The present tense and stem-changing verbs
Stem-changing verbA 'doing' word; a word expressing action. 'Walk', 'talk', 'come', 'go', 'eat' and 'sleep' are all verbs. usually take the same endings as regular verbs but have a spelling change in their stemThe part of the verb that is left once the infinitive ending has been taken off. It can also be called a 'radical'.. The spelling change always affects a vowel, but only applies to the following parts of the verb:
- I
- you (singular)
- he/she/you (polite)
- they/you (polite plural)
There are four groups of stem-changing verbs.
| e → ie | e → i | o → ue | u → ue | |
| querer: (to want) | pedir: (to ask for) | poder: (to be able/can) | jugar: (to play) | |
| (yo) | quiero | pido | puedo | juego |
| (tu) | quieres | pides | puedes | juegas |
| (él/ella/usted) | quiere | pide | puede | juega |
| (nosotros/as) | queremos | pedimos | podemos | jugamos |
| (vosotros/as) | queréis | pedís | podéis | jugáis |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | quieren | piden | pueden | juegan |
| e → ie | querer: (to want) |
|---|---|
| e → i | pedir: (to ask for) |
| o → ue | poder: (to be able/can) |
| u → ue | jugar: (to play) |
| (yo) | |
| e → ie | quiero |
| e → i | pido |
| o → ue | puedo |
| u → ue | juego |
| (tu) | |
| e → ie | quieres |
| e → i | pides |
| o → ue | puedes |
| u → ue | juegas |
| (él/ella/usted) | |
| e → ie | quiere |
| e → i | pide |
| o → ue | puede |
| u → ue | juega |
| (nosotros/as) | |
| e → ie | queremos |
| e → i | pedimos |
| o → ue | podemos |
| u → ue | jugamos |
| (vosotros/as) | |
| e → ie | queréis |
| e → i | pedís |
| o → ue | podéis |
| u → ue | jugáis |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | |
| e → ie | quieren |
| e → i | piden |
| o → ue | pueden |
| u → ue | juegan |
Other e → ie stem-changing verbs include:
- despertarse (to wake up) → me despierto (I wake up)
- divertirse (to enjoy yourself) → me divierto (I enjoy myself)
- empezar (to start) → empiezo (I start)
- preferir (to prefer) → prefiero (I prefer)
- nevar (to snow) → nieva (it snows)
Other e → i stem-changing verbs include:
- repetir (to repeat) → repito (I repeat)
- servir (to serve) → sirvo (I serve)
- vestirse (to get dressed) → me visto (I get dressed)
Other o → ue stem-changing verbs include:
- acostarse (to go to bed) → me acuesto (I go to bed)
- dormir (to sleep) → duermo (I sleep)
- encontrar (to find) → encuentro (I find)
- volver (to return) → vuelvo (I return)
- costar (to cost) → cuesta (it costs)
- llover (to rain) → llueve (it rains)
