Spanish Verbs Made Simple(r) - Hillcrest Elementary

IRREGULARITIES: PRESENT TENSE 29
For umlaut verbs the stem vowel -e is raised to -i in the four conjugations in
which the stress accent falls on the stem syllable, i.e., in exactly the same conjugations
where diphthong verbs have diphthongs.
While having two separate patterns of vowel variation, -ir verbs with stem
vowel -e are nonetheless simpler than their -ar and -er counterparts because virtually
all of them 13 display one variation or the other, and there is a simple rule
for determining which “regular irregularity” they follow:
La regla milagrosa
-ir verbs with stem vowel -e have diphthongs or umlauts as follows:
Diphthong (model sentir): if the stem vowel is followed by -r or -nt
Umlaut (model pedir): all other cases
Exceptions: servir (umlaut)
venir (diphthong)
Examples:
DIPHTHONG (MODEL SENTIR) 14
infinitive 1s
adherir adhiero “to adhere”
arrepentir(se) 15 me arrepiento “to repent”
convertir convierto “to convert”
digerir digiero “to digest”
discernir discierno “to discern”, “to distinguish”
erguir 16 yergo “to raise”, “to lift up”
herir hiero “to wound”
hervir hiervo “to boil”
ingerir ingiero “to ingest”
mentir miento “to lie”
referir refiero “to refer”
requerir requiero “to require”, “to request”
sentir siento “to sense”, “to feel”, “to regret”
sugerir sugiero “to suggest”
13 The single exception being sumergir, a former -er verb, which neither diphthongs nor umlauts.
14 Venir has an additional irregularity and will be considered at a later stage (number 8).
15 The (se) indicates that the verb is used only reflexively; see Chapter 10.
16 Erguir allows either diphthong (yergo) or umlaut (irgo) forms, although the former are more
common. The initial ye- in place of ie- is a regular orthographic change (Chapter 7).