Ir Conjugation in Spanish
ir means “go” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 8 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for movement towards a place, for going to do something (ir a + infinitive), and for how things are going. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of ir — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo voy a Madrid en tren todos los días.” — “I go to Madrid by train every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: ir
- English: to go
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, preterite, imperfect, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: yendo
- Past participle: ido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for ir. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | voy |
| tú | vas |
| él/ella/Ud. | va |
| nosotros/as | vamos |
| vosotros/as | vais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | van |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | fue |
| nosotros/as | fuimos |
| vosotros/as | fuisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | fueron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | iba |
| tú | ibas |
| él/ella/Ud. | iba |
| nosotros/as | íbamos |
| vosotros/as | ibais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | iban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | iré |
| tú | irás |
| él/ella/Ud. | irá |
| nosotros/as | iremos |
| vosotros/as | iréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | irán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | iría |
| tú | irías |
| él/ella/Ud. | iría |
| nosotros/as | iríamos |
| vosotros/as | iríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | irían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he ido |
| tú | has ido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha ido |
| nosotros/as | hemos ido |
| vosotros/as | habéis ido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han ido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había ido |
| tú | habías ido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había ido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos ido |
| vosotros/as | habíais ido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían ido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré ido |
| tú | habrás ido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá ido |
| nosotros/as | habremos ido |
| vosotros/as | habréis ido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán ido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría ido |
| tú | habrías ido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría ido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos ido |
| vosotros/as | habríais ido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían ido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | vaya |
| tú | vayas |
| él/ella/Ud. | vaya |
| nosotros/as | vayamos |
| vosotros/as | vayáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vayan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | fuera |
| tú | fueras |
| él/ella/Ud. | fuera |
| nosotros/as | fuéramos |
| vosotros/as | fuerais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | fueran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | ve |
| él/ella/Ud. | vaya |
| nosotros/as | vayamos |
| vosotros/as | id |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vayan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | vayas |
| él/ella/Ud. | vaya |
| nosotros/as | vayamos |
| vosotros/as | vayáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vayan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | yendo |
| Past participle | ido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo voy a Madrid en tren todos los días.” — “I go to Madrid by train every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú fuiste al cine ayer.” — “You went to the cinema yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Él iba a la playa antes.” — “He used to go to the beach before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo iré a Madrid en tren mañana.” — “I will go to Madrid by train tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú irías al cine algún día.” — “You would go to the cinema someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha ido a la playa esta semana.” — “He has gone to the beach this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había ido a Madrid en tren antes de la fiesta.” — “I had gone to Madrid by train before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás ido al cine para mañana.” — “You will have gone to the cinema by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría ido a la playa ayer.” — “He would have gone to the beach yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo vaya a Madrid en tren.” — “It is important that i go to Madrid by train.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ojalá tú fueras al cine.” — “I wish you went to the cinema.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Ve a la playa!” — “Go to the beach!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With ir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No vayas a Madrid en tren.” — “Do not go to Madrid by train.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with ir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo voy a Madrid en tren todos los días.” — “I go to Madrid by train every day.”
- “Tú fuiste al cine ayer.” — “You went to the cinema yesterday.”
- “Él iba a la playa antes.” — “He used to go to the beach before.”
- “Yo iré al cine mañana.” — “I will go to the cinema tomorrow.”
- “Tú irías a Madrid en tren algún día.” — “You would go to Madrid by train someday.”
- “Él ha ido a la playa esta semana.” — “He has gone to the beach this week.”
- “Yo había ido a Madrid en tren antes de la fiesta.” — “I had gone to Madrid by train before the party.”
- “Tú habrás ido al cine para mañana.” — “You will have gone to the cinema by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él vaya a la playa.” — “It is important that he go to the beach.”
- “¡Ve a Madrid en tren!” — “Go to Madrid by train!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo ir a Madrid en tren.”
✓ Right: “Yo voy a Madrid en tren.”
The infinitive ir never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form voy.
2. Confusing ir with venir
✗ Wrong: “Yo vengo a Madrid en tren.”
✓ Right: “Yo voy a Madrid en tren.”
Ir is to go away from here; venir is to come towards here.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy ido a Madrid en tren.”
✓ Right: “Yo he ido a Madrid en tren.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle ido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “ire”
✓ Right: “iré”
The accent on iré is part of the spelling in the future. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú vas a Madrid en tren.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú vayas a Madrid en tren.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use vayas here, not the indicative vas.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo fui a Madrid en tren antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo iba a Madrid en tren antes.”
The preterite fui describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect iba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on ir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of ir in the Present indicative?
- A) vas
- B) va
- C) vamos
- D) voy
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of ir in the Preterite?
- A) fuiste
- B) fuimos
- C) fue
- D) fui
What is the nosotros/as form of ir in the Imperfect?
- A) ibais
- B) íbamos
- C) iba
- D) ibas
What is the tú form of ir in the Future?
- A) irás
- B) iré
- C) irá
- D) iremos
What is the yo form of ir in the Conditional?
- A) irías
- B) iríamos
- C) iríais
- D) iría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of ir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) vayamos
- B) vayáis
- C) vaya
- D) vayas
What is the yo form of ir in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) fuerais
- B) fuera
- C) fueras
- D) fuéramos
What is the gerund of ir?
- A) yendo
- B) diciendo
- C) viendo
- D) dando
What is the past participle of ir?
- A) dicho
- B) visto
- C) dado
- D) ido
What does ir mean in English?
- A) to see
- B) to give
- C) to go
- D) to say
Answer key
- D) voy — the yo form of ir in the present indicative is voy. The other options (vas, va, vamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) fue — the él/ella/Ud. form of ir in the preterite is fue. The other options (fui, fuiste, fuimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) íbamos — the nosotros/as form of ir in the imperfect is íbamos. The other options (iba, ibas, iba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) irás — the tú form of ir in the future is irás. The other options (iré, irá, iremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) iría — the yo form of ir in the conditional is iría. The other options (irías, iría, iríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) vaya — the él/ella/Ud. form of ir in the present subjunctive is vaya. The other options (vaya, vayas, vayamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) fuera — the yo form of ir in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is fuera. The other options (fueras, fuera, fuéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) yendo — the gerund of ir is yendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) ido — the past participle of ir is ido; perfect tenses use haber + ido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to go — ir means “to go” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does ir mean in English?
ir means “to go”. You use it for movement towards a place, for going to do something (ir a + infinitive), and for how things are going. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is ir regular or irregular?
ir is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, imperfect, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is yendo and the past participle is ido.
What are the gerund and past participle of ir?
The gerund is yendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is ido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he ido (I have gone).
What is the difference between ir and venir?
Ir is to go away from here; venir is to come towards here. If you are unsure, check the full table for venir and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I go” in Spanish?
Say “Yo voy a Madrid en tren.” — “I go to Madrid by train every day.” The yo form of the present is voy, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- ir in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- ir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Decir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Ver conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Dar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise ir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise ir with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise ir with the interactive tool.