Spanish conjugation explanation
Spelling change: i → y
<p>In Spanish orthography, an <strong>unstressed i</strong> generally cannot appear between two vowels. When conjugation endings would create this sequence, the <span style="font-style: italic;">i</span> must change to a <strong>y</strong> (<span style="font-style: italic;">i → y</span>). This spelling change preserves the pronunciation and avoids a sequence of three vowels where the middle one is an unaccented <span style="font-style: italic;">i</span>.</p>
<p>This rule primarily affects verbs with stems ending in a vowel (such as <strong>-a, -e, -o,</strong> or <strong>-u</strong>). The change occurs in the following tenses and forms:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <strong>third-person singular</strong> (S/3) and <strong>plural</strong> (P/3) of the
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/18/" target="_blank">Preterite</a>
</li><li>The
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/23/" target="_blank">Gerund</a>
</li><li>All forms of the
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/20/" target="_blank">Imperfect Subjunctive</a>
and<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/21/" target="_blank">Future Subjunctive</a>
(as these are derived from the Preterite stem)</li></ul>
<p>Common verbs that follow this pattern include:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/creer/" title="Click to see conjugations for creer" target="_blank">creer</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to believe</span>)</li><li>
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/leer/" title="Click to see conjugations for leer" target="_blank">leer</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to read</span>)</li><li>
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/o%C3%ADr/" title="Click to see conjugations for oír" target="_blank">oír</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to hear</span>)</li><li>
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/caer/" title="Click to see conjugations for caer" target="_blank">caer</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to fall</span>)</li><li>
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/huir/" title="Click to see conjugations for huir" target="_blank">huir</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to flee</span>)</li></ul>
<p><strong>Exception:</strong> Verbs ending in <strong>-guir</strong> (like
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/seguir/" title="Click to see conjugations for seguir" target="_blank">seguir</a>
) and <strong>-quir</strong> are not affected. In these verbs, the <span style="font-style: italic;">u</span> is silent and serves only to maintain the hard consonant sound, so the <span style="font-style: italic;">i</span> is not phonetically surrounded by vowels.</p><div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Preterite Indefinite</div>
<p>In the Preterite, the endings <span style="font-style: italic;">-ió</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">-ieron</span> lose their initial <span style="font-style: italic;">i</span> in favor of <span style="font-style: italic;">y</span> when standard rules would place it between vowels.</p>
<p style="font-style: italic;">creer → cre<strong>ió</strong> → <span class="green_emphasis">creyó</span></p>
<p style="font-style: italic;">creer → cre<strong>ieron</strong> → <span class="green_emphasis">creyeron</span></p>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/18/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Pretérito perfecto simple</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
yo
</span>creí
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
tú
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creíste<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
él
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyó<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
nosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creímos<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
vosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creísteis<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ellos
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeron<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Gerund</div>
<p>The Gerund ending <span style="font-style: italic;">-iendo</span> changes to <span class="green_emphasis">-yendo</span>.</p>
<p style="font-style: italic;">le<strong>er</strong> → le<strong>iendo</strong> → <span class="green_emphasis">leyendo</span></p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Ella estaba <span class="green_emphasis">leyendo</span> el periódico. (<span style="font-style: italic;">She was reading the newspaper.</span>)</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/23/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Gerundio</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_compound_conjugation conjugations_table single_form">
<div class="data_compound_conjugations_form conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form"></span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyendo<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Subjunctive Forms</div>
<p>The Imperfect Subjunctive and Future Subjunctive use the Preterite plumal stem (P/3, <span style="font-style: italic;">creyeron</span>). Since the stem already contains the <strong>y</strong>, this spelling applies to all forms in these tenses.</p>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/20/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Pretérito imperfecto subjuntivo (ra)</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
yo
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyera<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
tú
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeras<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
él
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyera<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
nosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyéramos<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
vosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyerais<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ellos
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeran<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/57/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Pretérito imperfecto subjuntivo (se)</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
yo
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyese<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
tú
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeses<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
él
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyese<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
nosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyésemos<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
vosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeseis<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ellos
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyesen<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/21/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Futuro subjuntivo</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
yo
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyere<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
tú
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeres<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
él
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyere<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
nosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyéremos<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
vosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyereis<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ellos
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">creyeren<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>