Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish (96 page)

The changes have been printed in capital letters for your convenience. Notice that the “e” changes to “ie” in all forms of the present except the first person plural. The “e” remains an “e” in the infinitive and in the first person plural and changes to “ie” in the other forms. Following is a chart that shows the connection between the infinitive and the first person plural.

pensar

THE FIRST PERSON PLURAL DOES NOT CHANGE.

The letter “e” does not change to “ie” unless the stress or accent of the word falls upon it. The letter “e” does not receive the stress in “pensamos” or in “pensar,” consequently the “e” does not change to “ie” in these two forms.

CERRAR,
to close, to shut

c IErro, I close	cerramos, we close
cIErra, you close	cIErran, they close

IN CHART FORM
:

cerrar

THE FIRST PERSON PLURAL DOES NOT CHANGE.

These radical changing verbs are regular in
the past and in all the other tenses you have learned.

NOTICE THAT THE “E” CHANGES TO “IE” ONLY IN THE PRESENT TENSE.

There are some verbs in which the letter “o” changes to “
ue” in the stem or body of the verb.

EXAMPLE
:

ENCONTRAR,
to find, to meet, to encounter

encuentro, I find	encontramos, we find
encuentra, you find	encuentran, they find

IN CHART FORM
:

encontrar

THE FIRST PERSON PLURAL DOES NOT CHANGE. RECORDAR,
to remember, to recall

recuerdo, I remember	recordamos, we remember
recuerda, you remember	recuerdan, they remember

IN CHART FORM
:

recordar

THE FIRST PERSON PLURAL DOES NOT CHANGE. CONTAR,
to count, to recount, to tell
(a story)

cuento, I count	contamos, we count
cuenta, you count	cuentan, they count