Stem Changing Verbs

Español 1

There is a fairly large group of verbs in Spanish that undergo changes in their stem when conjugated in the present tense. These

changes only occur in the following forms…

Singular:yotu

el/ella/Ud.

Plural:ellos/ellas/Uds.

NOTICE: The “nosotros” form follows the regular conjugation rules for infinitive verbs:

There are three types of stem changes.

e ie

e i

o ueNote: All e i verbs are -ir verbs.

PENSAR e ie SINGULAR:yotuel/ella/Ud.

PLURAL:ellos/ellas/Uds.nosotros

piensopiensaspiensa

piensanpensamos

REPETIR e i SINGULAR:yotuel/ella/Ud.

PLURAL:ellos/ellas/Uds.nosotros

repitorepitesrepites

repitenrepetimos

ALMORZAR o ue SINGULAR:yotuel/ella/Ud.

PLURAL:ellos/ellas/Uds.nosotros

almuerzoalmuerzasalmuerza

almuerzanalmorzamos

ReminderThis presentation includes some basic rules

and these rules may apply to some verbs but not others. The best way to learn which verbs follow a certain rule is to learn each verb and

practice using it. Learning the rules is one process and learning which verbs follow the

rules is another. If you learn each form of the verb you won’t need to learn the rules.

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

CERRAR = to close

cierrocierrascierra

cierrancerramos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

JUGAR = to play

juegojuegasjuega

jueganjugamos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

EMPEZAR = to start/begin

empiezoempiezasempieza

empiezanempezamos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

MERENDAR = to snack

meriendomeriendasmeriendameriendan

merendamos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

PENSAR = to think

piensopiensaspiensapiensanpensamos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

QUERER = to want

quieroquieresquiere

quierenqueremos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

ENTENDER = to understand

entiendoentiendesentiende

entiendenentendemos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

PERDER = to lose

pierdopierdespierde

pierdenperdemos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

PREFERIR = to prefer

prefieroprefieresprefiere

prefierenpreferimos

Verbs to Learn

yotu

el/ella/Ud.ellos/ellas/Uds.

nosotros

ALMORZAR = to have lunch

almuerzoalmuerzasalmuerzaalmuerzan

almorzamos