Spanish II: Stem‐Changers in the Preterit

Stem‐Changers in the Preterit

An - ir verb that undergoes a stem change in the present tense will undergo a stem change in the preterit in the third person forms ( él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes). Any - ir verb that undergoes an o>ue stem change in the present tense undergoes an o>u stem change in the preterit. Table 1 demonstrates the preterit patterns for morir (to die), an - ir verb that undergoes an o>ue stem change in the present tense. The verb dormir (to sleep) is conjugated in exactly the same manner.

TABLE 1

Preterit Forms of Morir (to Die)

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	morí	nosotros/nosotras	morimos
tú	moriste	vosotros/vosotras	moristeis
él	murió	ellos	murieron
ella	murió	ellas	murieron
usted	murió	ustedes	murieron

There are several - ir verbs that undergo an e>ie stem change in the present tense. Any - ir verb that undergoes an e>ie stem change in the present tense undergoes an e>i stem change in the preterit in the third person forms ( él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes). Table 2 represents the conjugation chart for all the verbs in the list that follows. Notice that, just as in the present tense, it is the second e in preferir (to prefer) that undergoes a change.

TABLE 2

Preterit Forms of Preferir (to Prefer)

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	preferí	nosotros/nosotras	preferimos
tú	preferiste	vosotros/vosotras	preferisteis
él	prefirió	ellos	prefirieron
ella	prefirió	ellas	prefirieron
usted	prefirió	ustedes	prefirieron

Common verbs conjugated like preferir in the preterit tense:

advertir	to advise, to warn
convertir	to convert
hervir	to boil
mentir	to tell a lie
preferir	to prefer
sentir	to feel, to regret

An - ir verb that undergoes an e>i stem change in the present tense will also undergo an e>i stem change in the preterit, but only in the third person forms ( él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes). The verbs that follow Table 3 are all conjugated like servir (to serve).

TABLE 3

Preterit Forms of Servir (to Serve)

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	serví	nosotros/nosotras	servimos
tú	serviste	vosotros/vosotras	servisteis
él	sirvió	ellos	sirvieron
ella	sirvió	ellas	sirvieron
usted	sirvió	ustedes	sirvieron