Estructuras

 
There are some verbs in the preterite that have spelling changes but only in the “yo” form. We will learn about their regular conjugations in unit 7. The reason these verbs change in the “yo” form is so that we can keep the proper pronunciation.
 
For example, in the verb buscar (c:qu) -- if in the preterite we didn’t have a spelling change it would conjugate to “yo buscé” (which would be a soft ‘c’ -- “boo-say”). We want to keep the hard ‘c’ so we change the spelling to “yo busqué” (boo-skay).
 
  Verbs that end in -gar (g:gu)  
jugar - to play yo jugué
llegar - to arrive yo llegué

pagar - to pay yo pagué

entregar - to hand in yo entregué

apagar - to turn off yo apagué

 

Por ejemplo:

 
Llegué a tiempo anoche.
Last night I arrived on time.

No entregué la tarea a mi profesor de español.
I didn’t hand in my homework to my Spanish teacher.
 
  Verbs that end in -car (c:qu)  
buscar - to look for yo busqué
sacar - to take yo saqué
tocar - to touch / play (an instrument) yo toqué
practicar - to practice yo practiqué
 

Por ejemplo:

 
Saqué las fotos en la graduación de mi hermana.
I took the pictures at my sister’s graduation.

No practiqué con mi equipo la semana pasada.
I didn’t practice with the team last week.
 
  Verbs that end in -zar (z:c)  
almorzar - to have lunch yo almorcé
comenzar / empezar - to start yo comencé / yo empecé
cruzar - to cross yo crucé
utilizar - to use yo utilicé
 

Por ejemplo:

 
Ayer almorcé con Elena, ¡le gusta mucho su trabajo nuevo!
Yesterday I had lunch with Elena, she likes her new job a lot!

Una vez utilicé mi red social para conectarme con mi artista favorito.
I once used my social network to connect with my favourite celebrity.
 
Visita esta página web para que tengas más infomación sobre la pronunciación: Spelling changes in the preterite. Vamos a practicar un poco con estos verbos, y luego analizaremos la carta de Iván en Asignación 5.4.