El Pretérito Grave (irregular continued)

 

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There are some preterite verbs in Spanish which are not necessarily irregular but do have a spelling change.

 

-AR verbs whose stems end in the letters C, G and Z have spelling changes in the YO form.  While these verbs are regularly in speech, the rules of Spanish spelling require that the sounds /k/ /g/ and /s/ (written z) be written differently before E and I:

 

Por ejemplo:

 

YO FORM

 

 

INFINITIVE

 

 

TRANSLATION

Yo jugué

 

 

(jugar)

 

 

I played

Yo llegué

 

 

(llegar)

 

 

I arrived

Yo pagué

 

 

(pagar)

 

 

I paid

Yo practiqué

 

 

(practicar)

 

 

I practised

Yo saqué

 

 

(sacar)

 

 

I took

Yo toqué

 

 

(tocar)

 

 

I touched / play (instrument)

Yo empecé

 

 

(empezar)

 

 

I started

Yo almorcé

 

 

(almorzar)

 

 

I had lunch