morder Present Conjugation
morder — to bite
Morder follows an O to UE stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
morder Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to describe a current action, a habit, or a general truth about things that bite.
Notes on morder in the Present
This is a radical-changing verb. The 'o' in the stem changes to 'ue' whenever it is stressed (muerdo, muerdes, muerde, muerden).
Example Sentences
Mi perro no muerde a nadie.
My dog doesn't bite anyone.
él/ella/usted
Siempre me muerdo las uñas cuando estoy nervioso.
I always bite my nails when I'm nervous.
yo
¿Por qué muerdes ese lápiz?
Why are you biting that pencil?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: mordo
Correct: muerdo
Why: You must remember the O to UE stem change for the 'yo' form.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: mordí
Morder is completely regular in the preterite, following standard -er endings.
Imperfect
yo: mordía
Morder is regular in the imperfect: mordía, mordías, mordía, mordíamos, mordíais, mordían.
Future
yo: morderé
The future of morder is regular: add endings to the full infinitive.
Conditional
yo: mordería
The conditional of morder is regular: mordería, morderías, mordería, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: muerda
Morder keeps its O to UE stem change in the subjunctive, except for nosotros and vosotros.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mordiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'mordie-' stem: mordiera, mordieras, mordiera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: muerde
Use 'muerde' for informal commands and 'muerda' for formal ones.
Negative Imperative
yo: no muerdas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no muerdas, no muerda, no mordamos.