Spanish Stem Changing Verbs

Spanish Stem Changing Verbs (Boot Verbs)

So, you now know about regular verbs, irregular verbs, and verbs with irregular “yo” forms. Now it is time to talk about Stem-changing verbs (also called boot verbs).

Spoiler Alert: You’ve already know one!!! The verb Tener is a combination of a verb with an irregular “yo” form (Tengo) and a stem-changing verb (the rest of the verb).

Look at the infinitive: Tener. What is the stem? …..Ten. Now think about the conjugations of the verb Tener in the present tense. With the exception of the “yo” form (because it is irregular), what do you notice that is different from a regular verb.

Tengo Tenemos

Tienes Tenéis

Tiene Tienen

If you said that the “e” in “Ten” became an “ie” for all the subjects except the “nosotros” and “vosotros” forms then you are right (Tú tienes razón). Plus, you now know the rule for stem-changing verbs: The stem changes in all subjects EXCEPT “nosotros” and “vosotros”.

There are four types of stem-changing verbs in Spanish in the present tense:

Pensar – to think

Pensar + infinite – to plan to do something

Empezar – to start

Empezar a + infinitive – to start to do something

Entender – to understand

Comenzar – to commence

Comenzar a + infinitive – to commence doing something

Preferir – to prefer Querer – to want

E – I

Pedir – to ask for / to order

Servir – to serve

Repetir – to repeat

O – UE

Dormir – to sleep

Almorzar – to eat lunch

Poder – to be able to

U - UE

Jugar – to play

Act. 1: Conjugate the following verbs in the present tense.

Yo (jugar)

Nosotros (servir)

Tú (querer)

María (pensar)

Vosotras (dormir)

Usted (almorzar)

Nosotros (querer)

Vosotros (jugar)

Yo (comenzar)

Nosotras (empezar)

Tú (poder)