Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

8.12: Gramática- Verbos con cambio de raíz (e-ie)

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
  • Page ID
    114015

    • Erica Brown, Alejandra Escudero, María Cristina Montoya, & Elizabeth Small
    • SUNY Oneonta via OER SUNY
    \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Objetivos

    • Recognize the correct conjugation of e-ie stem-changing verbs

    With this group of verbs, the stem vowel e changes to an ie in all of the forms except the first and second person plural.

     

    Comenzar (to start, to begin)
      Singular Plural
    1a comienzo comenzamos
    2a comienzas comenzáis
    3a comienza comienzan

    Note that the nosotros and vosotros forms do not change their ‘e’ to ‘ie’, because the stress in those forms falls on the next syllable.

    And remember that the stem-changing vowel does not affect the personal ending for the verb, which depends on who the subject is and whether the verb is in the -AR, -ER, or -IR conjugation group. Here’s an example of a familiar -ER verb that has the e-ie stem change:

    Querer (to want)
      Singular Plural
    1a quiero queremos
    2a quieres queréis
    3a quiere quieren

    Venir

    The verb venir means “to come”, and it has the same irregularities as tener when conjugated in the present tense. But it doesn’t have so many idiomatic uses!


    venir (to come)
      singular plural
    1a yo vengo nosotros venimos
    2a tú vienes vosotros venís
    3a él viene ella viene usted viene ellos vienen ellas vienen ustedes vienen
    • Ellos vienen a la universidad todos los días. (They come to the university every day.)
    • ¿A qué hora vienes a la clase de español? (At what time do you come to Spanish class?)

    Vocabulario: algunos verbos con cambio de raíz e – ie

    • Cerrar (to close)
    • Comenzar (to start, to begin)
    • Empezar (to start, to begin)
    • Entender (to understand)
    • Pensar (to think)
    • Preferir (to prefer)
    • Perder (to lose)
    • Querer (to want)
    • Sentir (to feel)
    • Tener (to have) (yo tengo, tú tienes…)
    • Venir (to come) (yo vengo, tú vienes…)

    Contributors and Attributions

    • Gramática: Verbos con cambio de raíz (e-ie). Authored by: SUNY Oneonta with Lumen Learning. Provided by: SUNY Oneonta. License: CC BY: Attribution

    This page titled 8.12: Gramática- Verbos con cambio de raíz (e-ie) is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erica Brown, Alejandra Escudero, María Cristina Montoya, & Elizabeth Small (OER SUNY) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.