Conjugating Verbs Ending in -uir

In addition to irregular verbs with (e--->ie) or (o--->ue) stem changes, there is also a whole other class of verbs that carry other radical changes. Usually these are done to maintain as much as possible the sound of the root of the original infinitive. You MUST memorize the vast majority of these verbs.

One set of verbs ends in -uir. A common verb that ends in this suffix is construir, to construct. The conjugation pattern is construir (y). Notice the conjugation below:

construir	to build, to construct
yo construyo	nosotros construimos
tú construyes	vosotros construís
él, ella, Ud. construye	ellos, ellas, Uds. construyen

Let's take a look at the preceding verb conjugation. First, you'll see the injection of the consonant "y" in every form EXCEPT nosotros and vosotros. This really shouldn't come as a surprise, since nosotros and vosotros forms never change the spelling of the root anyway. However, take a minute to notice the "y" in between the hard vowels u and o and e. We need to put this consonant there to break up the diphthongs that would result from the missing "y". If the "y" didn't exist, we would be left with a root that doesn't carry on its original sound.

It might pay to review some phonetic lessons if you are unsure about the phonemic properties of the Spanish language. Also, if the grammatical term "diphthong" sounds like a foreign word, then a lesson in Spanish phonics might be in the cards for you.

Other verbs that are conjugated like construir are:

atribuir	to attribute
concluir	to conclude
contribuir	to contribute
destruir	to destroy
distribuir	to distribute
huir	to flee
incluir	to include
influir	to influence
sustituir	to substitute

Like I said, there are other irregularities that must be simply memorized.

Sigue estudiando,

Professor Joel