Ir (to go) · All tenses

Spanish's most common way to express the near future is 'ir + a + infinitive': 'Voy a estudiar' (I'm going to study), 'Vamos a comer' (We're going to eat). It works like English 'going to' and is preferred over the simple future in casual conversation for any plan in the next minutes, hours, or days.

Spanish inherited the present of 'ir' from the Latin verb 'vadere' (to advance, to walk forward), not from 'ire' (to go). When Latin merged into early Spanish, the present forms of 'vadere' survived (vado → voy, vadis → vas) and combined with the infinitive 'ire' to form a single verb with mixed roots. The same thing happened in French (vais, vas, va — from vadere; aller — from ambulare).

The preterite of ir is: yo fui, tú fuiste, él/ella/usted fue, nosotros/as fuimos, vosotros/as fuisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes fueron. These forms are identical to the preterite of ser — context disambiguates which verb is meant.

Look at the structure that follows. 'Fui a Madrid' = I went to Madrid (ir, because 'a + place' marks motion). 'Fui estudiante' = I was a student (ser, because it links to an identity or noun). The preterite of 'ir' is almost always followed by 'a' + destination; 'ser' is followed by a noun or adjective describing identity.

Use the preterite 'fui' for a specific completed trip: 'Ayer fui al supermercado' (Yesterday I went to the supermarket). Use the imperfect 'iba' for habitual or ongoing past going: 'Cuando era niño, iba al parque cada domingo' (As a child, I used to go to the park every Sunday), or for an interrupted action: 'Iba al trabajo cuando me llamaste' (I was on my way to work when you called).

The imperfect of ir is: yo iba, tú ibas, él/ella/usted iba, nosotros/as íbamos, vosotros/as ibais, ellos/ellas/ustedes iban. The nosotros form 'íbamos' carries an accent on the 'í'. Ir is one of only three verbs with an irregular imperfect — alongside ser (era) and ver (veía).

'Iba a + infinitive' expresses a past intention that was usually interrupted or never carried out: 'Iba a llamarte, pero se me olvidó' (I was going to call you, but I forgot). It's the past-tense version of 'voy a + infinitive' and is one of the most common ways to talk about plans that didn't happen.

Most Spanish verbs follow predictable -aba (-ar verbs) or -ía (-er/-ir verbs) imperfect endings. Ir, ser, and ver kept ancient irregular forms inherited directly from Latin (ibam, eram, videbam) that never regularized — they're among the oldest and most-used verbs in the language and were spoken too often for analogical regularization to take hold.

The present subjunctive of ir is: yo vaya, tú vayas, él/ella/usted vaya, nosotros/as vayamos, vosotros/as vayáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes vayan. The stem 'vay-' has no obvious connection to the indicative 'voy/vas/va' — it survived from an older form that only persisted in the subjunctive.

Use it after triggers of doubt, emotion, will, or future-pointing 'cuando': 'Espero que vayas a la fiesta' (I hope you go to the party), 'Cuando vaya a México, comeré tacos' (When I go to Mexico, I'll eat tacos). Indirect commands also take the subjunctive: 'Que vaya ella' (Let her go).

Ir is unusual because it draws stems from three different Latin verbs: vadere (present → voy), ire (infinitive + future → iré), and a third root that survived only in the subjunctive (vaya). Most irregular Spanish verbs derive their subjunctive stem from the yo form of the present indicative, but ir is one of a handful (along with ser → sea, haber → haya, saber → sepa, dar → dé, estar → esté) that follow a different pattern.

The future of ir is regular: yo iré, tú irás, él/ella/usted irá, nosotros/as iremos, vosotros/as iréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes irán. Despite ir being one of the most irregular Spanish verbs overall, its future stem is the full infinitive 'ir-' — the same predictable pattern as comer (comeré) or hablar (hablaré).

Both are correct. 'Iré' (simple future) feels slightly more formal, more committed, or further in time. 'Voy a ir' (going-to future) is more conversational. The simple future also expresses conjecture or probability: '¿Quién será?' = 'Who could it be?' — a use the going-to future cannot fill.

About 12 high-frequency Spanish verbs developed contracted future stems (haré, diré, tendré, pondré, etc.) for phonetic economy — but only when the full infinitive would have been awkward to repeat. Ir wasn't one of them: the infinitive 'ir' is already so short (two letters) that no contraction would have eased pronunciation. The future stayed regular almost by accident — there was nothing to shorten.