"Stem" in reflexive verbs

Question

Is any rule which tells when we should change "stem" in reflexive verbs ?

In lesson 2.5. I saw those examples:

1. (Yo) dormirse a las 9:30 (o ----> ue)

Me duermo a las 09:30.

Why was "duermo"?

1. A las 06:30, David (despertarse) ( e ------> ie)

A las 06:30, David se despierta.

Why was "despierta"?

1. (Tu) (vestire) a las 07:40 (e ------> i)

Te vistes a las 07:40

Why the "stem" was changed?

I go to "Spanish grammar" to that topic and I didn't see there nothing about that kind of rule. Maybe it cames from something different which I don't know in that step of my learning. Maybe someone could explain me we have to change stem in some reflexive verbs.

Another question is connect with that "Spanish grammar" page. I saw there that:

me lavo te lavas se lava

nos lava os lava se lavan

Are: "nos lava" and "os lava" correct? If yes, why?

I will be glad if someone could help me to understand it.

Answer 1

The reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nos, os and les are the reflexive part of the verb. The actual conjugation of the verb remains the same as in its non-reflexive form.

Examples:

(Yo) me lavo la cara (reflexive) vs. (Yo) lavo la ropa (transitive).

(Ellos) se cepillan los dientes (reflexive) vs. Ellos cepillan a sus caballos (transitive).

(Nosotros) nos despertamos a las nueve (reflexive) vs. (Nosotros) despertamos al vecindario con la música (transitive).

The verb conjungations for my examples can be found here:

Lavar

Cepillar

Despertar

I hope this helps!

Thank You. I didn't know that all information about each of verb I could find here. In this way it will be easier to learn. Anyway I 'm still not sure why was "nos lava". I thought that should be "nos lavamos". Thank You for help! - Agnes1984, Nov 13, 2012

Nos lava means someone washes (our hair) or bathes us. This is different from Nos lavamos (el pelo) where we wash our own hair. - francobollo, Nov 13, 2012

Answer 2

I find helpfull information here in Spanishdict:

http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/38

Maybe it will helps others

Answer 3

Agnes,

Please check out this link on Spanish verb stems and conjugations from about.com. I always find them useful because they are concise and well written.

Al menos a mí me gustó la lección. Está bastante bien explicada. =D - -cae-, Nov 14, 2012

Answer 4

A list of stem changing verbs has been asked for before.

I don't know if one exists or if there are rules for which verbs are stem changing, and how.

Maybe we just have to accept them as we do the idiosyncrasies of the English language.

And as we do for irregular verbs in both languages.

Oh, I see. I thought that maybe I didn't notice something or that maybe there is a place where I could find more information about it. In this case I will have - like you mention - just accept that there is any rule. - Agnes1984, Nov 13, 2012

Answer 5

Stem-changing verbs do so when the stress falls on the root vowel of the infinitive. For example:

poder: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden.

There is no change in the 1st and 2nd person plural because the stress does not fall on the root vowel.There are 3 classes of stem-changers:

o to ue as in poder, encontrar, mostrar, etc.

e to ie as in querer, perder, entender, etc.

e to i as in servir, pedir, etc.

Reading and writing are the only effective way to become familiar with these verbs. As Francobollo said, stem-changing verbs that are employed reflexively are conjugated as above with, of course, the reflexive pronouns.