This document provides information about Spanish stem-changing verbs. It explains that stem-changing verbs change the spelling of the stem in certain conjugations, unlike regular verbs which do not change the stem. It identifies two types of stem-changing verbs - those where the stem changes from e to ie, and those where it changes from e to i. The document concludes by encouraging practice of verb conjugations and providing a link to a conjugation practice website.

1. Spanish stemchanging verbs
How to conjugate verbs that
change spelling of the stem

2. What is a verb?
Verbs are words that describe actions.
Like the commercial says, verbs are “what
you do”. They are either “irregular verbs”
like ser and tener which you have already
learned , or “regular verbs” like verbs that
end in –ar, -er, -ir, or stem-changing
verbs.
Verbs can either be in the infinitive form or
the conjugated form. The infinitive form is
the raw form of the verb, all English
infinitives start with “to”.

3. What is a stem changing verb?
Stem-changing verbs in Spanish have the same endings
as regular –er and –ir verbs but they change spelling in
the stem.
All of the forms except nosotros and vosotros change:
The letter e in the stems of the following verbs
changes to ie : cerrar, querer, mentir comenzar,
empezar, encender ,entender, nevar, pensar,perder,
preferir .
The letter e in the stems of the following verbs changes to i:
Repetir, competir, pedir, reír, servir.

4. How do we conjugate
stemchanging verbs?
 Spanish infinitives typically end in either –ar, -ir or –er .
When we conjugate a regular Spanish verb we divide
the verb into 2 parts, a stem and an ending take off the
last two letters and add different ones.
Yo aprender español.= I to learn Spanish
Yo aprendo español= I learn or am learning
Spanish
When we conjugate a stemchanger the verb stem changes
as well:
Yo cerrar la puerta= I to close the door
Yo cierro la puerta= I close the door

5. -er/-ir verb endings
-er -ir
yo o yo o
tú es tú es
él/elle/ud. e él/elle/ud. e
nosotros emos nosotros imos
Vosotros éis vosotros ís
ellos/ellas uds en ellos/ellas uds en

6. Review of –ar verb endings
Regular –ar verb endings are:
yo o
tú as
el/ella/usted a
nosotros amos
vosotros aís
ellos/ellas/ustedes an

7. Practice makes Perfect!
The only way to learn verb conjugations is to practice
often, much like you would to learn a piece of music.
The link below brings to an excellent website where you
can practice all Spanish verbs, and gives you helpful
comparisons to English verbs:
http://www.conjuguemos.com