why focus on verbs first?

Final tips for learners

Conclusion

Introduction

Learning Spanish starts with building a solid foundation—and that foundation begins with verbs. Verbs are the action words that power every sentence. Whether you’re introducing yourself, describing your day, or ordering food, you’ll rely on them constantly.

In this post, we’ll introduce 20 essential Spanish verbs for beginners every beginner should know. These verbs will help you communicate in everyday situations, build simple sentences, and boost your confidence from day one. This is a great verb list to start with.

Why focus on verbs first?

Focusing on verbs first as a beginner gives you the most useful words in Spanish. This helps you share basic ideas fast, build a solid vocabulary, and gain confidence in your learning.

Verbs are the backbone of sentences. Learning key verbs early on gives you a strong base for understanding and using more complex Spanish later.

If you know key verbs and how to use them in the present tense, you can express your thoughts more easily. By mastering these 20 verbs, you’ll unlock the ability to:

Introduce yourself and others: A beginner can quickly engage in simple social interactions. They can share basic information about themselves and others. This step is key to building confidence in conversations.

Describe people, places, and things: Knowing basic verbs helps you form descriptions. This skill is key to communication. To describe something, you need action words (verbs) or linking verbs. These connect a subject to its traits.

Talk about needs, wants, and feelings: Knowing these key verbs helps beginners express their thoughts and feelings.

Ask for and give information: As a beginner, it's important to understand the key parts of communication. This includes asking questions and giving answers. Knowing important verbs helps you do these basic actions in Spanish. Here are some basic Spanish phrases to pair with your verbs for everyday use.

Let’s dive in!

1. Ser – to be (essential quality)

• Conjugation examples: yo soy, tú eres, él/ella es

• Example: Soy estudiante. (I am a student.)

2. Estar – to be (temporary state/location)

• Conjugation examples: yo estoy, tú estás, él/ella está

• Example: Estoy cansado. (I am tired.)

3. Tener – to have

• Conjugation examples: yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella tiene

• Example: Tengo una idea. (I have an idea.)

4. Hacer – to do/make

• Conjugation examples: yo hago, tú haces, él/ella hace

• Example: Hago mi tarea. (I do my homework.)

5. Poder – to be able to/can

• Conjugation examples: yo puedo, tú puedes, él/ella puede

• Example: ¿Puedes ayudarme? (Can you help me?)

6. Ir – to go

• Conjugation examples: yo voy, tú vas, él/ella va

• Example: Voy al supermercado. (I’m going to the supermarket.)

7. Decir – to say/tell

• Conjugation examples: yo digo, tú dices, él/ella dice

• Example: Digo la verdad. (I’m telling the truth.)

8. Ver – to see

• Conjugation examples: yo veo, tú ves, él/ella ve

• Example: Veo una película. (I’m watching a movie.)

9. Dar – to give

• Conjugation examples: yo doy, tú das, él/ella da

• Example: Doy clases de español. (I give Spanish lessons.)

10. Saber – to know (facts, information)

• Conjugation examples: yo sé, tú sabes, él/ella sabe

• Example: Sé la respuesta. (I know the answer.)

11. Querer – to want/love

• Conjugation examples: yo quiero, tú quieres, él/ella quiere

• Example: Quiero aprender español. (I want to learn Spanish.)

12. Llegar – to arrive

• Conjugation examples: yo llego, tú llegas, él/ella llega

• Example: Llego a las ocho. (I arrive at eight.)

13. Pasar – to pass/spend (time)

• Conjugation examples: yo paso, tú pasas, él/ella pasa

• Example: Paso mucho tiempo estudiando. (I spend a lot of time studying.)

14. Deber – should/ought to

• Conjugation examples: yo debo, tú debes, él/ella debe

• Example: Debes practicar más. (You should practice more.)

15. Poner – to put/place

• Conjugation examples: yo pongo, tú pones, él/ella pone

• Example: Pongo la mesa. (I set the table.)

16. Hablar – to speak

• Conjugation examples: yo hablo, tú hablas, él/ella habla

• Example: Hablo inglés y español. (I speak English and Spanish.)

17. Encontrar – to find

• Conjugation examples: yo encuentro, tú encuentras, él/ella encuentra

• Example: Encuentro las llaves. (I find the keys.)

18. Pensar – to think

• Conjugation examples: yo pienso, tú piensas, él/ella piensa

• Example: Pienso en ti. (I’m thinking about you.)

19. Salir – to leave/go out

• Conjugation examples: yo salgo, tú sales, él/ella sale

• Example: Salgo de casa temprano. (I leave the house early.)

20. Volver – to return

• Conjugation examples: yo vuelvo, tú vuelves, él/ella vuelve

• Example: Vuelvo mañana. (I’ll be back tomorrow.)

Final tips for learners

To truly master these basic Spanish verbs and speed up your fluency, try these practical tips. They will help you go beyond just reading and get actively involved with the language. Learning these common verbs and practicing them in everyday situations is one of the fastest ways to build confidence. Here’s how you can keep improving:

Make flashcards with Spanish verbs and example sentences:

This tip promotes a strong learning method. It helps you remember and understand the key Spanish verbs you've just learned.

Speak them aloud daily:

Speak common Spanish verbs out loud every day. This helps you engage with the language. You'll improve your pronunciation, boost your muscle memory, and gain confidence in speaking Spanish.

Write your own simple sentences using the yo, tú, and él/ella forms:

This tip encourages learners to go beyond passive learning. Actively construct your own basic sentences using common subject pronouns and new verbs.

This hands-on practice is key for internalizing verb conjugations. It helps you understand how verbs work in simple sentences. You'll build the skills needed for more complex Spanish communication. This approach connects recognizing verbs with using them meaningfully.

Watch Spanish videos or listen to podcasts where these verbs are used in context:

Watching Spanish videos and listening to podcasts link what you learn in books to real conversations. This boosts your grasp of key Spanish verbs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, implementing these best practices for memorizing Spanish vocabulary using flashcards will significantly enhance your learning.

These 20 most important Spanish verbs are your building blocks. They’ll help you introduce yourself, share ideas, ask questions, and connect with others.

Focus on mastering the present tense for now—more complex tenses will come later. Remember that some of these are irregular verbs, so pay close attention to their conjugation examples.

This is a great Spanish verbs list for beginners.

With time, motivation, and a good plan, you will gain fluency and confidence. You will use these verbs easily in conversations. These are very basic Spanish verbs and are essential Spanish verbs to learn.

Jorge Navarro

Academic Team

Jorge Navarro is a Spanish teacher and Portuguese–Spanish translator with over a decade of experience working with learners of all ages. Originally from Cartagena, Colombia, he brings the warmth of the Caribbean to every class. Jorge is passionate about language, culture, music, and creating joyful, communicative learning experiences.