STEM-CHANGING VERBS
Stem-changing verbs can be somewhat confusing, since at first glance it's hard to figure out the patterns. Why do we say
yo duermo, but nosotros dormimos and está durmiendo?Believe it or not, there actually is a pattern -- or rather, two patterns -- which are determined mainly by stress.
I. The most common stem change
is the one which changes a vowel (e or o) to a dipthong or combination of two vowels (ie or ue). This change happens when the stress is on the stem vowel. Pronounce the following words, and notice where the stem changes occur:|
pienso |
pensamos |
pensé |
pensamos |
estar pensando |
|
p iensas |
pensáis |
pensaste |
pensasteis |
haber pensado |
|
p iensa |
p iensan |
pensó |
pensaron |
v
uelvo vuelves vuelve volvemos volvéis vuelvenIt might help to think that o's and e's sometimes get squished and spread out (add a letter) when they're under stress. I call these "marshmallow verbs"-- the vowels in stem-changing verbs are soft, and when something heavy (the stress) is set on top of them, they spread out like a marshmallow under a ten-pound weight.
Notice that since forms in the preterite don't have stress on the stem, -ar and -er verbs don't change in the preterite. Some of the verbs you know which have this kind of stem change are cerrar, empezar, entender, pensar, perder, almorzar, jugar, and volver.II. The second kind of stem change
happens only in -ir verbs. These are cases of e => i and o => u. This change happens when there is no stressed i in the syllable following the stem. Pronounce the following examples and notice where the stress falls and when the stem changes:pedir p
ido pide pedí pidió pedisteestar p
idiendoA few verbs have both kinds of changes, like
dormir.d
uermo duermes duerme duermen dormimosdormí dormiste d
urmió durmieronTry doing the whole conjugation -- all the forms you know -- of these verbs. What happens to them in the subjunctive?
These rules may help you in writing these verbs when you have time to stop and think about them, but to really be able to use them you'll need lots of practice. Try listening for these verbs whenever you hear Spanish as well as repeating them to yourself, and try to develop a feel for what "sounds right" -- that's the way most Spanish speakers learn them. In fact, I had to look these things up in linguistics books because even though I know and use these forms all the time, I had no idea what the rules might be.
Copyright Ann Wildermuth (University of Texas at Austin, 1996). For permission to use this page or any part of its contents, contact the author by e-mail: annw@mail.utexas.edu