تعليم اللغة الانجليزية Changing Verbs

There are a group of verbs in Spanish known as stem-changing verbs. There are three types of stem-changing verbs: e  i, e  ie, o  ue. The only way to know which verbs in Spanish are stem-changing verbs is to memorize the verb and the type of change it takes.

These verbs are often refered to as shoe verbs or boot verbs because of the shape that they take when they’re conjugated.

Let’s start with an e  i verb. I’m going to take the verb “servir” from the book, which means “to serve.” Just like you have to memorize the meaning, you’ll have to memorize that it is an e  i stem-changing verb. When you start to conjugate this verb, the “e” inside servir will change to an “i” in all forms except the nosotros/as and vosotros/as forms. Then, since it is an -ir verb, we’ll tack on the regular –ir verb endings on the end. Take a look:

servir (i)

(yo) sirvo (nosotros/as) servimos
(tú) sirves (vosotros/as) servís
(él, ella, Ud.) sirve (ellos, ellas, Uds.) sirven

By forming the conjugations like I did above, you can see why some people call these verbs shoe verbs or boot verbs. If you look at only the forms that change from “e” to “i,” you can see that they resemble the shape of a boot. It is even more noticeable if you draw a single large circle around only the forms that change.


Now let’s do an e  ie verb. I’m going to pick out “regar” from the book. Regar means “to water [plants]” and we will have memorized that it is an e  ie verb. This again means that when we start to conjugate it, the “e” in the stem of regar will change to “ie” inside the boot. And, since it’s an –ar verb, don’t forget that it will require the –ar verb endings.

regar (ie)

riego regamos
riegas regáis
riega riegan


Let’s do another e  ie verb. This time, let’s do “preferir.” Preferir is an –ir verb that means “to prefer.” When we conjugate it, we’ll have to change an “e” to an “ie” in every form but the nosotros/as and vosotros/as forms. But, preferir has two “e’s.” How do we know which one changes? Whenever this happens, just remember that the vowel that changes is always the one closest to the end. So, in this case, it will be the 2nd “e.”

preferir (ie)

prefiero preferimos
prefieres preferís
prefiere prefieren


I want to end with the last type of stem-changing verb, the o  ue type. (The only exception is “jugar,” which is the only u  ue verb in the language.) Here the “o” inside each verb will change to “ue” in all the forms inside the boot, which are all the forms minus the nosotros/as and vosotros/as forms. I will do “poder” as my example. It means “to be able to, or can [as in “can do something”].” Since poder is an –er verb, don’t forget to put the –er verb endings on the end of each conjugation.

poder (ue)

puedo podemos
puedes podéis
puede pueden


Once you understand this concept, again you’ll really have to memorize which verbs
change and then which change they take. You will need to be able to pick out stem-changing verbs from among other normal verbs in the exam and you’ll need to know their exact change. I’m only warning you because many students master this concept of stem-changing verbs only in isolation and are unable to recognize these verbs when mixed up with other verbs (which is what you need to do). Regular studying and flash-cards can help this.