Stem-changing verbs undergo spelling changes in their stems during conjugation. There are four types of stem changes: o to ue, u to ue, e to i, and e to ie. These stem changes only occur in the yo, tú, él/ella/usted, and ellos/ellas/ustedes forms (excluding nosotros). Common stem-changing verbs include dormir, pedir, poder, jugar, entender, querer, preferir, empezar, and pensar.

1. Stem-Changing Verbs

2. What is a stem of verb?
• The stem of a verb is whatever is left once you
drop the verb ending…
–Hablar  Habl
–Comer  Com
–Escribir  Escrib

3. What is a stem change?
• A spelling change occurs in the stem part of
the verb when you are conjugating.
• There are 4 types of stem changes…
1. O: UE
2. U: UE
3. E: I
4. E: IE

4. Where do we stem change?
• These spelling changes only occur in 4
conjugations of the verb…
–Yo
–Tú
–él/ella/ud.
–Ellos, Ellas, uds.
**Notice we leave out Nosotros**
• In other words, they happen in the “boot”

5. Let’s Review…
• There are 4 types of spelling changes
• They only happen in the “boot”
• We leave out the Nosotros form
• Boot verbs use regular AR, ER, & IR endings

6. Pedir -to ask for
(e:i)
Verbs like pedir:
repetir
servir

7. Poder-to be able to, can
(o:ue)
puedo podemos
¿Puedo ir al baño?
puedes
puede pueden

8. Dormir-to sleep
duermo dormimos (o:ue)
duermes
Verbs like dormir & poder:
almorzar
costar
duermen

9. Jugar - to play
juego jugamos a sport or game
(u:ue)
juegas
This is the only
u:ue verb in
Spanish.
juega juegan

10. Entender: to
entiendo entendemos understand
(e:ie)
entiendes
entiende entienden

11. Querer-to want, to
love
(e:ie)
quiero queremos
quieres
quiere quieren

12. Preferir – to
prefer
(e:ie)
prefiero preferimos
prefieres
Verbs like
PREFERIR:
prefiere prefieren
Empezar
pensar