Free taster
5 of 6 sections open
Los verbos yo-go — The Yo-Go Verbs
📚 Los verbos yo-go — The Yo-Go Verbs
These Higher verbs share one special property: their yo form inserts a -g- before the ending, making them look irregular only in the first person. Once you know the yo form, the rest follows the standard -er/-ir endings exactly.
| Infinitivo | yo | tú / él / nosotros / ustedes | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| salir (to go out) | salgo | sales · sale · salimos · salen | Pure yo-go |
| traer (to bring) | traigo | traes · trae · traemos · traen | Pure yo-go |
| poner (to put / place) | pongo | pones · pone · ponemos · ponen | Pure yo-go |
| seguir (to follow / continue) | sigo | sigues · sigue · seguimos · siguen | Yo-go + e→i stem change |
⭐ Key rule
All these verbs are regular EXCEPT the yo form. Once you know the yo form, the rest is entirely predictable. Note: seguir has two irregularities — the yo-go g-insertion AND an e→i stem change throughout. The u in the spelling is silent; it exists purely to keep the g hard before -o and -e.
Two more higher-tier irregulars Higher
These two do not follow the yo-go pattern but are equally essential:
| Infinitivo | yo | tú / él / nosotros / ustedes | Irregularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| conocer (to know — people/places) | conozco | conoces · conoce · conocemos · conocen | zc-insertion before -o |
| saber (to know — facts/skills) | sé | sabes · sabe · sabemos · saben | Unique yo form |
SABER vs CONOCER: La distinción clave Higher
Both verbs translate as "to know" in English, but they are never interchangeable in Spanish. This distinction is one of the most frequently tested points at Higher tier.
Earn the mark scheme marks
💡 Exam Tips — Higher Extension Verbs
- sé = I know (how to / that). This tiny word signals saber in the yo form. One written accent separates it from se (pronoun). Use sé tocar la guitarra or sé que tienes razón in your writing — examiners reward it as an AO2 complexity marker.
- SABER + que-clause; CONOCER + noun only. Writing conozco que... is a Higher-tier error — conocer cannot take a que-clause. Use saber for facts and skills; conocer for people and places.
- ponerse + adjective = instant Higher booster. Me pongo nervioso/a (I become nervous) demonstrates reflexive verb control and semantic precision that ser/estar cannot match. Use it at least once per relevant writing task.
- seguir carries two irregularities at once. The yo form is sigo — the e→i stem change operates first (segu→sigo), then g is already hard before -o so the spelling u drops. This is not intuitive: commit sigo to memory as a complete form.
- Yo-go pattern: salgo, traigo, pongo. All other forms of salir/traer/poner are regular. If you can remember the yo form, the rest is straightforward. These high-frequency verbs appear repeatedly in AQA listening and reading papers.