Los cuatro irregulares esenciales — The Four Key Irregular Verbs
📚 Los cuatro irregulares esenciales — The Four Key Irregular Verbs
| Verbo | ser (to be — permanent) | estar (to be — temporary) | tener (to have) | ir (to go) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | estoy | tengo | voy |
| tú | eres | estás | tienes | vas |
| él/ella | es | está | tiene | va |
| nosotros | somos | estamos | tenemos | vamos |
| ustedes | son | están | tienen | van |
These 4 verbs appear in almost every GCSE Spanish question — learn them cold.
Both ser and estar mean "to be" — but they are not interchangeable. Choosing the wrong one is the most penalised grammar error at GCSE. Learn the rule once and apply it every time.
Earn the mark scheme marks
⚠️ Common Ser/Estar Mistakes
These two errors appear in real GCSE scripts every year. Avoid them by learning the rule, not guessing.
❌ Error 1: Estoy médico.
✅ Correcto: Soy médico.
Why it costs marks: Profession uses ser, not estar. Your job is a defining characteristic — it does not change from moment to moment. Estoy + a profession is never correct in Spanish.
❌ Error 2: La tienda es en la calle.
✅ Correcto: La tienda está en la calle.
Why it costs marks: Location always uses estar, even for permanent buildings that never move. This is the single most common ser/estar error at GCSE — examiners see it in thousands of scripts. The rule is absolute: where something is = estar.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 13
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