stem changing for irregular verb.

Question

Hello everyone

I am wondering if is there any rules to memorise the stem changing in some verbs such as G changes to J in -Ger, -IR, Gu changs to G in -GUIR, i changes to Y in -UIR, e to ie, o to ue, e to i ......blah blah blah. Do we just simply memorise them all by doing lots of exerises ? or anyone recommends any tips ? should I focus on these more or just leave it and try memorise when it comes across in a certain situation ?

Thanks

Not that I know of, but I find that one of the best methods is to try and use one in a conversation which brings it to life , then you may often remember it. - ray76, Aug 15, 2016

Answer 1

Read this link

Ray, these are stem changes. What he really wanted was the spelling changes. He mistakenly called them stem changes. - Daniela2041, Aug 15, 2016

A vote for the link anyway, because he will need to know about stem changes also. - Daniela2041, Aug 15, 2016

Thanks "hawkeye" ,I have not forgotten who the "seer " is . ;) - ray76, Aug 15, 2016

thanks Ray, I have seen that link before :-) - danghuynh, Aug 15, 2016

Answer 2

This is easy to deal with if you know the basic sounds of the letters.

"g" for example, has the hard sound //g// before a, o, and u. It has a "j" sound before "i" and "e.".

So if you have a verb like "fingir" and you have to employ a subjunctive ending which in this case would start with "a", you need to change the "g" to "j" to keep the "jota" sound. You need to change the "g" to "j" even in the indicative "yo" form. --elijo. Elegir has another stem change, the second "e" changes to "i" like the verb "pedir."

With verbs like "seguir" remember that "g" before a,o,and u, has that hard sound. To keep that hard sound before "e" and "i", you have to put the "u" in there.

Sigo sigues, siue and so forth. The subjunctives would be siga, sigas, siga, etc no problem. Again "seguir" is another of those verbs ending in "ir " that has the "e" to "i" stem change. But don't worry. There are only about 8 of these.

Apart from the stem changes, these spelling changes are easy to comprehend if you really know the value of each letter. Spanish is the easiest most phonetic language I know of. There are very few exceptions.

There are other spelling changes similar to what you have mentioned here. If you want more information on them, please bring them up in another question.

There are even more spelling changes in the preterite, but are easy to understand when you know the sounds of the Spanish alphabet.

Well spotted DD , I am a speed reader which can be a two edged sword. - ray76, Aug 15, 2016

thanks Daniela, give me time to get the hang of this first then we get to another part :-) - danghuynh, Aug 15, 2016

Good explanation. - 000a35ff, Aug 15, 2016