SPA112: Stem Change Verbs e-ie

STEM CHANGING VERBS Remember, there are three types of infinitives: -ar, -er, -ir. Infinitives are made up of two parts: the ending and the stem. You already know how to conjugate verbs in the present tense, so the actual conjugation is easy. With stem change verbs we are adding the step of making a small vowel spelling change in the stem in all forms of the conjugation except the nosotros and vosotros. In the present tense, there are three groups of stem-changing verbs: e-ie, o-ue, and e-i. We will do e-ie first: Notice the 2nd e in the stem is bold, that’s the e we will change to ie. Empezar; to begin, start: stem = empIEz yo empIEzo tú empIEzas Ud. empIEza él empIEza ella empIEza nosotros(as) empEzamos (no stem-change in nosotros) vosotros(as) empEzáis (no stem-change in vosotros) Uds. empIEzan ellos empIEzan ellas empIEzan Here are some common e-ie stem change verbs: Advertir to warn Ascender to go up Atravesar to cross Cerrar to close Comenzar to begin Descender to go down Despertarse to wake up Divertirse to have fun Entender to understand Mentir to lie Pensar to think Perder to lose Preferir to prefer Quebrar to break Querer to want Recomendar to recommend Sentarse to sit down Sentir to feel Confesar to confess Negar to deny Notice the verb Recomendar, there are 2 “e’s” in the stem: REcomEnd When this happens you use the 2nd e for the stem change Therefore I recommend… is Yo recomIEndo and NOT Yo riecomendo.