Lesson 47 Notes

CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
looking at
‘radical
changing’
verbs
Lesson 47
Notes
Quiero pensar y puedo volver
Radical-changing verbs
Programme Notes
Coffee Break Spanish notes guide you through the content of each lesson. In lesson 47 we discuss a
group of verbs which change their spelling in certain parts of the conjugation. These are
commonly known as “spelling-changing verbs”, “stem-changing verbs” or “radical-changing
verbs”.
Conjugating querer
Querer can mean “to love” or “to want”. We’ve come across this verb in several situations already.
Examples include:
quiero cantar
I want to sing
te quiero
I love you
Look at the full conjugation of querer in the table below:
querer - to want / to love
quiero
queremos
quieres
queréis
quiere
quieren
Look carefully at the vowels in the stem of the verb. The table below highlights the differences:
querer - to want / to love
quiero
queremos
quieres
queréis
quiere
quieren
So, with the verb querer, the forms for yo, tú, él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes change the vowel from
e to ie. The nosotros (we) and vosotros (you, informal plural) keep the e of the infinitive. This is
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sometimes called the “1,2,3 and 6 pattern”, since the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th parts of the conjugation
change.
This same change can be seen in many other verbs. The other example given in lesson 47 is pensar,
meaning “to think”:
pensar - to think
pienso
pensamos
piensas
pensáis
piensa
piensan
You will notice again that parts 1, 2, 3 and 6 change the -e- of the infinitive to -ie-. See below for
further examples of verbs which have this ‘radical change’. Please be aware that some of the verbs
below have additional irregularities. These verbs are marked with an asterisk.
Radical-changing verbs: e > ie
advertir
to warn
cerrar
to close
defender
to defend
despertarse
to wake onself up
empezar
to start
perder
to lose
sentir
to feel
tener*
to have
venir*
to come
Conjugating poder
Let’s take a look at another radical-changing verb which uses a different spelling change. Again, we
have already come across this verb in a number of scenarios. The verb is poder, meaning “to be able
to...”.
poder - to be able to ...
puedo
podemos
puedes
podéis
puede
pueden
In this verb the spelling change is o > ue, where the -o- of the infinitive becomes -ue- in parts 1, 2,
3 and 6. The other verb given as an example in lesson 47 is volver, meaning “to return” or “to come
back”:
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volver - to return
vuelvo
volvemos
vuelves
volvéis
vuelve
vuelven
Further examples of verbs which use this o > ue spelling change are listed below. Once again, this
list is not exhaustive.
Radical-changing verbs: o > ue
acostarse
to go to bed
contar
to count
dormir
to sleep
encontrar
to find
mostrar
to show
volar
to fly
Other radical changes
There are a couple of other radical changes which you’ll come across in your studies of Spanish.
With every radical-changing verb the pattern is the same: parts 4 and 5 follow the vowel of the
infinitive and the change takes place in parts 1, 2, 3 and 6.
Consider the following examples using jugar (to play) and pedir (to ask):
jugar - to play (Change: u > ue)
juego
jugamos
juegas
jugáis
juega
juegan
pedir - to ask (Change: e > i)
pido
pedimos
pides
pedís
pide
piden
One final point: these spelling changes aren’t particularly “radical”! In this situation the word
“radical” comes from the Latin radix, meaning “root”, as in each case it’s the root of the verb
which changes, and you add the endings to the root.
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