Abrir is one of the most important irregular verbs in Spanish — it appears in virtually every GCSE and A-Level task.
Practice abrir free →Abrir means 'to open', and although it conjugates as a regular -ir verb in the present and preterite, it has one irregular feature you must know: its past participle is abierto ('opened'), not the form you might expect. So 'I have opened' is he abierto. Abro la ventana (I open the window), la tienda abre a las nueve (the shop opens at nine). Its natural opposite is cerrar ('to close'). Because opening and closing come up in directions, shops and daily routine, abrir is a genuinely everyday verb — and remembering abierto in the perfect tense is an easy way to avoid a common mistake.
Quick facts
Abrir (to open) is a high-frequency irregular -ir verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
Abro la puerta (I open the door).
La tienda abre a las nueve (the shop opens at nine).
Irregular participle: he abierto (I have opened).
Cerrar (to close) is the natural opposite.
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
Idiomatic expressions
Abrir is regular in most tenses but its past participle is irregular: abierto, not 'abrido' — and it's the participle you need for all the perfect tenses (he abierto). The yo present is abro, so don't double up on vowels. Learning abierto as its own word is the single best way to avoid the most common slip in exams.
Irregular past participle — it does not end in -ido.
Irregular past participle — same as in the present perfect.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice abrir now →Three questions. Press Enter to check each answer.
yo: abro, tú: abres, él: abre, nosotros: abrimos, vosotros: abrís, ellos: abren
Abrir is irregular.
Use abrir in multiple tenses to show range — present, preterite and future at minimum. This is a key criterion for higher GCSE marks.
Verbs that are easy to confuse with abrir or that behave like it.
This reference is written for UK GCSE and A-Level Spanish learners and their teachers. It is designed for exam revision: every form is checked against standard conjugation rules, and the examples reflect the registers and topics that come up in the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas specifications. Abrir is a high-frequency verb and appears often in exam papers. For active recall, use the free practice tool rather than only reading the tables.
Last updated 2 August 2026. Written by Daniel Holmes for GCSE & A-Level Spanish students.