Stem-Changing Verbs

Overview Remember that verbs are divided into two parts. You have the infinitive ending and the stem. habl steminfinitive ending ar

Ok, sooo what are stem- changing verbs? Verbs whose stem undergo a spelling change. These are also known as boot verbs. Stem-changing verbs take regular present tense verb endings. The nosotros and vosotros forms DO NOT stem change.

Stem-Changing Categories  o  ue  e  i  e  ie  u  ue (only jugar)

o  ue almorzar to eat lunchmorir to die aprobar to approvemostrar to show colgar to hangmover to move (an object) contar to count, to tellprobar to prove, test, sample, taste costar to costrecordar to remember devolver to return (an object)resolver to solve volver to return (from someplace)rogar to beg, pray dormir to sleepsonar to sound, ring encontrar to findsoñar (con) to dream (about) morder to bitevolar to fly

e  i bendecir (*) to blessimpedir to impede competir to competemedir to measure conseguir to get, obtainpedir to ask for, to order corregir to correctperseguir to pursue, to persecute decir (*) to say, tellreír to laugh despedir(se) to dismiss, fire, to say goodbye repetir to repeat elegir to electseguir to follow, continue freír to fryservir to serve sonreír to smile

e  ie acertar to guess, get rightencender to light, kindle advertir to advise, warnentender to understand cerrar to close, shutfregar to scrub, wash dishes comenzar to beginhervir to boil confesar to confessmentir to lie consentir to consentnegar to deny convertir to convertpensar (en) to think about defender to defendperder to lose empezar to beginpreferir to prefer

How to conjugate You take the infinitive ending off. Change the stem of all verb forms except nosotros and vosotros. Add the appropriate ending in the present tense.

Example dormir steminfinitive ending We know that dormir is o  ue so the “o” will change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.

dormir – to sleep Yo duermo.Nosotros dormimos. Tú duermes.Vosotros dormís. Él duerme. Ella duerme. Ud. duerme. Ellos duermen. Ellas duermen. Uds. duermen.

Another example pedir steminfinitive ending We know that pedir is e  i so the “e” will change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.

pedir – to ask for, to order Yo pido.Nosotros pedimos. Tú pides.Vosotros pedís. Él pide. Ella pide. Ud. pide. Ellos piden. Ellas piden. Uds. piden.

Y otro ejemplo…. preferir steminfinitive ending We know that preferir is e  ie so the “e” closest to the infinitive will change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.

preferir – to prefer Yo prefiero. Nosotros preferimos. Tú prefieres.Vosotros preferís. Él prefiere. Ella prefiere. Ud. prefiere. Ellos prefieren. Ellas prefieren. Uds. prefieren.

Practice Write the correct form of the verb in parenthesis. 1.Mis amigos ___________ a la una. (almorzar) 2.Los estudiantes ____________ la respuesta correcta. (encontrar) 3.En el restaurante, nosotros __________ una tortilla. (pedir) 4.La maestra ___________ las palabras para los estudiantes. (repetir) 5.Tu ____________ la limonada en vez del refresco. (preferir) almuerzan encuentran pedimos repite prefieres