Go in Spanish: “Ir”, “Vamos” and Other Phrases (+ Easy Conjugation Tips)

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You’re probably familiar with phrases like ¡Vamos! (“Let’s go!”) in Spanish. But have you mastered the irregular verb ir (“go”) in Spanish yet?

“Go” is one of the most common verbs, so it’s one you’ll want to get the hang of first. Since it’s an irregular verb, it can be a bit tricky.

So, we’ll talk about the verb ir today, and I’ll show you how to conjugate it too.

We’ll also look at other related words to “go” in Spanish, like “go to bed” or “go away” as well as other movement verbs.

So let’s get going!

“Go” in Spanish

“To go” in Spanish is ir.

In Spanish, you need to know what category the verbs fall into: -ar, -er, or -ir verb endings. So while ir looks like it should be an -ir verb because that’s all it consists of, it’s actually an irregular verb.

This means it doesn’t follow the usual conjugation in Spanish but instead does its own thing. And ir can be quite tricky for beginners.

The good part, though, is you’ll get lots of practice with this verb because it’s so commonly used!

So let’s look at how to conjugate it.

How to Conjugate Ir in Spanish

To conjugate ir in Spanish, we have to memorize the irregular pattern:

• I go: yo voy
• You go: tú vas
• She/he/you (formal) goes: ella/él/usted va
• We go: nosotros vamos
• You (plural, Spain) go: vosotros váis
• You (plural, Latin America)/They go: ustedes/ellas/ellos van

So upon first look, you’re probably like “Why is it so strange?!” But take a closer look.

Ir Conjugation Pattern

If you already know some of your Spanish conjugation, you may recognize that ir actually conjugates like an -ar verb in Spanish in present tense. It shifts to a “v” and then follows the same general pattern as -ar verbs: -o, -as-, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.

The only difference is “I go” in Spanish – yo voy – ends in -oy.

So it’s not that bad once you see the pattern!

Of course, it changes for each tense (and the future tense, “I will go” uses ir as the root), but there are always patterns you can pick up on.

As for “going” in Spanish, it depends on what you’re going to say. If you’re saying “I am going” in Spanish, as in, going somewhere, you can use ir + a:

Voy a la tienda.
“I’m going to the store.”

You can also use this same pattern to talk about things happening soon in the future:

Mañana voy a estudiar para el examen.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to study for the test.”

For “I have to go” in Spanish, you’ll combine tengo que and ir:

Me tengo que ir ahora.
“I have to go now.”

If you want to learn more Spanish verb conjugations, check out our other articles:

• Spanish Verb Conjugations: How to Master the 3 Most Important Verb Tenses
• Master the 3 Most Important Verb Tenses in Spanish
• How to Use Reflexive Verbs in Spanish
• Future Tense in Spanish: An Easy Guide

“Let’s Go” in Spanish

You’re probably familiar with this one! “Let’s go” in Spanish is “¡Vamos!” You can also use vamos to say “come on.”

This is the imperative conjugation. You can also say vámonos, which is used almost interchangeably. But there is a nuanced difference.

Vámonos is often used to say “let’s go (leave this place)”, where vamos is used to say “let’s go (to a place)”.

Last, there’s also vayamos or vayámonos, which are the subjunctive equivalent of vamos/vámonos. The subjunctive form means to express a wish or desire, so vayamos is more like “I’d like us to go” or “Let’s go (if that’s cool with you)”. It’s also more formal.

Some related expressions:

• “Let’s go home” – Vamos a casa
• “Hurry up” – Date prisa
• “Move it!” – ¡Muévete!
• “Come along!” – ¡Ándale!
• “Let’s go together” – Vamos juntas/juntos
• “Let’s go out” – Salgamos

How to Say “Go Away” in Spanish

You can command someone to leave by saying “¡Vete!”

The verb “to go away, to leave, to go out” is irse. But there are other phrases you could use too, like:

• “Leave me alone!” – ¡Déjame en paz!
• “Go away” (Lit. “erase yourself” in Mexican Spanish) – Borrate
• “Back off!” or “Beat it!” – ¡Lárgate!
• “Get away!” – ¡Aléjate!
• “Get out” – Quítate

“Go to Sleep” in Spanish

If you want to say “go to sleep” in Spanish, you have to learn the verb for “sleep” which is dormir.

Like we talked about before, you need to use the ir + a pattern when saying “go to” or “going to”. So “go to sleep” is ir a dormir. Just conjugate ir to fit the pronoun of the sentence.

For example:

Me voy a dormir.
“I’m going to sleep.”

As for “to go to bed” in Spanish, this one is a new verb: acostarse.

Acostarse also means to “lie down” or “turn in”. So you could say something like:

Me acuesto en la cama.
“I lie down in bed.”

Me voy a acostar e la cama.
“I’m going to lie down in bed.”

Me voy a la cama ahora.
“I’m going to bed now.”

“How is Your Day Going” in Spanish?

We also use “go” often in English when asking how someone is doing, like “How is your day going?” or “How’s it going?”

So to ask “how is your day going” in Spanish, you would say ¿Cómo va tu día? or ¿Cómo llevas el día? You might also hear the phrase ¿Qué tal tu dia?, which doesn’t use the verb ir but instead uses the question phrase qué tal.

For “how is it going” in Spanish, there are many similar ways to ask this, but only some actually use “go”. Here are some:

• “How is everything?” – ¿Cómo va todo?
• “How are you?” or “What’s up?” or “How’s it going?” – ¿Qué tal?
• “How are you?” – ¿Cómo estás?
• “How’s it going?” – ¿Cómo te va? or ¿Cómo va?

In English, we often ask “How’s it going?” to mean “How are you?” But if you’re asking about something, like a project, then you could say something like:

¿Cómo va tu proyecto?
“How’s your project going?”

¿Cómo va todo por allá?
“How’s it going over there?”

“Where Are You Going?” in Spanish

“Where?” in Spanish is dónde. (And if you need a refresher of question words in Spanish, freshen up your skills with this article.)

So to ask “Where are you going?”, you say ¿Adónde vas? The more formal version would be ¿Adónde va?

To change it to something like “Where are we going?” in Spanish, you only need to change ir to match its pronoun. In this case, it’d be ¿A dónde vamos?

If you’re wondering where someone has been, you can change ir to its past tense form and ask: ¿A dónde fuiste?

Other Spanish Movement Verbs to Know

Now that you’ve learned a lot of ways to use “go” in Spanish, let’s cover some other common movement verbs!

• Run: correr
• Fly: volar
• Approach: acercarse
• Fall: caer
• Arrive: llegar
• Bring: traer
• Throw: lanzar
• Enter, go in: entrar
• Get out/leave: salir or irse
• Get off: bajar
• Get up: levantarse
• Climb: escalar
• Ride: montar*
• Move forward: avanzar
• Move something: mover
• Roll: rodar
• Come: venir
• Dodge: esquivar
• Push: empujar
• Jump: saltar
• Crawl: arrastrarse
• Escape: escapar
• Lie down: tumbarse
• Pick up: recoger
• Cross: cruzar
• Exercise: ejercer, ejercitar
• Return: regresar
• Walk: caminar
• Swim: nadar
• Drive: conducir
• Follow: seguir

A tip here: Try pairing similar or opposite words to learn together. For instance, caminar (“walk”) and correr (“run”). Or llegar (“arrive”) and salir (“leave”). It’s easier to remember new vocab this way.

Now it’s your turn. Try using these new words in sentences, and play around with conjugating them. Get used to them, both in writing and speaking.

Start with the words that are most relevant to you, words you think you’ll use the most. Using a flashcard app can really help, too!

Time to Go to Your Next Spanish Lesson!

Let’s wrap things up! Let’s refresh what we just learned:

Ir is “go” in Spanish. It’s an irregular verb, so watch out for conjugation! In present tense, that looks like:

• I go: yo voy
• You go: tú vas
• She/he/you (formal) goes: ella/él/usted va
• We go: nosotros vamos
• You (plural, Spain) go: vosotros váis
• You (plural, Latin America)/They go: ustedes/ellas/ellos van

We learned that ir + a* means “go to” or “going to” like:

Voy a la tienda.
“I’m going to the store.*

And we learned phrases like:

• “Let’s go” – Vamos
• “Go away” – Vete
• “Go to sleep” – Ir a dormir
• “Go to bed” – Acostarse
• “How’s your day going?” – ¿Cómo va tu día?
• “Where are you going?” – ¿Adónde vas?

… And a lot more!

So now it’s time to move on to your next Spanish lesson. And I have some recommendations for you:

• 101 Common Spanish Words to Know
• ¡Lo Siento! and 25 More Ways to Say “Sorry” in Spanish
• Spanish Adjectives to Add Sparkle to Your Sentences
• 20+ Resources for Spanish Reading for Every Level
• Benny’s Top Resources for Learning Spanish