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Present Tense: Stem‐Changing Verbs

Many irregular verbs have the irregularity in the endings of the conjugated verb form. However, there is a different kind of predictable verb conjugation where the stem of the verb changes. These verbs have all the regular endings (even the yo form!) but have a change occur in their stem of the verb in certain forms. The stem of the verb is what remains when you remove the - ar, - er, or - ir ending from the infinitive form of the verb.

Because it is the stem of the verb that changes, these verbs are called stem-changing verbs or stem-changers. It is impossible to identify that a verb is a stem-changer simply by looking at the infinitive unless you have previously learned this particular verb and remember that it is a stem-changer.

Stem-changing verbs could be - ar, - er, or - ir verbs. You can, at least count on the stressed syllable being the one that changes. Stem-changing verbs are so common that most dictionaries inform you of the stem change in the entry even before the verb's translation.

The hardest part about stem-changers is that you have to memorize the verbs that have stem-changes. Once you memorize the type of stem change a verb has, the actual patterns of the stem-changing verbs are quite simple, and all the endings are regular, so conjugating these verbs is easy.

There are basically three different ways that the stem of a verb can change in the present tense. The verbs listed in this section are grouped according to the type of stem change they have. While you learn the meanings of the verbs, learn what kind of stem change it has as well.

E to ie

The most common stem change is e to ie (represented by e>ie) . That means the stressed letter e in the stem of the verb will change to ie in certain conjugated forms of the verb. These stem changing verbs will be listed with the stem change in parentheses after the infinitive. You should remember the verbs with the e>ie as a part of the infinitive in Spanish so that you'll be able to conjugate these verbs correctly. If a verb has two e's in the stem, it will always be the second e that is stem-changed. In the tables in this section, the e that changes to ie is underlined.

The patterns for stem changing verbs are very consistent. All forms of the verb will stem change except for nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras. The best way to see the patterns is to consider a few examples.

The verb pensar (to think) is typical of an - ar verb with an e>ie stem change. Where the stem change occurs the ie is underlined in Table 1 . Notice that pensamos and pensáis do not have a stem change.

TABLE 1 Conjugation Chart for the Verb P ensar

yo p ienso (I think)

Nosotros/nosotras pensamos (we think)

tú p iensas (you [informal] think)

vosotros/vosotras pensáis (you [informal, plural] think)

él p iensa (he thinks)

ellos p iensan (they think)

ella p iensa (she thinks)

ellas p iensan (they [feminine] think)

usted (Ud.) p iensa (you [formal] think)

ustedes (Uds.) p iensan (you [formal, plural] think)

The following list contains commonly used - ar verbs that stem change e>ie exactly like pensar:

cerrar

to close

comenzar

to begin (interchangeable with empezar)

confesar

to confess

despertar

to wake up

empezar

to begin (interchangeable with comenzar)

gobernar

to govern

negar

to deny

recomendar

to recommend

The verb perder (to lose) is a typical - er verb with an e>ie stem change. The forms of this verb presented in Table 2 serves as an example for the list of common - er verbs that follow the table.

TABLE 2 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Perder

yo p ierdo (I lose)

nosotros/nosotras perdemos (we lose)

tú p ierdes (you [informal] lose)

vosotros/vosotras perdéis (you [informal, plural] lose)

él p ierde (he loses)

ellos p ierden (they lose)

ella p ierde (she loses)

ellas p ierden (they [feminine] lose)

usted (Ud.) p ierde (you [formal] lose)

ustedes (Uds.) p ierden (you [formal, plural] lose)

The following list are common - er verbs that stem change e>ie:

ascender

to ascend (to go up)

descender

to descend (to go down)

defender

to defend

encender

to light

entender

to understand

querer

to want

Notice that in the list of - er verbs, the - er ending is not part of the stem, so perder and querer only have one e in the stem. When verbs like defender and entender have two e's in the stem, the second one will stem change. See Table 3 for an example.

TABLE 3 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Def ender

yo def iendo (I defend)

nosotros/nosotras defendemos (we defend)

tú def iendes (you [informal] defend)

vosotros/vosotras defendéis (you [informal, plural] defend)

él def iende (he defends)

ellos def ienden (they defend)

ella def iende (she defends)

ellas def ienden (they [feminine] defend)

usted (Ud.) def iende (you [formal] defend)

ustedes (Uds.) def ienden (you [formal, plural] defend)

- ir verbs that stem change e>ie will all follow the same patterns as the verb mentir (to lie [to tell an untruth]). See Table 4 for the forms of the verb.

TABLE 4 Conjugation Chart for the Verb M entir

yo m iento (I lie)

nosotros/nosotras mentimos (we lie)

tú m ientes (you [informal] lie)

vosotros/vosotras mentís (you [informal, plural] lie)

él m iente (he lies)

ellos m ienten (they lie)

ella m iente (she lies)

ellas m ienten (they [feminine] lie)

usted (Ud.) m iente (you [formal] lie)

ustedes (Uds.) m ienten (you [formal, plural] lie)

The following are some of the most common - ir verbs that have an e>ie stem change:

preferir

to prefer

sentir

to feel, to regret

sugerir

to suggest

Notice that the verb preferir has two e's in the stem. Whenever there are two e's in the stem of a verb, it is the second one that stem changes. Preferir's conjugated forms are somewhat difficult to picture—Table 5 shows how the verb forms should look. When pronouncing these verb forms, remember to say every vowel.

TABLE 5 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Pref erir

yo pref iero (I prefer)

nosotros/nosotras preferimos (we prefer)

tú pref ieres (you [informal] prefer)

vosotros/vosotras preferís (you [informal, plural] prefer)

él pref iere (he prefers)

ellos pref ieren (they prefer)

ella pref iere (she prefers)

ellas pref ieren (they [feminine] prefer)

usted (Ud.) pref iere (you [formal] prefer)

ustedes (Uds.) pref ieren (you [formal, plural] prefer)

Tener (to have) and venir (to come) are e>ie stem changers but also have an irregular yo form. These two verbs are listed with the “- go verbs” under the “Verbs irregular in the yo form.” That is because the yo form of each of these verbs ends in - go, even though the rest of the forms follow the e>ie stem changing patterns. These verbs are very common, so be sure to learn the conjugation charts in Tables 6 and 7 .

TABLE 6 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Tener

yo tengo (I have)

nosotros/nosotras tenemos (we have)

tú t ienes (you [informal] have)

vosotros/vosotras tenéis (you [informal, plural] have)

él t iene (he has)

ellos t ienen (they have)

ella t iene (she has)

ellas t ienen (they [feminine] have)

usted (Ud.) t iene (you [formal] have)

ustedes (Uds.) t ienen (you [formal, plural] have)


TABLE 7 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Venir

yo vengo (I come)

nosotros/nosotras venimos (we come)

tú vienes (you [informal] come)

vosotros/vosotras venís (you [informal, plural] come)

él viene (he comes)

ellos vienen (they come)

ella viene (she comes)

ellas vienen (they [feminine] come)

usted (Ud.) viene (you [formal] come)

ustedes (Uds.) vienen (you [formal, plural] come)

You probably noticed how similar the forms are for both verbs. Be careful to also notice, however, that the nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras endings are different for venir because it's an - ir verb and tener is an - er verb.

O to ue

The second most common type of stem change that occurs in Spanish verbs is o to ue (o>ue).

Here are some common - ar verbs that stem change o>ue:

acordarse

to remember

acostarse

to go to bed

almorzar

to eat lunch

contar

to count, to tell a story

costar

to cost

demostrar

to show (interchangeable with mostrar)

encontrar

to find, to meet

jugar

to play

mostrar

to show (interchangeable with demostrar)

probar

to prove, to test

recordar

to remember, to recall, to remind

volar

to fly

Common - er verbs that stem change o>ue:

devolver

to return an object, to give something back

envolver

to wrap up

mover

to move

poder

to be able

resolver

to resolve

soler

to be accustomed to

volver

to return

Common - ir verbs that stem change o>ue:

dormir

to sleep

morir

to die

Table 8 shows the conjugation forms for the verb mover (to move). The verb forms in Table 8 can be followed for the other common stem-changing - er verbs as well.

TABLE 8 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Mover

yo m uevo (I move)

nosotros/nosotras movemos (we move)

tú m ueves (you [informal] move)

vosotros/vosotras movéis (you [informal, plural] move)

él m ueve (he moves)

ellos m ueven (they move)

ella m ueve (she moves)

ellas m ueven (they [feminine] move)

usted (Ud.) m ueve (you [formal] move)

ustedes (Uds.) m ueven (you [formal, plural] move)

The verb jugar is usually listed with the o>ue stem changing verbs because it follows the same pattern. However, you may notice there is no o to change to ue in the verb jugar. It is the only u>ue stem changer in the language. Jugar means “to play a sport” so of course, it's a popular word in both Spanish and English speaking cultures. Look at Table 9 for the unusual verb forms of jugar.

TABLE 9 Conjugation Chart for the Verb Jugar

yo j uego (I play)

nosotros/nosotras jugamos (we play)

tú j uegas (you [informal] play)

vosotros/vosotras jugáis (you [informal, plural] play)

él j uega (he plays)

ellos j uegan (they play)

ella j uega