Present tense stem changing verbs

Unit 1, Etapa 2

Stem-changing verbs are verbs that are conjugated, for the most part, normally, but that have a vowel that changes to another vowel or turns into two vowels when you conjugate the verb. All forms of the verb must be changed, except the the nosotros/nosotras and the vosotros/vosotras form:

jugar (u ue)
yo	juego	nosotros nosotras	jugamos*
tú	juegas	vosostros vosotras	jugáis*
Ud él ella	juega	Uds. ellos ellas	juegan

These verbs are also referred to as boot verbs or shoe verbs because if you shade in the boxes for the forms that must be changed, you will see that the shaded boxes look something like a shoe or a boot. As you can see, the conjugation of the verbs (the ending) is the simple present tense that we should know by know. What changes is the u to a ue in jugar.

Below is a list of other verbs that appear in the chapter (-ar, -er and -ir verbs) that are also stem-changing:

servir (e i)	recomendar (e ie)	mostrar (o ue)	jugar (u ue)
competir pedir repetir vestir seguir	entender perder preferir sentir	dormir morir

Remember: Verbs with stem changes in the present tense almost always conjugate regularly in the past tense.