Stem changing verbs + the affirmative and negative

09/15/14
Learning Goals:
 I will review my knowledge of stem changing verbs
and their conjugation
 I will revisit how to make statements affirmative and
negative in Spanish
So let’s start with…
Do you know what kinds of stem changing verbs there
are?
In Spanish there are “stem
changing verbs”…
 These are verbs that change their stem when
conjugated in all forms EXCEPT for nosotros and
vosotros
 In the present tense, there are three types of stem
changing verbs:
 o:ue
 e:ie
 e:i
Stem changing verbs: o:ue
 An example of a verb that changes from o:ue is costar
 Here is how costar is conjugated:
 Yo cuesto
 Tú cuestas
 Él/Ella/Usted cuesta
 Nosotros costamos
 Vosotros costáis
 Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes cuestan
Stem changing verbs o:ue
 Here are more examples of stem changing verbs:
 Almozar (to eat lunch)
Probar (to prove)
 Morir (to die)
Dormir (to sleep_
 Aprobar (to approve)
Recordar (to recall)
 Mostrar (to show)
Devolver (to return)
 Colgar (to hang)
Resolver (to solve)
 Mover (to move)
Volver (to return from)
 Contar (to count)
Rogar (to beg)
Stem changing verbs e:ie
 An example of a verb that changes from e:ie is cerrar:
 Yo cierro
 Tu cierras
 Él/Ella/Usted cierra
 Nosotros cerramos
 Vosotros cerráis
 Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes cierran
Stem changing verbs e:ie
 Here are more examples of stem changing verbs:
 Entender (to understand)
Perder (to lose)
 Mentir (to lie)
Negar (to deny)
 Fregar (to scrub)
Empezar (to begin)
 Comenzar (to begin)
Preferir (to prefer)
 Confesar (to confess)
Pensar (to think)
 Consentir (to consent)
Defender (to defend)
 Convertir (to convert)
Advertir (to advise)
Stem changing verbs e:i
 An example of a verb that changes from e:i is repetir:
 Yo repito
 Tú repitas
 Él/Ella/Usted repita
 Nosotros repetimos
 Vosotros repetís
 Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes repiten
Stem changing verbs e:i
 Here are more examples of stem changing verbs:
 Colegir (to deduce)
Perseguir (to pursue)
 Impedir (to impede)
Decir (to say)
 Competir (to compete)
Reír (to laugh)
 Medir (to measure)
Elegir (to elect)
 Conseguir (to get)
Sonreír (to smile)
 Pedir (to ask for)
Gemir (to groan)
 Corregir (to correct)
Servir (to serve)
Now we’ll move onto…
10-4 Roger that…
 When some people think of the word “affirmative”,
they think of the military or radio codes, but really all
“affirmative” means is just to agree with a statement
 And “negative” doesn’t imply that you’re being a
Debbie Downer, it just means that it does not agree
with a statement
Negative and Affirmative
 You already know that to make a sentence negative,
you can just add “no” before the verb in a sentence like
this:
 No sé.
 No entiendo.
 No tengo dinero.
 …however, there are more ways that the affirmative
and negative can be communicated in Spanish
Negative and Affirmative
 Using the following words, you can change the
meaning of your statement to be affirmative or
negative:
 Algo (something)
 Alguien (someone)
 Algún/o/a/s (something)
 Siempre (always)
 También (also)
 O…o (either, or)
Nada (nothing)
Nadie (no one)
Ningún/o/a/s (nothing)
Nunca (never)
Tampoco (neither)
Ni…ni (neither…nor)
Negation
 In English, a double negative is not used
grammatically and typically leads to the statement
becoming affirmative
 In Spanish, not only can you make a statement a
double negative, but if you really want to drive home a
point, you can make it a triple negative
Por ejemplo…
 Nadie habla.
 No habla nadie.
Nobody speaks.
Nobody speaks.
 Nunca habla nadie. Nobody ever speaks.
However…
 Unlike in English, you cannot mix affirmative and
negative phrases in Spanish.
 English: Maria doesn’t need anything.
 Spanish: María no necesita nada.
Algún y ningún
 Alguno and ninguno typically drop the –o when they
are in front of a masculine singular noun
 ¿Tienes algún libro?
No, no tengo ningún libro.
 Alguno/a and ninguno/a are generally used in the
singular
 ¿Tienes alguna revistas?
No, no tengo ninguna.
Algún y ningún
 The plural alguno/a and ninguno/a is only used when
the noun it modifies only exists in the plural:
 Ningunas vacaciones a Florida son completas sin
una excursión a el mundo de Disney.
No vacation to Florida is complete without a trip to
Disney World.
Now it’s time for fun and games!