# Third-person stem change: durmió, pidió, sintió

> id: conjugation.preterite.stem-third-person · category: conjugation · depth: standard · levels: B1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** -ir stem-changing verbs raise their vowel (e → i, o → u) only in the third person of the preterite: pidió/pidieron, durmió/durmieron — and in the gerund.

Every -ir verb that changes its stem in the present also changes it in the preterite — but only in the third person, and always by raising: e → i (pedir → pidió, sentir → sintió, preferir → prefirió) and o → u (dormir → durmió, morir → murió).

The other persons are regular: pedí, pediste, pedimos, pedisteis; dormí, dormiste. -ar and -er stem-changers never do this: pensó, volvió are regular.

The raised stem reappears in the gerund (pidiendo, durmiendo, sintiendo), the nosotros/vosotros present subjunctive (pidamos, durmáis), and the whole imperfect subjunctive (pidiera, durmiera).

## Examples
- Pidió un café sin azúcar. — He ordered a coffee without sugar.
- Durmieron diez horas. — They slept ten hours.
- Sentí mucho frío anoche. — I felt very cold last night. *(First person: no stem change.)*

Related: conjugation.present.stem-e-i, conjugation.present.stem-o-ue, conjugation.progressive.gerund-irregular

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