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Spanish Verbs are a complex area of Spanish Grammar , with many combinations of tenses, aspects and moods (up to fifty conjugated forms per verb). While Conjugation rules are relatively straightforward, a large number of verbs are Irregular . Among these, some fall into more-or-less defined deviant patterns, while others are uniquely irregular. This article tries to summarize the common irregular patterns. VOWEL-ALTERNATING VERBS Vowel-alternating verbs, also known as stem-changing verbs, have two Stem s; one is the common Infinitive stem (the one that serves to conjugate Regular Verbs ) and the other derives from it by a vowel change. The change turns ''e'' into ''ie'' and ''o'' into ''ue'' when the syllable in question is stressed, which in effect happens only in the singular persons and third person plural of the present indicative and present subjunctive tenses. (Note that the dictionary form always has the vowel, not the Diphthong , since in the infinitive form the stress is on the last syllable, i. e. on the thematic vowel.) For example (only some persons and tenses, for contrasting purposes):
To complicate matters further, a number of verbs in the second and third conjugations show a slightly different irregularity, whereby ''e'' also changes to ''i'', and ''o'' also changes to ''u'', also when stressed, and only in some persons and tenses:
In some dialects, the second person singular present tense is different, and gets stressed on the last syllable instead of the root, so the alternation does not take place: ''tú pides'' becomes ''vos pedís'', ''tú mueres'' becomes ''vos morís''. See the article on Voseo for details. Many verbs with ''e'' or ''o'' in the root do not alternate (e. g. ''meter'', ''comer'', etc.), and they are often a source of mistakes for children learning to speak, and also for some adults. It is common to find alternated forms like ''yo aprieto'' where the verb (''apretar'') in fact does not alternate, and unalternated (regularized) forms like ''yo colo'' where the verb alternates (''colar'' → ''yo cuelo''). G-VERBS The so-called ''G''-verbs add a medial ''-g-'' in the first person singular, present tense (''-ig-'' when the root ends in a vowel). Many of these verbs are also irregular in other ways. For example: poner: yo pongo, tú pones... tener: yo tengo, tú tienes... caer: yo caigo, tú caes... traer: yo traigo, tú traes... oír: yo oigo, tú oyes... ANOMALOUS STEMS Some verbs (including most ''G''-verbs) have a completely different stem in the preterite. This stem is anomalous also because it is stressed in some persons (while in all other cases the preterite gets the stress over the suffix). poner estar hacer andar decir tener Yet some other verbs take several different (but phonetically related) stems, in the most irregular fashion: caber: yo quepo, tú cabes, él cabe...; yo cupe, tú cupiste, él cupo...; yo cabía, tú cabías... saber: yo sé, tú sabes...; yo supe, tú supiste...; yo sabía, tú sabías... haber: yo he, tú has, él ha, nosotros hemos, vosotros habéis, ellos han OTHERS The verbs 'ser' (to be) and 'ir' (to go) both exhibit irregularities in the Present , Imperfect and Preterite tenses.
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