Como se dice "stem-changing verbs" en espanol?

Question

Como se dice "stem-changing verbs" en espanol?

Answer 1

Verbos con cambio en la raíz

Verbos con cambio de raíz

Verbos que cambian en la raíz

Verbos que cambian de raíz

Muchas gracias, Fidalgo. - CharlieMcKeon, Jan 30, 2011

Answer 2

I call them "malvado" meaning evil.

Como se dice "lol" en espanol? - CharlieMcKeon, Jan 30, 2011

Answer 3

As far as I know, Spanish speakers simply call them "irregular verbs" I can remember at least one occasion in which Lazarus simply used the term "irregular" to encompass any sort of irregularity. Bear in mind that terms such as "stem changing" / "boot/shoe verbs" were coined to serve as mnemonic devices for foreigners. Spanish speakers already know how to conjugate these verbs by the time they enter school. They require no "cute" memory aids to help them remember how to conjugate the verbs.

When you use a phrase such as "I wrote a letter", do you rely on some mnemonic device to remind you that it shouldn't be "I writed a letter."? Do you have some sort of special label for a verb like "write"? or do you simply say "It's irregular in the past tense?" (Even the assertion that it's "irregular" in the past tense, assumes a sophistication/awareness that many native speakers don't have [on a conscious level]. They simply say it that way because "That's the way it is said.")

I have vague memories of having seen (in the distant past) textbooks which displayed certain irregular verbs with a line around the "irregular" forms. The line vaguely resembled the outline of a "boot" and they were called "boot" verbs. Since then I've almost completely forgotten which verbs are "boot" verbs and which aren't because the distinction is of absolutely no practical value. When using Spanish, the division of verbs into regular and irregular (much less, certain flavors of irregularity) contributes nothing to my ability to speak, understand, write or read Spanish. All I ever need is to know what person, tense, voice, mood the verb is. Is it a "boot " verb? Who cares? Now, if I were asked to name three examples of boot verbs or whether a particular verb was/wasn't a boot verb having such knowledge at my finger tips would, of course, be useful. However, I have never been asked such a question (outside of a class for foreigners learning Spanish), certainly, the question has never arisen in a conversation with a Spanish speaker.

You are absolutely right. I was just wondering how to write "stem-changing verbs" in Spanish in my notes. I think verbs like write/wrote are called "strong" verbs - but only in technical discussion of grammar. Muchas gracias for the boot/shoe story. - CharlieMcKeon, Jan 30, 2011

@Samdle, I can only partly agree with your opinion. Yes the terminology of those memory-aid devices shouldn't be the focal point of learning Spanish. However, If it can be help the learner to conjugate irregular verbs faster, saying " no practical value" - oxonbrillo, Jul 3, 2015

would be an overreach. Working as a teaching assistant in a College Spanish course, I've observed several cases where such tool helped the students communicating with our Spanish professor - oxonbrillo, Jul 3, 2015

Answer 4

Just to mention it:

Some sites distinguish between stem changing verbs (vowels, e.g., e to ie) and spell changing verbs (consonants, e.g., z to c).

Ah. - CharlieMcKeon, Jan 30, 2011