There are some -ir Spanish verbs that are stem-changing verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish. They have a vowel change (e>i) in the third person singular and third person plural.
Two verbs of this type are competir and servir, for example.
Conjugation of "competir" in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish
| COMPETIR to compete |
|
| yo | competí |
| tú | competiste |
|
él / ella / usted |
compitió |
| nosotros / nosotras |
competimos |
| vosotros / vosotras |
competisteis |
| ellos / ellas/ ustedes |
compitieron |
Conjugation of "servir" in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish
| SERVIR to serve |
|
| yo | serví |
| tú | serviste |
|
él / ella / usted |
sirvió |
| nosotros / nosotras |
servimos |
| vosotros / vosotras |
servisteis |
| ellos / ellas/ ustedes |
sirvieron |
Notice that in the 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural the -e- changes to -i-.
Read and listen to these examples:
Verbs that follow this pattern are:
- competir (to compete)
- conseguir (to achieve)
- pedir (to ask for)
- preferir (to prefer)
- repetir (to repeat/rehearse)
- seguir (to follow)
- sentir (to feel)
- servir (to serve/to be good at something/ be useful)
See also Conjugate stem-changing verb pedir in the preterite tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Indefinido)
See also Conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Indefinido)
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