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SpanishConjugationSubjunctive

Ir (to go) · Subjunctive

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Ir in the Spanish present subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo) is: yo vaya, tú vayas, él/ella/usted vaya, nosotros/as vayamos, vosotros/as vayáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes vayan. The present subjunctive of ir appears after triggers of doubt, emotion, will, or hypothesis ('quiero que vayas', 'cuando vaya a Madrid'), and in indirect commands ('que vaya él'). The stem 'vay-' has no direct connection to the indicative.

ir conjugation in the Present Subjunctive (Presente de subjuntivo)
To GoIr
I go
yo vaya
you go
tú vayas
he/she go
él/ella/usted vaya
we go
nosotros/as vayamos
you go
vosotros/as vayáis
they go
ellos/ellas/ustedes vayan
Examples

Ir (to go) in context

Sentences that use ir in the subjunctive. Tap each to hear it.

Mi madre quiere que vaya a visitarla.

My mother wants me to go visit her.

Espero que vayas a la fiesta.

I hope you go to the party.

Es necesario que vaya al médico hoy.

It is necessary that he/she go to the doctor today.

Quieren que vayamos de vacaciones juntos.

They want us to go on vacation together.

Es importante que vayáis preparados.

It is important that you go prepared.

No creo que vayan a tiempo.

I don't think they will go on time.

Tip

Working with the subjunctive

The subjunctive isn't a tense — it's a mood. It signals that the speaker views the action as uncertain, desired, or evaluated rather than asserted as fact. Triggers come in four families: WEIRDO (Wishes, Emotion, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt, Ojalá) is the standard mnemonic. When you see "que" after one of these triggers, the verb that follows is almost always subjunctive. The irregular subjunctive stem comes from the yo form of the present indicative — learn "hago" and you know "haga" is the subjunctive stem.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do you conjugate ir in the present subjunctive?
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.
When do I need to use the subjunctive of ir?
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).
Why is 'vaya' so different from both 'voy' and 'iré'?
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.
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More tenses of Ir (To Go)

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