Verbs with a broken stem: llueve, muerde, florezco
Spanish verbs change at the front as well as at the end. In a good hundred of them the stressed vowel in the stem splits in two. The plain form hides it: llover gives llueve, morder gives muerde. For example: “Está lloviendo y en el norte hasta nieva” — It's raining, and in the north it's even snowing. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Spanish verbs change at the front as well as at the end. In a good hundred of them the stressed vowel in the stem splits in two. The plain form hides it: llover gives llueve, morder gives muerde.
There are three rows. o → ue: poder → puedo, volver → vuelvo. e → ie: querer → quiero, nevar → nieva. e → i, only in -ir verbs: pedir → pido, seguir → sigo.
The stem breaks only where the stress falls on it. In the nosotros and vosotros forms the stress moves to the ending, and the stem comes back whole. Puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden.
A separate squad: verbs in -cer and -cir grow a z in the yo form. Conocer → conozco, florecer → florezco, conducir → conduzco. Nothing happens elsewhere.
Table
| row | infinitive | yo | nosotros | what to remember |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| o → ue | morder | muerdo | mordemos | the middle does not change |
| o → ue | llover | llueve | — | third person only |
| e → ie | nevar | nieva | — | no subject exists |
| e → ie | empezar | empiezo | empezamos | the stress decides |
| e → i (-ir) | medir | mido | medimos | -ir verbs only |
| -cer / -cir | florecer | florezco | florecemos | z only in the yo form |
| -cir | conducir | conduzco | conducimos | same as nacer, conocer |
By example
- Está lloviendo y en el norte hasta nievaIt's raining, and in the north it's even snowing
- Los almendros florecen pronto, pero yo no florezco hasta mayoAlmond trees blossom early, but I do not blossom until May
- Cuidado con el perro, que muerde; nosotros no mordemosCareful with the dog, it bites; we do not bite
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Verbs with a broken stem: how does it work in Spanish?
Spanish verbs change at the front as well as at the end. In a good hundred of them the stressed vowel in the stem splits in two. The plain form hides it: llover gives llueve, morder gives muerde.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Está lloviendo y en el norte hasta nieva” — It's raining, and in the north it's even snowing. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.