Present Tense in Spanish – Verbos Con Diptongación
El tiempo presente – verbos con diptongación
The series of surprises within the present tense in Spanish include those verbs that change the yo-form, such as elegir → elijo or conducer → conduzco, as seen in the previous grammar pill. The fun is not only limited to those, though! Indeed, there is a large number of highly frequent verbs that present some distinctive irregularities which only affect one vowel of the verb root. These are called verbos con diptongación.
For clarity:
| VERB | ROOT | ENDING |
| recomendar (to recommend) | recomend- | -ar |
| querer (to want/love) | quer- | -er |
| repetir (to repeat) | repet- | -ir |
The affected vowel -generally the one on which the phonic stress is placed- becomes a diphthong, i.e., a combination of two adjacent vowels within the same syllable. However, these irregularities can be systematized. Additionally, the verbal forms of the first and second person plural, that is nosotros and vosotros, do not suffer any change.
E > IE
| Empezar (to start) | |
| Yo | Empiezo |
| Tú | Empiezas |
| Él/Ella | Empieza |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | Empezamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | Empezáis |
| Ellos/Ellas | Empiezan |
Some of verbs following the same pattern are:
cerrar (to close) > cierro | pensar (to think) > pienso | querer (to want/love) > quiero
entender (to understand) > entiendo | sentir (to feel) > siento
preferir (to think) > prefiero
O > UE
| Encontrar (to find) | |
| Yo | Encuentro |
| Tú | Encuentras |
| Él/Ella | Encuentra |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | Encontramos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | Encontráis |
| Ellos/Ellas | Encuentran |
Similar verbs displaying the same irregularity are:
costar (to cost) > cuesta |soñar (to dream) > sueño | poder (to can) > puedo
volver (to return) > vuelvo | dormir (to sleep) > duermo
morir (to die) > muero
Finally, there are two loners presenting single vowels within their stems which also change into a diphthong throughout their present tense conjugation.
| I > IE | U > UE |
| adquirir (to adquire) > adquiero | jugar (to play) > juego |
Let’s look at some examples:
Me despierto temprano todos los días. → I wake up early every day.
¿Quieres un café? → Do you want a coffee?
En invierno llueve mucho. → It rains a lot in wintertime.
Los niños juegan en el parque. → The children play in the park.
El puente atraviesa el río. → The bridge crosses the river.
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