SPANISH MINDSET

Introduction: “IR” — One Verb, Many Secrets in Argentina

If you’re living in Buenos Aires, traveling through Argentina, or planning to move here as an expat or digital nomad, one of the first verbs you’ll hear (and need!) is “IR” — to go.

From “Voy al laburo” (I’m going to work) to “Andate, boludo” (Go away, dude), this tiny irregular verb appears everywhere.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to conjugate and use “IR” in Argentine Spanish, including pronunciation, slang, and real-life examples that you’ll actually hear in Buenos Aires.

🧠 Key Features of Argentine Spanish You Should Know First

Before diving into conjugations, let’s review two fundamental things that make Argentine Spanish unique:

1. The “sh” sound:
   In Buenos Aires, the letters “LL” and “Y” are pronounced as a “sh” sound.
   • Yo voy → sounds like Sho voy
   • Llueve → sounds like Shueve
2. The pronoun “vos” instead of “tú”:
   In Argentina, people don’t say tú vas, they say vos vas.
   The “vos” form (called voseo) changes verb endings in certain tenses, as we’ll see next.

🕒 Present Tense (Presente del Indicativo)

This is the tense you’ll use every day.

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example	Translation
Yo	voy	Yo voy al gimnasio	I go to the gym
Vos	vas	Vos vas al centro	You go downtown
Él / Ella	va	Ella va a trabajar	She goes to work
Nosotros	vamos	Vamos a la playa	We go to the beach
Ellos	van	Ellos van al cine	They go to the movies

👉 Tip: remember that yo voy is pronounced sho voy in Buenos Aires.

🕐 Present Continuous (Presente Continuo)

Used for things happening right now.

Estoy yendo → I’m going

Example:

• Estoy yendo al súper → I’m going to the supermarket.

Notice that “yendo” keeps that “sh” sound: “shendo” in Buenos Aires accent.

⏳ Past Tenses: “Pretérito” vs “Imperfecto”

In Spanish, we have two main past tenses:

• Pretérito (simple past): for specific, finished actions.
• Imperfecto (imperfect): for general or habitual actions in the past.

Pretérito

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Yo	fui	Fui al cine ayer
Vos	fuiste	Fuiste a la oficina
Él / Ella	fue	Fue al médico
Nosotros	fuimos	Fuimos a Mendoza
Ellos	fueron	Fueron a la playa

Imperfecto

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Yo	iba	Iba a la escuela todos los días
Vos	ibas	Ibas al club
Él / Ella	iba	Iba al trabajo
Nosotros	íbamos	Íbamos al centro
Ellos	iban	Iban a la casa de mis abuelos

✅ Use “iba” when you describe past habits or context.

🔮 Future Tense in Argentine Spanish

In theory, the future tense is:

| Yo iré | Vos irás | Él irá | Nosotros iremos | Ellos irán |

But here’s the truth: we almost never use it in daily life.
In Argentina, people usually say “Voy a ir” instead of “Iré”.

Example:

• ❌ Iré al gimnasio mañana
• ✅ Voy a ir al gimnasio mañana

That’s because we use “ir a + infinitive” to express the near future, like in English “I’m going to go.”

💭 Conditional Tense (Condicional Simple)

Used for hypothetical situations — “I would go”.

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Yo	iría	Iría a Córdoba si tuviera tiempo
Vos	irías	Irías si pudieras
Él / Ella	iría	Iría contigo
Nosotros	iríamos	Iríamos de viaje
Ellos	irían	Irían si tuvieran plata

(Plata = money, in Argentine slang.)

⚡ Imperative: Giving Orders or Instructions

Now it gets interesting — the imperative is used to give orders or advice.

And here is where Argentine Spanish changes completely.

Affirmative Imperative

In Spain or Latin America: Ve a la escuela.
In Argentina: Andá a la escuela.

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Vos	andá	¡Andá al baño! → Go to the bathroom!
Vos (reflexive)	andate	¡Andate de acá! → Go away!

👉 Notice that we don’t say ve or vete — in Buenos Aires, we say andá / andate.

Negative Imperative

Example	Translation
¡No vayas!	Don’t go!
¡No te vayas!	Don’t leave!

🧩 Past Perfect (Pluscuamperfecto)

Used for things that happened before another past action.

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Yo	había ido	Había ido antes de que llegues
Vos	habías ido	Habías ido con tus amigos

🎯 Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive is used after certain phrases expressing emotion, doubt, or desire.
For example: Quiero que vayas conmigo → I want you to go with me.

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Yo	vaya	Espero que yo vaya
Vos	vayas	Quiero que vos vayas
Él / Ella	vaya	Ojalá vaya
Nosotros	vayamos	Tal vez vayamos
Ellos	vayan	Espero que vayan

🏁 Perfect Tenses (Present Perfect)

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
Yo	he ido	He ido al médico
Vos	has ido	Has ido al cine

This tense is often replaced in spoken Argentine Spanish by the simple past:

Fui al médico instead of He ido al médico.

💬 Real Argentine Examples You’ll Hear in Buenos Aires

Phrase	Translation
¡Andate, boludo!	Go away, dude!
Ya voy, pará un segundo	I’m coming, wait a sec
No vayas al centro hoy	Don’t go downtown today
¿A dónde vas?	Where are you going?
Vamos al asado	Let’s go to the barbecue
Me voy a laburar	I’m going to work

🧭 Final Thoughts

Learning how to conjugate IR in Argentine Spanish gives you the foundation for hundreds of everyday expressions — from ordering a taxi to chatting with friends.

Remember:

• Pronounce “yo” as sho.
• Use vos instead of tú.
• Say andá / andate when giving commands.
• Use voy a + verb for the future.

How I Can Help You Speak Argentinian Spanish

If you’re serious about traveling, moving to Argentina, or just finally learning the language that you’ve always wanted to speak — I’m here to help.

I’m Nicolas Gonzalez Miño, Argentine Spanish teacher, owner of the YouTube Channel “Spanish with Nico”, the founder of Spanish Mindset Academy – Learn Argentinian Spanish and the author of Mini Stories to Learn Spanish for Beginners, available on Amazon. Also, I have 2 podcast Argento Podcast, & Argentine Spanish from Scratch where I teach real Argentinian Spanish and slang.

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