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