Talking about the Present: Irregular Verbs in the Present Indicative I

If you know the endings for the model verbs hablar, comer and vivir, then you can conjugate all the regular Spanish verbs in the present indicative tense. Nevertheless, there is an important number of irregular verbs that also must be learned.

Fortunately, even some "irregular" verbs have a kind of "regular" pattern. One kind of irregular verb is called stem-changing, and it simply means that the vowel in the stem (the main part) of the verb changes. This usually occurs in the yo, tú, él/ella, Ud. and ellos/ellas, Uds. forms, while the nosotros/as, vosotros/as forms follow the regular pattern.

The verb perder -- to lose -- is a stem-changing verb in which the e --> ie:

yo pierdo	I lose
tú pierdes	you lose
él/ella, Ud. pierde	he/she, you (formal) loses
nosotros/as perdemos	we lose
vosotros/as perdéis	you-all lose
ellos/ellas, Uds. pierden	they, you-all (formal) lose

Costar -- to cost -- is a stem-changing verb in which the the o --> ue:

• yo cuesto                          I cost, etc.
  tú cuestas
  él/ella, Ud. cuesta
  nosotros/as costamos
  vosotros/as costáis
  ellos/ellas, Uds. cuestan   

Pedir -- to ask for -- is a stem-changing verb in which the e --> i:

• yo pido                              I ask for, etc.
  tú pides
  él/ella, Ud. pide
  nosotros/as pedimos
  vosotros/as pedís
  ellos/ellas, Uds. piden   

Remember: in stem-changing verbs, the nosotros and vosotros forms are regular.