Verbs like dormir (ue, u); what does the u mean?

Question

In my textbook some verbs are listed such as:

1- repetir (i)

2- dormir (ue, u)

1- I know on the first one, the (i) is a signal that this is a stem-change from e-i.

yo-repito, tú-repites, usted/él/ella-repite

nos/nas-repetimos, vos/vas- repetís, ustedes/ellos/ellas-repiten

2- The ''ue'' is a signal for a stem-change from o-ue.

yo-duermo, tú-duermes, usted/él/ella-duerme

nos/nas-dormimos, vos/vas- dormís, ustedes/ellos/ellas-duermen

My question is what is the "u" a signal for? How is dormir affected? Gracias!

Answer 1

Look at the gerund - durmiendo, the preterit, and other conjugations that have "dur-" instead of duer- or dor-.

Hola Sabor! Y Gracias! - bandit51jd, May 20, 2011

:) - Sabor, May 22, 2011

Answer 2

For example... the 3rd person singular and plural in the pretérito:

durmió and durmieron

Gracias Tosh, I´ve really not studied the past tense, so this makes sense. Gracias! - bandit51jd, May 20, 2011

Answer 3

o to ue is in the present tense of dormir - stem changing verb in all conjugations except the nosotros conjugation

yo duermo
tu duermes el duerme nosotros dormimos ellos duermen

o to u is in the preterite (past) tense of dormir in the él/ellos conjugations

yo dormí
tu dormiste él durmió
nosotros dormimos ellos durmieron

Bienvenida, Margaret. Actually, "ser" & "ir" have "nosotros" forms that change stems. - hhmdirocco, May 20, 2011

ser and ir are totally irregular - margaretcorwin, May 21, 2011

Answer 4

De nada! My most favorite Spanish Tense of all... the Imperfect.

Only 3 irregular verbs!!

Ir, Ser, and Ver!