Spanish Grammar: Transcript & Lesson

Despite the fact that the following verbs follow the ending-pattern of regular verbs in the preterite, such as hablar, ––habl-é, habl-aste, habl-ó, habl-amos, habl-asteis, habl-aron–– they do require a spelling change in the first person singular. For this reason, they are not regarded as regular verbs, but rather irregular, and they are commonly referred to as spelling-changing verbs. They are grouped below by the ending they share in the infinitive, which determines their spelling change in the preterite.

Notice an accent is required in both the first person and third person singular.

1. infinitive ends in –car: spelling change: c --> qu

Group I

Buscar	busqué	buscamos
(to search for)	buscaste	buscasteis
	buscó	buscaron
Sacar	saqué	sacamos
(to take out)	sacaste	sacasteis
	sacó	sacaron
Tocar	toqué	tocamos
(to touch)	tocaste	tocasteis
	tocó	tocaron

Group II

Jugar	jugué	jugamos
(to play)	jugaste	jugasteis
	jugó	jugaron
LLegar	llegué	llegamos
(to arrive)	llegaste	llegasteis
	llegó	llegaron
Pagar	pagué	pagamos
(to pay)	pagaste	pagasteis
	pagó	pagaron

Group III

Abrazar	abracé	abrazamos
(to embrace)	abrazaste	abrazasteis
	abrazó	abrazaron
Almorzar	almorcé	almorzamos
(to have a dinner, lunch )	almorzaste	almorzasteis
	almorzó	almorzaron
Empezar	empecé	empezamos
(to begin )	empezaste	empezasteis
	empezó	empezaron

The spelling change in the first two groups is required to keep the sound of the infinitive ending 1) –car (notice that the pronunciation of buscé is completely different from the pronunciation of busqué, which do follow the phonetic pattern of the group) and 2) –gar (notice that the pronunciation of juge is completely different from the pronunciation of jugué, which do follow the phonetic pattern of the group).

The spelling change in the third group –zar is required because the letter z does not allow to be followed by vowel e or i. Remember that to keep the sound of letter z, a c is required when followed by vowels e and i. Notice the correct spelling of: zapato, zorro, zumo; but cerveza, ciudad.

No busqué trabajo porque no quise.
I didn’t look for a job becuase I didn’t want to.

No saqué la basura porque no tuve tiempo.
I didn’t take out the trash because I didn’t have time.

No toqué la guitarra esta semana porque estuve de viaje.
I didn’t play the guitar because I was on a trip.

No jugué al fútbol porque vinieron de visita mis abuelos.
I didn’t play soccer because my grandparents came to visit.

No llegué puntual porque no pude encontrar la dirección.
I didn’t arrive on time because I couldn’t find the address.

No pagué la factura del teléfono porque no supe dónde estaba.
I didn’t pay the phone bill because I didn’t know where it was.

No te abracé porque hiciste una cara muy rara.
I didn’t hug you because you made a funny face.

No almorcé en casa porque vinieron mis amigos de Chicago.
I didn’t have breakfast at home because my friends from Chicago came.

No empecé a estudiar porque mi compañero de casa trajo amigos a cenar.
I didn’t start to study because my roommate brought friends for dinner.

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