There are some verbs in Spanish that are irregular because they undergo a stem change. By stem change, what we mean is that the spelling of the stem of verb the part before the –ar, –er, or –ir ending slightly changes. These changes occur with vowels. There are three very common changes in the present tense that you will now learn: an o changing to ue, an e changing to ie, and an e changing to an i. After you have made these changes, then you will proceed to add the endings that you have already learned for –ar, –er, and –ir verbs in the present tense. Let’s look at examples of each one of these changes. But remember that the Nosotros and Vosotros forms do not have a stem change.
o to ue
| almorzar – to eat lunch (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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| poder – to be able (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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| dormir – to sleep (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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e to ie
| pensar – to think (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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| perder – to lose (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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| mentir – to lie (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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e to i
| pedir – to ask for (tiempo presente) | ||||||||||||
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To see what other verbs follow these three stem changing patterns, you can refer to your vocabulary list. In a dictionary or vocabulary list, you will often see the stem change listed in parentheses next to the verb, for example dormir (ue)—this makes you aware that the verb you are dealing with undergoes a stem change!
You may have noticed a few things about these verbs. First of all, as mentioned before, while a change occurs in the spelling of the verb, the endings that you learned for –ar, –er, and –ir verbs stay the same. Second of all, you might have noticed that the changes do not occur for every person. The nosotros (first person plural) and vosotros (second person plural) do not change from o to ue, e to ie, nor e to i.
There are three stem changing verbs you are learning that are often (but not always) followed by an infinitive. You will frequently see the verb poder with an infinitive, meaning that you are able to do something. For example, Yo puedo ir a la fiesta. You will also often see the verbs querer and preferir with an infinitive, to express that you want to do something. We will use these verbs a little more in the next lesson.
Below you will see and hear several examples of the different stem changing verbs you have just learned.
 ¿Ustedes pueden venir a la reunión hoy? |
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| Los niños almuerzan en la escuela. |
Foto: woodleywonderworks CC BY 2.0 |
| Nosotros servimos la cena a las ocho. |
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| Mi mamá vuelve a casa a las seis. |
Foto: Duane Tate CC BY 2.0 |
| ¿Qué piensas de la nueva profesora? |
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| En un restaurante, Isabel siempre pide agua. |
Foto: joeymanley CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| ¿Usted juega al tenis? |
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| Nunca cierro las ventanas durante el verano. |
Foto: glasseyes view CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| Mis amigos quieren bailar salsa. |
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| Un buen mesero siempre sirve el café después del postre. |
Foto: Phil Monger CC BY 2.0 |
| A veces Miguelito miente a su maestra. |
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Practice with this additional video to reinforce stem changing verbs that change the (o to ue), (e to ie) and
(e to i).
