Competir, reír, and servir are stem-chaning semi-regular -ir verbs in Spanish in El Presente because the stem changes in some forms.
Conjugation of competir, servir and reír in El Presente in Spanish
| COMPETIR to compete |
SERVIR to serve |
REÍR to laugh |
|
| yo | compito |
sirvo |
río |
| tú | compites | sirves | ríes |
|
él / ella / usted |
compite |
sirve |
ríe |
| nosotros / nosotras |
competimos | servimos |
reímos |
| vosotros / vosotras |
competís |
servís |
reís |
| ellos / ellas/ ustedes |
compiten | sirven |
ríen |
Notice how for all three groups, the vowel -e- becomes -i- EXCEPT for nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras where it remains -e-.
Look at and listen to these examples:
Yo compito en los 100 metros libres de natación.I compete in the 100 metres freestyle swimming.
Tú sirves las mesas de fuera.You serve the outside tables.
Ella se ríe mucho.She laughs a lot.
Nosotros nos reímos siempre con esa película.We always laugh at that movie.
Vosotras competís contra Francia.You compete against France.
Ellos sirven a los clientes. They serve the customers.
Ustedes se ríen de los niños.You laugh at the children.
It's important to note that this irregularity e > i is only for -ir verbs.
You can see more verbs that follow this pattern: A1 Spanish verb list: Stem-changing (e > i) verbs in the present tense
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