📖LearnModule 3 · Lesson 8 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2, first halfUnit 2 · Ir a + infinitivo, and new verb families
Puedo, pienso — the stem changers
Module 3 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A2, first half), lesson 8 of 30: Some verbs change their stem in four forms and keep it in nosotros. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
poder
to be able to
poh-DEHR
yo puedo
I can
yoh PWEH-doh
nosotros podemos
we can
noh-SOH-trohs poh-DEH-mohs
pensar
to think
pehn-SAR
yo pienso
I think
yoh PYEHN-soh
pienso que
I think that
PYEHN-soh keh
empezar
to start
ehm-peh-SAR
yo empiezo
I start
yoh ehm-PYEH-soh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Some verbs change their stem in four forms and keep it in nosotros. Poder (to be able to): puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, pueden — o becomes ue. Pensar (to think): pienso, piensas, piensa, pensamos, piensan — e becomes ie.
Y también · And also
Querer from Module 2 was the first of these. Empezar (to start) matches pensar: empiezo, empezamos. The endings are the regular ones; only the vowel in the middle moves.
Ojo · Watch out
The nosotros form keeps the plain stem: podemos, pensamos, empezamos. Every other form changes the vowel: puedo, pienso, empiezo.
poder, presente — the table
yo puedo · tú puedes · él/ella/usted puede · nosotros podemos · ustedes pueden · ellos/ellas pueden
pensar, presente — the table
yo pienso · tú piensas · él/ella/usted piensa · nosotros pensamos · ustedes piensan · ellos/ellas piensan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with poder.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out poder, presente and pensar, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.