FHUHS Spanish

Preterite Stem-Changing Verbs

A common mistake made by students of Spanish is to carry over the stem changes from the present indicative to the preterite indicative. The common o -> ue, e -> ie, and e -> i stem changes of the present indicative never carry over into the preterite forms. However, many -er and -ir verbs which have a stem change in the present indicative do have a type of stem change in the preterite, but it is generally a different change, and then, only in the 3rd person. For example:

Present Indicative of Pedir

(note the e -> i stem change in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular, and 3rd person plural)

Preterite Indicative of Pedir

(note the e -> i stem change in the 3rd person singular and plural)

Other common verbs which exhibit this change include: seguir, vestir, repetir, reír, etc.

o -> u stem changes in the preterite

The verbs morir and dormir undergo a similar change in the preterite: