Spanish Defective Verbs: The Verbs That Don't Do It All

Did you know that some Spanish verbs simply refuse to be conjugated in every tense and person? These are called verbos defectivos, or defective verbs, and once you know how to spot them, they're actually pretty easy to use correctly. In this short lesson, we'll break down what defective verbs are and look at some common examples you'll hear in everyday Spanish.

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What Are Defective Verbs in Spanish?

A defective verb (verbo defectivo) is a verb that has an incomplete conjugation. In other words, it's missing some of the forms a regular verb would normally have. This isn't a mistake or an exception you need to memorize randomly — there's usually a logical reason behind it.

Let's look at the three main types.

1. Weather Verbs: Only in the Third Person

Verbs that describe natural phenomena — like llover (to rain) or granizar (to hail) — are only used in the third person singular, since there's no specific "subject" doing the action.

• Llueve mucho en invierno. (It rains a lot in winter.)

• Anoche granizó por una hora. (It hailed for an hour last night.)

Si es que llueve, entonces debo llevar un paraguas.

If it rains, then I have to take an umbrella.

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Interestingly, some of these verbs can shift meaning and be used with other subjects too:

• Le llueven preguntas todo el día. (Questions rain down on him all day.)

Here it means something is happening in abundance, not literal rain.

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2. Verbs That Describe Events, Not People

Some verbs — like suceder (to happen) or importar (to matter) — aren't used with personal subjects. Instead, they describe events or situations.

• Sucedió algo extraño anoche. (Something strange happened last night.)

• No me importa la hora. (The time doesn't matter to me.)

lo que sucedió en España en el año mil novecientos treinta y seis

what happened in Spain in nineteen thirty-six

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You'll notice these verbs pair naturally with things, events, or ideas — not with yo, tú, or nosotros as the one performing the action.

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3. Soler: Limited to a Few Tenses

The verb soler (to usually do something) is a great everyday example of a defective verb. It's only used in a handful of tenses — mainly the present and imperfect — and it's always followed by an infinitive.

• Suelo desayunar temprano. (I usually have breakfast early.)

• Solía vivir en Madrid. (I used to live in Madrid.)

y yo solía ir siempre, cada fin de semana,

and I used to go always, every weekend,

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📌 You won't find soler in the future tense or in commands — it just doesn't work that way! For example, you'd never hear solerá llover mañana (it will usually rain tomorrow) or ¡Suele tú más! (You, usually more!) — these simply don't exist in Spanish.

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Wrapping Up Spanish Defective Verbs

Defective verbs might sound intimidating, but they're really just verbs with a built-in shortcut — they only show up where they make sense. Keep an eye out for weather verbs, verbs about events, and expressions like soler, and you'll start noticing them everywhere in real Spanish conversations.

Please let us know, and don't forget to send us your questions and comments!