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.Mentir (to lie) → mintió/mintieron
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)