Present Tense Shoe Verbs (a.k.a – stem changing verbs) (a.k.a. – boot verbs)

There are 3 types of “shoe” verbs: e  ie e  i o  ue

Here are just a few that you many know: Many verbs in Spanish have changes in their stem when conjugated in the present tense. Here are just a few that you many know: querer costar pedir repetir servir mover volar pensar tener cerrar comenzar decir encontrar volver morir probar

What to know… 1. Spelling changes occur in the verb’s present tense form only. 2. There are NO CHANGES in the vosotros & nosotros forms. 3. You won’t have to memorize which verbs have a spelling change!

Q: Okay, so why are they called shoe verbs? A: Because, when you outline all of the verbs that do have a spelling change… pienso piensas piensa pensamos pensáis piensan

…you get this!

First type of Stem Changing Shoe Verbs e  ie Examples…

Entender – to understand e  ie Entender – to understand entiendo entiendes entiende entendemos entendéis entienden

Empezar / Comenzar to begin e  ie Empezar / Comenzar to begin

Quiero mucho a su hija, señor Vega.

e  ie Querer – to want / love queremos quiero queréis quieres quieren

¿Quiere un sándwich de pollo? Sí, y quiero papas fritas también, por favor.

e  ie Preferir – to prefer prefiero preferimos prefieres preferís prefieren

e  ie pienso piensas piensa pensamos pensáis piensan pensar – to think pienso piensas piensa pensamos pensáis piensan

Los padres tienen dos hijos quienes piensan debajo del arbol en el parque.

Irregular e-ie? Ugh Wait! You don’t have to go!

tener, venir e  ie tengo tienes tiene tenemos tenéis tienen vengo The verbs tener and venir are partial stem-changing verbs; the yo forms do not have the stem change and they are irregular. tengo tienes tiene tenemos tenéis tienen Tengo exámenes mañana. I have exams tomorrow. vengo vienes viene venimos venís vienen Vengo de la biblioteca. I’m coming from the library.

2nd type of Stem Changing Shoe Verbs e  i Examples… Note: All e  i verbs are -ir verbs!

e  i Servir – to serve sirvo sirves sirve servimos servís sirven

Pedir – to order/ask for e  i Pedir – to order/ask for

Here are some other common e  i verbs: decir to say / to tell sonreír to smile repetir to repeat corregir to correct

3rd type of Stem Changing Shoe Verbs o  ue Examples…

o  ue Dormir – to sleep

o  ue contar – to count

o  ue Almorzar – to eat lunch almuerzo almuerzas almuerza almorzamos almorzáis almuerzan

*Costar is normally used only in the third persons. Here are some other common o  ue verbs: costar* to cost encontrar to find poder to be able; can recordar to remember soñar (con) to dream (about) volver to return, come back *Costar is normally used only in the third persons.

Hold up – a rule is broken when you play! Jugar – to play Hold up – a rule is broken when you play!

u  ue Jugar – to play juego juegas juega jugamos jugáis juegan

¡Te toca a ti! It’ your turn! Conjugate the shoe verb in the ella form. Ejemplo: to fly: volar, o-ue, she flys = vuela To understand: entender, e-ie, she understands = ____________ To smile: sonreir,: e-i, she smiles = _______________ To remember: recordar, o-ue, she remembers = _____________ To get: conseguir, e-i, she gets = ________________ To prove: probar, o-ue, she proves = ____________________ entiende sonríe recuerda consigue prueba

¡el fin!