Verbos con cambio ortográfico e>i (pretérito indefinido)

Stem-changing Spanish e>i verbs in the simple past tense

There are some Spanish verbs that undergo a stem change e>i but only in the 3rd person singular and plural when they are conjugated in the simple past.

For example:
Preferir  (to prefer) → prefirió/prefirieron
Mentir (to lie) → mintió/mintieron
The rest of the forms are not affected by this vowel change and the endings are the same as the regular endings.

Other common verbs with this same stem change are:
  • Pedir (to order/to ask)
  • Sentir (to feel)
  • Seguir (to continue)
  • Repetir (to repeat)
  • Servir (to serve/to be useful)
  • Competir (to compete)


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