Stem changing verbs + the affirmative and negative · PDF fileIn Spanish there are “stem changing verbs” These are verbs that change their stem when conjugated in all forms EXCEPT

09/15/14

Learning Goals: I will review my knowledge of stem changing verbs

and their conjugation

I will revisit how to make statements affirmative and negative in Spanish

So let’s start with…

Do you know what kinds of stem changing verbs there are?

In Spanish there are “stem changing verbs”… These are verbs that change their stem when

conjugated in all forms EXCEPT for nosotros and vosotros

In the present tense, there are three types of stem changing verbs:

o:ue

e:ie

e:i

Stem changing verbs: o:ue An example of a verb that changes from o:ue is costar

Here is how costar is conjugated:

Yo cuesto

Tú cuestas

Él/Ella/Usted cuesta

Nosotros costamos

Vosotros costáis

Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes cuestan

Stem changing verbs o:ue Here are more examples of stem changing verbs:

Almozar (to eat lunch) Probar (to prove)

Morir (to die) Dormir (to sleep_

Aprobar (to approve) Recordar (to recall)

Mostrar (to show) Devolver (to return)

Colgar (to hang) Resolver (to solve)

Mover (to move) Volver (to return from)

Contar (to count) Rogar (to beg)

Stem changing verbs e:ie An example of a verb that changes from e:ie is cerrar:

Yo cierro

Tu cierras

Él/Ella/Usted cierra

Nosotros cerramos

Vosotros cerráis

Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes cierran

Stem changing verbs e:ie Here are more examples of stem changing verbs:

Entender (to understand) Perder (to lose)

Mentir (to lie) Negar (to deny)

Fregar (to scrub) Empezar (to begin)

Comenzar (to begin) Preferir (to prefer)

Confesar (to confess) Pensar (to think)

Consentir (to consent) Defender (to defend)

Convertir (to convert) Advertir (to advise)

Stem changing verbs e:i An example of a verb that changes from e:i is repetir:

Yo repito

Tú repitas

Él/Ella/Usted repita

Nosotros repetimos

Vosotros repetís

Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes repiten

Stem changing verbs e:i Here are more examples of stem changing verbs:

Colegir (to deduce) Perseguir (to pursue)

Impedir (to impede) Decir (to say)

Competir (to compete) Reír (to laugh)

Medir (to measure) Elegir (to elect)

Conseguir (to get) Sonreír (to smile)

Pedir (to ask for) Gemir (to groan)

Corregir (to correct) Servir (to serve)

Now we’ll move onto…

10-4 Roger that… When some people think of the word “affirmative”,

they think of the military or radio codes, but really all “affirmative” means is just to agree with a statement

And “negative” doesn’t imply that you’re being a Debbie Downer, it just means that it does not agree with a statement

Negative and Affirmative You already know that to make a sentence negative,

you can just add “no” before the verb in a sentence like this:

No sé.

No entiendo.

No tengo dinero.

…however, there are more ways that the affirmative and negative can be communicated in Spanish

Negative and Affirmative Using the following words, you can change the

meaning of your statement to be affirmative or negative:

Algo (something) Nada (nothing)

Alguien (someone) Nadie (no one)

Algún/o/a/s (something) Ningún/o/a/s (nothing)

Siempre (always) Nunca (never)

También (also) Tampoco (neither)

O…o (either, or) Ni…ni (neither…nor)

Negation In English, a double negative is not used

grammatically and typically leads to the statement becoming affirmative

In Spanish, not only can you make a statement a double negative, but if you really want to drive home a point, you can make it a triple negative

Por ejemplo… Nadie habla. Nobody speaks.

No habla nadie. Nobody speaks.

Nunca habla nadie. Nobody ever speaks.

However… Unlike in English, you cannot mix affirmative and

negative phrases in Spanish.

English: Maria doesn’t need anything.

Spanish: María no necesita nada.

Algún y ningún Alguno and ninguno typically drop the –o when they

are in front of a masculine singular noun

¿Tienes algún libro? No, no tengo ningún libro.

Alguno/a and ninguno/a are generally used in the singular

¿Tienes alguna revistas? No, no tengo ninguna.

Algún y ningún The plural alguno/a and ninguno/a is only used when

the noun it modifies only exists in the plural:

Ningunas vacaciones a Florida son completas sin una excursión a el mundo de Disney. No vacation to Florida is complete without a trip to Disney World.

Now it’s time for fun and games!