Radical Verbs

RADICAL VERBS
Some verbs have vowel changes in the present tense for all forms
except first and second person plural. After dropping the endings (-ar, -
er, or -ir), the e of the last syllable changes to ie, and o of the last
syllable changes to ue. Some -ir verbs change e of the last syllable
to i, while verbs ending in -uir change the i to y for all forms except
first and second plural. Note that these irregularities do NOT apply to
vos conjugations.
e to ie o to ue e to i ui to uy
pensar - to think contar - to count pedir - to ask (for) construir - to

querer - to want, like, poder - to be able repetir - to repeat build
love costar - to cost seguir - to follow, go
cerrar - to close dormir - to sleep on
comenzar - to begin encontrar - to find, servir - to serve
despertar - to awaken meet vestir - to dress
empezar - to begin jugar - to play
entender - to morir - to die
understand mostrar - to show
perder - to lose volar - to fly
preferir - to prefer volver - to return
sentar - to seat
sentir - to regret, feel
(Vos present conjugation and preterite, imperfect and future tenses not
recorded yet)
pensar contar pedir construir
(yo) pienso cuento pido construyo
(tú / vos) piensas / cuentas / pides / pedís construyes /

pensás cuentás construís
(él / ella / piensa cuenta pide construye

usted)
(nosotros / pensamos contamos pedimos construimos

nosotras)
(vosotros / pensáis contáis pedís construís
vosotras)
(ellos / ellas / piensan cuentan piden construyen

ustedes)
A few other verbs are irregular only in the first person singular form. The
rest of the forms tend to follow the regular pattern:
traer to carry traigo I carry
salir to go out salgo I go out
hacer to do hago I do
saber to know sé I know
dar to give doy I give
ver to see veo I see
tener to have tengo I have
poner to put pongo I put
decir to say digo I say
valer to be worth valgo I am worth
caer to fall caigo I fall

conocer to know conozco I know
deducir to deduce deduzco I deduce
caber to fit quepo I fit
Generally, verbs that end in -cer and -cir add z before the first person
singular ending.
We have already seen verbs that are irregular in all conjugations in the
present tense, such as ir and ser. Another irregular verb is haber - to
have or the impersonal there is/are; however, it is different from tener
(which also means to have) because it is not used to show possession. It
is only used in compound tenses as a helping verb, i.e. I have seen that
movie, which will be covered in Spanish III.
The three completely irregular verbs in the present tense are: (not
recorded yet)
ser - to be ir - to go haber - to
have
(yo) soy voy he
(tú / vos) eres / sos vas has
(él / ella / es va ha
usted)
(nosotros / somos vamos hemos

nosotras)
(vosotros / sois vais habéis

vosotras)
(ellos / ellas / son van han

ustedes)
An impersonal conjugation of haber, hay, is used to mean there
is/are in English.
29. Reflexive Verbs
The subject and the object are the same with reflexive verbs - the
subject acts upon itself. A reflexive verb in Spanish will be marked
with se attached to the end of the infinitive. These verbs are
conjugated like regular verbs, except the reflexive pronoun agrees with
gender and number and precedes the verb when it is conjugated.
Reciprocal verbs are conjugated the same as reflexive except the action
passes from one person to another. Reflexive verbs sometimes use the
"-self" forms in English, while the reciprocal verbs use "each other."
acordarse - to dormirse - to fall

remember asleep
acostarse - to go irse - to go
to bed away/leave
atreverse - to levantarse - to
dare get/stand up
bañarse - to take sentarse - to sit

a bath down
casarse - to get quedarse - to

married stay/remain
despertarse - to quejarse - to
wake up complain
desvestirse - to vestirse - to get

get undressed dressed
The reflexive pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os and se and they are
placed before the conjugated verb:
(yo) me acuerdo I remember
(tú / vos) te acuerdas / te acordás you remember
(él / ella / usted) se acuerda he/she/you

remember
(nosotros / nos acordamos we remember

nosotras)
(vosotros / os acordáis you remember

vosotras)
(ellos / ellas / se acuerdan they/you

ustedes) remember
However, when the reflexive verb is in the infinitive and used with
another verb, the reflexive pronoun must still agree with the subject of
the conjugated verb. It is either attached to the end of the reflexive verb
or placed before the conjugated verb:
Vamos a casarnos. / Nos vamos a casar. We're going to get married.

Tengo que irme. / Me tengo que ir. I have to go.
Puede quedarse contigo? / Se puede quedar contigo? Can he stay with
you?
The verb contarse is used colloquially to ask how's it going (with

you)? ¿Qué te cuentas ?

Radical Verbs

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Radical Verbs

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RADICAL VERBS

pensar - to think contar - to count pedir - to ask (for) construir - to

pensar contar pedir construir

(yo) pienso cuento pido construyo

(tú / vos) piensas / cuentas / pides / pedís construyes /

(él / ella / piensa cuenta pide construye

(nosotros / pensamos contamos pedimos construimos

(ellos / ellas / piensan cuentan piden construyen

traer to carry traigo I carry

salir to go out salgo I go out

saber to know sé I know

dar to give doy I give

ver to see veo I see

tener to have tengo I have

poner to put pongo I put

decir to say digo I say

valer to be worth valgo I am worth

caer to fall caigo I fall

deducir to deduce deduzco I deduce

caber to fit quepo I fit

(yo) soy voy he

(tú / vos) eres / sos vas has

(nosotros / somos vamos hemos

(vosotros / sois vais habéis

(ellos / ellas / son van han

29. Reflexive Verbs

acordarse - to dormirse - to fall

bañarse - to take sentarse - to sit

casarse - to get quedarse - to

desvestirse - to vestirse - to get

(tú / vos) te acuerdas / te acordás you remember

(él / ella / usted) se acuerda he/she/you

(nosotros / nos acordamos we remember

(vosotros / os acordáis you remember

(ellos / ellas / se acuerdan they/you

Vamos a casarnos. / Nos vamos a casar. We're going to get married.

The verb contarse is used colloquially to ask how's it going (with

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