Competir, reír, and servir are stem-chaning semi-regular -ir verbs in Spanish in El Presente because the stem changes in some forms.
Conjugation of competir, servir and reír in El Presente in Spanish
COMPETIR to compete |
SERVIR to serve |
REÍR to laugh |
|
yo | compito |
sirvo |
río |
tú | compites | sirves | ríes |
él / ella / usted |
compite |
sirve |
ríe |
nosotros / nosotras |
competimos | servimos |
reímos |
vosotros / vosotras |
competís |
servís |
reís |
ellos / ellas/ ustedes |
compiten | sirven |
ríen |
Notice how for all three groups, the vowel -e- becomes -i- EXCEPT for nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras where it remains -e-.
Look at and listen to these examples:
It's important to note that this irregularity e > i is only for -ir verbs.
You can see more verbs that follow this pattern: A1 Spanish verb list: Stem-changing (e > i) verbs in the present tense
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Examples and resources
Conjugate stem-changing -ir verbs (e > i): competir, reír, servir in the present tense in Spanish (El Presente)