Verb ir => to go

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Last Updated: Saturday, 22 March 2025 19:01

Published: Friday, 01 September 2023 00:43

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ir (verb): ir (pronouned as eer) is a very commonly used verb which means "to go". It's not like -ir verbs, which have a family of verbs. ir is it's own little verb. ir also has it's own transformation table similar to -ar verbs for present tense and --er/-ir for past tense. (it follows -ar table instead of -ir table). Since ir is monosyllabic and irregular, it's conjugation is different. Replace ir by letter "v" and add suffix similar to -ar verb (Transformation for 1st person "I" is little different as shown below).

ex: I need to go => necesito ir (I need => necesito). Full translation is Yo necesito ir. But yo is dropped as is common with pronouns.

Verbs similar to ir: we have verbs similar to "go", but they fall into ar/er/ir verb categories. They have nothing to do with verb ir. Ex:

• irme => ir + me => to go + myself => to leave.
  
  • ex: I have to leave now (or I got to go now) => tengo que irme ahora (used very often)
• regresar => to go back (to somewhere). Remember from English word "regress" which means to go backwards (opposite of progress). Volver is another verb, which means "to come back". See under "irregular verb" section.
• dejar (de-har) => It's basic idea is of leaving something (or someone) somewhere, placing something somewhere, or abandoning something. It doesn't mean "to leave" a place, for which "salir" is used. Opposite of salir/ir is venir, which means "to come". These words are under "irregular verb" section. Dejar is among the most common verb used in Spanish, so let's look at it's all possible usage:
  
  • Use 1: to leave or place something somewhere: ex: I left my keys here => Yo dejé mis llaves aqui.
  • Use 2: To ask or give permission, mostly as "to let" (This is the most common use of dejar). ex: Would you let me go to the fiesta? => ¿me dejarías ir a la fiesta?. Let me speak => Déjame hablar. 
  • Use 3: To leave alone: ex: Leave me/it alone => Déjame/Déjalo en paz. Leave your sister alone! => ¡Deja a tu hermana!
  • Use 4: To quit or stop (interruption of continuing event): ex: I had to stop working in the garden => Tuve que dejar de trabajar en la jardin.
  • Use 5: To abandon or give in. Use reflexive form (dejarse) ex: Let oneself go (i.e carried away) => dejarse llevar

Using "a"(pronouned aa) as to: This is where "a" is used as a preposition that links nouns and pronouns to other words as to, on, about, with, etc. When we use "go to" instead of "go" (i.e go to a place", or "going to do something", etc), then we use "a" to indicate "to". ex: to go to => ir a.

• Feminine place: If the place is feminine then it's "la ...". So, it's " ir a la"
  
  • ex: I have to go to the hospital => tengo que ir a la hospital (with have to, we use que)
• Masculine place: . If the place is masculine, then it's "el ...". But then "a + el" doesn't sound too good when speaking, so they are combined as 1 word "al" (pronouned aal). So, it's "ir al ..."
  
  • ex: I want to go to the park => quiero ir al parque (since parque is masculine, a+el becomes al)

Back to back verbs:

We saw this in verb section. When we have back to back verbs, then the first verb is conjugated based on the 3x2 table, and the second verb is w/o any conjugation. 2 back to back verbs are often seen with "to go" verb, but may be with other verbs too.

ex: He is happy to go back to school => Here "happy" is an adjective and "to go back" is a verb, so it's not an ex of back to back verbs. Happy is NOT a verb (we don't say happied, happying, etc), but rather an adjective. So "happy to go" => contenta regresar. WE use "de" in b/w the adj and verb for word "to". We use personal "a" with "ir" verb, i.e go  + to somewhere, etc. So, translation for "to go to school" => ir a la escuela. Here it's "go back" which is simiilar to "to go", so it becomes => regresar a la escuela. Full translation is => él está contenta de regresar a la escuela

Tenses: We'll talk about all 3 tenses => Present, Past and Future. Video (from Butterfly Spanish channel, It also discusses tenses for tener, ser/estar): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6SUsWizytA

Present tense: of the 4 verbs (ir, tener, ser, estar) is different, and discussed in their own section.

Past tense of ser is exactly same as ir, but tener and estar are slightly different (though tener and estar are same except for prefix es- added for estar).

Future tense of all 4 verbs is exactly the same except for verb ir, tener, ser, estar suffixed to voy, etc. See below.

Present Tense / Present Progressive:

Base word ir transforms to v. Now we can apply the pattern as would apply to present tense of -ar (NOT -ir even though ir looks like ir) verb. For most other verbs, gerund form is different and requires ser/estar + gerund_form. But for ir, "go" (present tense) and "going" (Present Progressive) use the same transformation table as shown below. So, Spanish doesn't different b/w "I go" vs "I'm going". They both translate to "yo voy"

NOTE:

• Auxillary verb "am" doesn't have separate translation when used with verb "go". However, with all other verbs, we have to use ser/estar form for "am" (i.e I'm reading => soy estoy leyendo, but for "I am going" => yo voy and NOT "yo estoy voy". So, always remember "ir" as special verb.
• Another verb "ver" means "to see" (see in verb section below). . It's 1st person "veo" looks similar to voy below.

 ex:

• I go there => yo voy allí.
• I'm going with my friends => yo voy con mis amigos
• Where are you going? => ¿A Dónde va? (A is added in the beginning  since the response includes "to" => I'm going to ...)

Past Tense:

Base word ir transforms to fu. Now we can apply the pattern as would apply to past tense of -er/-ir verb shown later below. Past tense of "ir" is same as that of another verb "ser". Past tense of the 4 verbs is as below:

• ir/ser: 2 forms: ir => "I went", and ser => "I was" (permanent). Both of them use the same past tense form as table below, even though present tense are different. This happened due to some confusing integration of Latin with Spanish. Fortunately, based on context, it's easy to figure whether you are saying "I was" or I went". Idealy, they should have had different past tense forms. I don't complain, as I don't have to learn one more conjugation :)
• tener: Past form of tener is irregular with stem being "tuv". It's explained under "Past tense Verb" section. 
• estar: Past form of estar takes same form as tener, but with es- prefix added to "tener" past tense stem. So, stem becomes "estuv". See in ser/estar section.

Future Tense:

Future tense of "go" is "will go". Base word ir remain same, and 3x2 table is exactly same as future tense of -ar/-er/-ir verb.

Informal Future Tense:

We saw that future tense of "go" is "will go". "I am going" is present progressive tense of "I go", but both are translated the same => yo voy. "I am going to ..." is most used future form which translates to "voy a". "a" is added since "to" is always there (a is used 99% of the time with ir) => it's "going to place or doing activity, etc". Presence of "to" indicates it's future tense, and we use "a" for it. Strictly speaking "I'm going to" is not future tense, but is present progressive (as explained above). However, "go" is a special verb. Most of the times, "going to" translates to something in future, so we refer to it as informal future form. Informal Future tense of "go" is also used with other 3 verbs (have=tener, to be=ser/estar) with no change. Ex:  I am going to have => voy a tener. I am going to be => voy a ser/estar.

• ir: Here" going to" is "voy a, vas a, va a, etc"
  
  • ex: I'm going to read/eat a nacho => voy a leer/comer un nacho => voy means "I am going", and to read/eat is "leer/comer". Since there is a real verb following "going", we have to use "a".
  • ex: Where are you going? => Under Personal aa in Noun section, we saw that when the response requires an "aa" response, the question should have an "a" in front of the question. It should be ¿ADónde vas? Response is => I'm going to Mexico => voy a mexico. ex: Where are the girls going? => ¿Adónde van las chicas?
  • ex: I'm going to go => yo voy a ir
• tener: Future tense of 'Have to" is "going to have", which is same as ir form above with tener added, i.e va a tener, etc.
  • ex: She is going to have a drink => Ella va a tener una copa.
  • ex: She is going to have a baby => Ella va a tener una bebe (feminine) OR un bebe (masculine)
• ser/estar: Future tense of to be is "going to be", which is same as ir(going) with ser/estar (to be) added. ser is for permanent condition, while estar is for temporary. ex: voy a ser OR voy a estar. See in ser/estar section.
  
  • ex: He is going to be a doctor => él va a ser medico
  • ex: You are going to be sick => vas a estar enfermo/enferma