Questions & Answers about La mamá viste al niño.
Where does the verb viste come from, and why is there an i?
Viste comes from the verb vestir (to dress). This is a stem-changing verb, meaning the e in the stem changes to an i when conjugated for most present tense forms, including he, she, and it.
If vestir is an -ir verb, why does viste end in -e?
For -ir verbs, the present tense ending for he, she, or it is -e. So, you drop the -ir and add -e. Combined with the e to i stem change, the verb becomes viste for la mamá.
Why is it al niño instead of just el niño?
When an action is done directly to a person, Spanish requires a word called the personal a before the person. Here, the mom is dressing the boy. The word a combines with the word el (the) to form the mandatory contraction al.
Can I use vestir to say I am wearing clothes?