The Verb Ir (to Go) in Spanish – Lesson 33

Ir: to go

Another yellow verb lesson! Today’s verb is ir, which means to go. And this one is really important: not only because you’ll say “I go” and “you go” all the time, but because ir is also how Spanish talks about the future. You’ve actually already used it: voy a pedir (I’m going to order), voy a desayunar (I’m going to have breakfast). More about that below.

As always: grab your notebook and copy the table, so you can fill it in yourself.

Ir conjugation: present tense

Pronoun	Ir	English
yo	voy	I go
tú	vas	you go
él / ella / usted	va	he / she goes, you (formal) go
nosotros / nosotras	vamos	we go
vosotros / vosotras	vais	you all go (Spain)
ustedes	van	you all go
ellos / ellas	van	they go

As you can see, ir is very irregular: there’s nothing left of “ir” in the forms. But there’s a pattern that helps: they all start with v, and the endings look a lot like the -ar verbs: v-oy, v-as, v-a, v-amos, v-ais, v-an.

Yo voy: I go

In English you’d usually say “I’m going to the store”. In Spanish, the simple voy already does the job: the little word a (to) shows the movement. And as we learned in lesson 20, you can leave out yo: voy already tells us it’s “I”.

Tú vas: you go

Escuela looks a lot like the English word “school”, right?

Él / ella / usted va: he / she goes, you (formal) go

Tenis has just one n: Spanish barely uses double letters. And it’s una fiesta because fiesta is feminine.

Nosotros / nosotras vamos: we go

Yes: the same ¡vamos! (let’s go!) from lesson 32. And like always, the verb doesn’t change for women: it’s vamos, never vamas.

Vosotros / vosotras vais: you all go (Spain)

Look at these two: exactly the same words. The only difference is the exclamation marks or the question marks. In English you have to flip the sentence around (“you are going” → “are you going?”). In Spanish you don’t: you just change your tone of voice. Say it flat or firm and it’s a statement or an order. Raise your voice at the end and it’s a question.

Ustedes van: you all go

Remember: ustedes is used everywhere in Latin America, and in Spain it’s the formal “you all”. Notice “on vacation” is de vacaciones in Spanish.

Ellos / ellas van: they go

Notice: not a el hospital, but al hospital. When a (to) and el (the) meet, they melt together into al. A el just sounds clunky in Spanish. There’s a separate lesson about this later, but you can start using al right away.

Ir a + verb: the easy future

Here’s why ir is so important. Put ir a in front of another verb, and you’re talking about the future: what you’re going to do.

Just like with poder, only ir changes; the second verb stays in its basic form. We’ll dive deeper into the future later, but with this one trick you can already talk about your plans!

Recap: ir (to go)

Spanish	English
yo voy	I go
tú vas	you go
él / ella / usted va	he / she goes, you (formal) go
nosotros / nosotras vamos	we go
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■

+ 3 more verb forms

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Practice: ir

Fill in the right form of ir. Say it out loud, then click to check.

1. Yo ___ a la tienda. (I’m going to the store.)

Yo voy a la tienda.

2. ¿Tú ___ a la fiesta? (Are you going to the party?)

¿Tú vas a la fiesta?

3. Ella ___ a jugar al tenis. (She’s going to play tennis.)

Ella va a jugar al tenis.

4. Nosotras ___ a la playa. (We’re going to the beach.)

Nosotras vamos a la playa.

5. Vosotros ___ a escuchar. (You all are going to listen. Spain)

Vosotros vais a escuchar.

6. Ellos ___ ___ hospital. (They’re going to the hospital.)

Ellos van al hospital.

7. Say “I’m going to eat”.

Voy a comer.

Quiz: ir

10 questions. ¿Vamos?

Frequently asked questions

Can I say “estoy yendo” for “I’m going”?

It exists, but you’ll hear it much less. For “I’m going to the store”, Spanish speakers almost always just say voy a la tienda.

Is it “jugar al tenis” or “jugar tenis”?

In Spain you’ll hear jugar al tenis, and in much of Latin America jugar tenis is common too. Both are understood everywhere.

Before you go to the next lesson

Ir is one of the most-used verbs in Spanish, so learn it by heart before you move on. Grab the free reference sheet below. See you in lesson 34. ¡Vamos!