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Previously I've learned that some Spanish verbs, when conjugated, have vowel changes in the base word (aka "stem" or "radical"). For example, you might expect "I think" (from pensar, to think) to be "penso," but the e changes to ie and so the correct word is "pienso." I learned that these stem-changers are just words we are supposed to memorize, and after a while, the correct form sounds right to us. And also that stem-changers are not considered irregular (unless they are irregular in additional ways) but not why.
The instructor in Language Transfer says that usually when a syllable with an e is stressed, the e is "split" into ie. And because the penultimate syllable is stressed in the present tense, the stem changes in all forms with one-syllable endings. So for example, the word for "we think," "pensamos," does not have the stem change because the accent is elsewhere. And this is why the stem doesn't change for other tenses. For example, "I thought" is "pensé" with the accent on the second syllable.
There are exceptions of course, such as llegar, esperar, and comprender, plus the first-person singular form of verbs with the irregular -go endings such as tengo. Also, I'm noticing that -er words don't have that last e split in words like tener or tenemos.
But this doesn't just happen with verbs. Some examples he gave:
* tiempo - time
* concierto - concert
* noviembre - November
* siempre - always (related to the semper in semper fi)
* bien - well (bene in Italian)
He said a similar thing about o usually splitting into ue under the pressure of being in an accented syllable, with exceptions including "comer" and "tomar." And we can see this split in other words besides verbs, too.
* puerto - port
* fuerza - force
* escuela - school
* cuerpo - body (corpus)
* nuevo - new (related to innovative)
* pueblo - town (related to población, population)
* muerte - death (related to mortgage = death pact)
* bueno - good (bon in Italian)
As of lesson 19, he has not mentioned the other, more rare, stem-changing patterns (e to i, i to ie, and u to ue). But otherwise, it seems like it might have been smarter to learn stem-changing as a pattern and then to learn the exceptions.
The instructor in Language Transfer says that usually when a syllable with an e is stressed, the e is "split" into ie. And because the penultimate syllable is stressed in the present tense, the stem changes in all forms with one-syllable endings. So for example, the word for "we think," "pensamos," does not have the stem change because the accent is elsewhere. And this is why the stem doesn't change for other tenses. For example, "I thought" is "pensé" with the accent on the second syllable.
There are exceptions of course, such as llegar, esperar, and comprender, plus the first-person singular form of verbs with the irregular -go endings such as tengo. Also, I'm noticing that -er words don't have that last e split in words like tener or tenemos.
But this doesn't just happen with verbs. Some examples he gave:
* tiempo - time
* concierto - concert
* noviembre - November
* siempre - always (related to the semper in semper fi)
* bien - well (bene in Italian)
He said a similar thing about o usually splitting into ue under the pressure of being in an accented syllable, with exceptions including "comer" and "tomar." And we can see this split in other words besides verbs, too.
* puerto - port
* fuerza - force
* escuela - school
* cuerpo - body (corpus)
* nuevo - new (related to innovative)
* pueblo - town (related to población, population)
* muerte - death (related to mortgage = death pact)
* bueno - good (bon in Italian)
As of lesson 19, he has not mentioned the other, more rare, stem-changing patterns (e to i, i to ie, and u to ue). But otherwise, it seems like it might have been smarter to learn stem-changing as a pattern and then to learn the exceptions.