8.21: Stem-changing verbs
- Page ID
- 50250
Objetivos
Understand and use o>ue, e>ie, and e>i stem-changing verbs
Gramática: Verbos con cambio de raíz (Stem-changing verbs)
We’ve seen a number of verbs so far that change the final vowel of their stem in some of their conjugated forms, for example: ¡Ay! Me duelen los pies (doler), and Los niños tienen diez años (tener). These are not random irregularities– there are three categories of stem-changing verbs, which all follow a similar pattern of changing the last vowel of their stem in the conjugated forms where that vowel is stressed.
A. Verbos con cambio de raíz e>ie
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 an -ER verb that has the e>ie stem change:
Querer (to want) | ||
Singular | Plural | |
1a | quiero | queremos |
2a | quieres | queréis |
3a | quiere | quieren |
Vocabulario: algunos verbos con cambio de raíz
o>ue
e>ie
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