28 Stem-changing verbs 1
Intro:
We saw before that the verb “tener” has changes to both the stem and the ending. For example, recall that the “e” from the stem “ten-” changes to an “ie” for the “tú” form: tienes (you have). In fact, there are three primary types of “stem-changing verbs” that exist in the present tense in Spanish. Let’s take a brief look at an example of each in the “tú” form:
Three types of stem-changing verbs
| Type of change | Infinitive | Stem | Tú form | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| from e: ie | querer: to want | quer- | quieres | you want |
| from o / u: ue | dormir: to sleep jugar: to play |
dorm- jug- |
duermes juegas |
you sleep you play |
| from e: i | pedir: to ask for | ped- | pides | you ask for |
The pattern for all three types of stem-changing verbs is that the “yo, tú, él-ella-Ud., ellos-ellas-Uds.” forms always undergo the stem change, but the “nosotros / vosotros” forms never do:
Stem-changing verb pattern:
| Stem-change? | Stem-change? |
|---|---|
| yo (yes) | nosotros (no) |
| tú (yes) | vosotros (no) |
| él (yes) | ellos (yes) |
| ella (yes) | ellas (yes) |
| Ud. (yes) | Uds. (yes) |
Stem-changing verbs: e:ie
The verb “querer” (to want, to love) is one of the most practical verbs in the language. “Querer” can be used to say what you and others want, to ask what someone wants to do, and to invite someone to do something. Don’t forget: the auxiliaries “do/does” are built into the meaning of the conjugated forms, so to ask “Do you want to…?” is simply a matter of conjugating the verb in the “tú” form “¿Quieres…?”. Another meaning of “querer” is “to love”—very practical as well!
Querer: to want; to love
| Subject pronouns | Singular | Basic meaning | Subject pronouns | Plural | Basic meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | quiero | I want | nosotros/as | queremos | we want |
| tú | quieres | you want | vosotros/as | queréis | you want (Sp.) |
| él | quiere | he wants | ellos | quieren | they want |
| ella | quiere | she wants | ellas | quieren | they want (f) |
| Ud. | quiere | you want | Uds. | quieren | you want |
| Javier quiere viajar a España. | Javier wants to travel to Spain. |
| ¿Qué quiere hacer Ud.? | What do you want to do? |
| ¿Quieres bailar? | Do you want to dance? |
| Quieren ir con nosotros. | They want to go with us. |
| No queremos. | We don’t want to. |
| Quiero un trabajo mejor. | I want a better job. |
| Ella quiere mucho a sus hijos. | She loves her children a lot. |
OJO: Let’s take another look at the last example: “Ella quiere mucho a sus hijos”.
Did you notice the “a” that comes right before “sus hijos”? Spanish uses a mechanism many call “the personal a” that doesn’t exist in English. Nor is the word “a” (which means “to” in other contexts) translated into anything specific in English. The idea is this: when you have a grammatical structure “subject-verb-object” and the “object” is a person or reference to a person, “a” comes right before mention of the person. A few more examp