Unit 4: More present tense verbs and personal a

4.2 Present Tense of Other Irregular Verbs: Part 1

The following verbs are very high-frequency and all are irregular in the first-person singular, while ir is irregular throughout.

Decir (To say, tell) Hacer (to do, make) Ir (to go)
yo digo hago voy
dices haces vas
él, ella, Ud. dice hace va
Nosotros decimos hacemos vamos
Vosotros decís hacéis vais
ellos, ellas, Uds. dicen hacen van

The verb ir often combines with the preposition a + infinitive to render future meaning (esp. near future), as in English.

Voy a trabajar esta noche. I’m going to work tonight.
Nidia va a cocinar mañana. Nidia is going to cook tomorrow.
Mis padres van a viajar esta semana. My parents are going to travel this week.
¿Uds. no van a ir con nosotros? You aren’t going to go with us?

The verb hacer is used to express various weather phenomena:

Hace calor. It’s warm/hot.
Hace mucho frío. It’s very cold.
Hace sol. It’s sunny.
Hace viento. It’s windy.
¿Qué tiempo hace? What’s the weather like?
Hace buen tiempo. The weather is good.
Hace mal tiempo. The weather is bad.

Note in the second example about that, like idioms with tener, those used with hacer also take nouns. Therefore, you will see a form of mucho, not muy modifying them.

Do not confuse Hace frío with Tengo frío or Hace calor with Tiene calor. The expressions with tener can only take a person (or animal) as subject:

Hace mucho frío en enero. It’s very cold in January.
Con frecuencia tengo frío. I’m frequently cold.

Also do not confuse hace with “have” o “has” when translating. Although they look similar, their meaning never is the same.

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