sonreír Present Conjugation
sonreír — to smile
Sonreír features a stem change (e > í) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
sonreír Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to describe a current state, a habit, or a general truth about someone's smile.
Notes on sonreír in the Present
The 'e' in the stem changes to an accented 'í' to keep the stress on the root. The nosotros and vosotros forms remain regular.
Example Sentences
Siempre sonrío cuando estoy con mis amigos.
I always smile when I'm with my friends.
yo
Tú sonríes de una manera muy especial.
You smile in a very special way.
tú
Nosotros sonreímos para ocultar los nervios.
We smile to hide our nerves.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: sonrio
Correct: sonrío
Why: Without the accent on the 'í', the stress would fall on the 'o', making it sound like the preterite.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: sonreí
Sonreír is a stem-changer in the preterite, changing 'e' to 'i' in the third-person forms: sonrió and sonrieron.
Imperfect
yo: sonreía
The imperfect of sonreír is regular: sonreía, sonreías, sonreía, sonreíamos, sonreíais, sonreían.
Future
yo: sonreiré
Sonreír is regular in the future: just add the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: sonreiría
The conditional of sonreír is regular: sonreiría, sonreirías, sonreiría, sonreiríamos, sonreiríais, sonreirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: sonría
The present subjunctive changes the 'e' to 'í' (sonría) or 'i' (sonriamos).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: sonriera
The imperfect subjunctive is built from the third-person plural preterite: sonriera, sonrieras, sonriera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: sonríe
The imperative uses sonríe (tú) and sonría (usted) to command someone to smile.
Negative Imperative
yo: no sonrías
The negative imperative uses 'no' plus the present subjunctive: no sonrías, no sonría.