Irregular and stem-changing verbs
Ser, ir, tener, hacer and the verbs that change their stem: encontrar, pensar, pedir, conocer and poner.
Learn
Irregular and stem-changing verbs, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Learn ser, estar and ir by heart
These three are too irregular to work out, and too common to do without. Ser: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son. Estar: estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están. Ir: voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van.
Learn tener and hacer
Tener adds a g for I and changes e to ie in most other persons: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. Hacer is regular apart from the I form: hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen.
Change o to ue in verbs like encontrar
In these verbs the o of the stem becomes ue in every person except we and you all: encuentro, encuentras, encontramos. Poder (puedo), volver (vuelvo) and dormir (duermo) work the same way, and jugar changes u to ue: juego.
Change e to ie in verbs like pensar
Pensar gives pienso, piensas, piensa and piensan, but pensamos and pensáis. Querer (quiero), empezar (empiezo) and preferir (prefiero) follow it. On a verb table, the four persons that change make the shape of a boot.
Change e to i in verbs like pedir
Some -ir verbs change e to i, again everywhere except we and you all: pido, pides, pedimos. Repetir (repito), servir (sirve), seguir (sigo) and vestirse (me visto) follow pedir.
Add z in the I form of verbs like conocer
Verbs like conocer write zc in the I form only: conozco means I know, then conoces and conoce are regular. Conducir (conduzco) and parecer (parezco) do the same.
Add g in the I form of verbs like poner
Poner gives pongo, then pones and pone as normal. Salir (salgo), hacer (hago) and traer (traigo) also end in -go in the I form, and tener and venir add g too while changing e to ie elsewhere: vengo, vienes.
Learn the I forms doy, veo, sé and digo
A few verbs are irregular in the I form alone: dar gives doy and ver gives veo, with das and ves after them. Saber gives sé, I know, and decir gives digo and also changes e to i: dices, dice.
Irregular and stem-changing verbs key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Irregular verb
- A verb that does not follow the regular pattern, so its forms have to be learnt: ser gives soy and ir gives voy.
- Stem-changing verb
- A verb whose stem vowel changes when the stress falls on it: pensar gives pienso but pensamos. It is also called a radical-changing verb.
- Boot verb
- A nickname for a stem-changing verb: on a verb table, the four persons that change (I, you, he or she, and they) make the shape of a boot.
- encontrar
- To find, and the model for the o to ue change: encuentro, encuentras, encontramos.
- pensar
- To think, and the model for the e to ie change: pienso, piensas, pensamos.
- pedir
- To ask for, and the model for the e to i change in -ir verbs: pido, pides, pedimos.
- conozco
- I know, for a person or a place, from conocer: the I form adds a z. Conozco a tu hermano means I know your brother.
- pongo
- I put, from poner: one of the verbs whose I form ends in -go, like salgo, hago and traigo.
- tengo and vengo
- I have and I come: both add g in the I form and change e to ie in most other persons, as in tienes and vienes.
Common mistakes in Irregular and stem-changing verbs
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Changing the stem for we and you all, as in puedemos.
In the present, the stem changes only where the stress falls on it, so nosotros and vosotros keep the infinitive stem: podemos, pensáis, pedimos.
Writing teno or tieno for I have.
Tener adds a g in the I form: tengo. Most of the other persons change e to ie: tienes, tiene, tienen.
Writing conoco or conozo for I know.
The I form of verbs like conocer ends in -zco: conozco, conduzco. Every other person is regular: conoces, conocemos.
Writing haco or pono for I do and I put.
These verbs end in -go in the I form: hago, pongo, salgo, traigo. The rest of the present follows the normal pattern: haces, pones.
Forgetting that jugar changes u to ue, as in Jugo al fútbol.
Jugar is the one verb that changes u to ue: juego, juegas, juega, jugamos. It takes a before the sport: Juego al fútbol.
Practice
Try a Irregular and stem-changing verbs question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which sentence is right?
- Mis padres preferen el té.
- Mis padres prefiere el té.
- Mis padres prefieren el té.
- Mis padres preferimos el té.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: Mis padres prefieren el té.
Mis padres is they, and preferir changes e to ie for they: prefieren. My parents prefer tea.
- The subject is mis padres, they.
- Preferir changes its second e to ie, like pensar.
- So Mis padres prefieren el té: My parents prefer tea.