STEM-CHANGING VERBS: E:IECraig Thomas B.A.

INFINITVE REVIEW

Remember, there are three types of infinitives: -ar, -er, -ir. Infinitives are made up of two parts: the ending and the stem. In the following examples, the stem is underlined and the ending is in bold. Hablar Comer Vivir

REGULAR VERB REVIEW

With regular verbs, the stem stays the same, and the ending changes as they are conjugated.

hablo como vivo

hablas comes vives

habla come vive

hablamos comemos vivimos

habláis coméis vivís

hablan comen viven

STARTING THE STEM CHANGE

With some verbs, the stem also changes when you conjugate them. In the present tense, there are three groups of stem-changing verbs:

We’ve already studied: o:ue

Now we can look at another. e:ie e:i

E:IE

With the second group of stem-changing verbs, the letter e in the stem changes to ie in all forms except the nosotros.

cerrar (to close) cierro cierras cierra cerramos cierran

Cierro CerramosCierras CierranCierra

COMPARE!

Entender (to understand) Comer (to eat)

entiendo entiendes entiende entendemos entendéis entienden

como comes come comemos coméis comen

Here's another e:ie stem changing verb. Compare it to the regular verb comer. Notice that the endings are the same for regular verbs and stem-changing verbs.

STEM CHANGING VERBS

acertarto guess, get right

encenderto light, kindle

advertirto advise, warn

entenderto understand

cerrarto close, shut

fregarto scrub, wash dishes

comenzarto begin

hervirto boil

confesarto confess

mentirto lie

consentirto consent

negarto deny

convertirto convert

pensar (en)to think about

defenderto defend

perderto lose

empezarto begin

preferirto prefer