The infinitive form of most second conjugation verbs ends in -ить or -еть.
As you conjugate these verbs in the present tense, you need to keep in mind that the vowels -и- and -е- are not part of the stem. To get the stem, you must drop these vowels together with the infinitive ending -ть.
The present tense stem of second conjugation verbs will always end in a consonant.
Let us look at the basic endings for second conjugation verbs:
person
ending
говор-ить
я
-ю/-у
говорю
ты
-ишь
говоришь
он, она
-ит
говорит
мы
-им
говорим
вы
-ите
говорите
они
-ят/-ат
говорят
For first person singular and third person plural, remember to observe the spelling rule that says that after the letters к, г, х, ч, ж, ш, щ, ц instead of ю write у, and instead of я write а.
Verbs whose stem ends in a "lip" consonant (п, б, в, ф, м) will add an -л- to the stem in the first person singular before the ending: любить - я люблю.
Certain consonants that are the last consonant of the stem change, or mutate into some other consonant. This is called Consonant mutation. Example: видеть - я вижу, ты видишь. Here the consonant -д- changes into the consonant -ж-.