The Present Tense of Spanish Stem-Changing Verbs
Remember:
1.There are three types of infinitives: -ar, -er, -ir2.Infinitives in Spanish are made up of two parts: the ending and the stem.
CAMINAR
STEM ENDING
The Present Tense of Spanish Stem-Changing Verbs
Remember:
3.With regular verbs, the stem stays the same, and the ending changes as the are conjugated:
CAMINAR
Yo Camin-o
Tú Camin-as
Ud., él, ella Camin-a
Nosotros Camin-amos
Vosotros Camin-aís
Uds.,ellos, ellas Camin-an
The Present Tense of Spanish Stem-Changing Verbs
However, there is a large group of verbs that changes their stem when conjugated in the present tense.
Those verbs are called Stem-Changing Verbs.
There are three groups of stem-changing verbs:
o ue , e ie , e i
The Present Tense of Spanish Stem-Changing Verbs
•The change occurs only in the first and second person singular and third person singular and plural.
•When a line is drawn around the forms that change, it looks like a boot shape; therefore, these verbs are sometimes informally called “boot” or “shoe” verbs.
The Present Tense of Spanish Stem-Changing Verbs
Let´s use Mostrar (to show) as an example:
Changing o ue
Mostrar
Yo muestro Nosotros mostramos
Tú muestras Vosotros mostráis
Ud.,él,ella muestra Uds.,ellos, ellas muestran
The u→ue and o→ue verbs work the same way.
• Poder
• Jugar
• Dormir
• Soñar
• Volver
• Devolver
• to be able to (can)
• to play
• to sleep
• to dream
• to return (to a place)
• to return (a thing)
Los verbos que cambian o→ue(verbs that change o ue)
• Almorzar
• Morir
• Volar
• Contar
• To have lunch
• To die
• To fly
• To count / to tell (a story)
Los verbos que cambian o→ue(verbs that change o to ue)
• Encontrar
• Resolver
• Mostrar
• Costar
• To meet / To encounter
• To resolve
• To show
• To cost
*Costar is normally used only in the third persons.
How do these verbs work?
First, find the o or u in the stem that is going to change
• Poder
• Jugar
• Dormir
• Soñar
• Volver
• Devolver
Then, decide which verb endings you will use.
• For jugar:• o• as• a• amos• an
• For poder:• o• es• e• emos• en
Then change it in the boot Jugar (to play)
j__g jug
j__g jug
j___g j__g
o
as
o
amos
an
ue
ue
ue
ue
áis
Poder (to be able to)
p__d pod
p__d pod
p__d p__d
o
es
e
emos
en
ue
ue
ue
ue
éis
EL FIN