Verbs ending in -gar, -car and -zar in the preterite yo form.

Orthographic Changes in Regular Verbs

There are three standard orthographic (spelling) changes in Spanish which affect verbs in the preterite as well as in other tenses. In the preterite, these changes occur only in the first person singular "yo" form. They are as follows: 1. verbs ending in -gar: insert a "u" before the "e": yo llegué (I arrived) 2. verbs ending in -car: the "c" changes to "qu" before the letter "e": yo practiqué (I practiced) 3. verbs ending in -zar: the "z" changes to "c" before the letter "e": yo empecé (I began) The reason for the first two changes is phonetic: in order to retain the original hard g and c sounds, the letter u is inserted (the letters g and c are soft before the vowels e and i). In the last change it is because the letter z never directly precedes the letter e in Spanish (except in rare cases when ze are the first two letters of a word). Remember: Only verbs in the "yo" form are affected by these orthographic changes.

to hug

abrazar yo abracé

to move closer

acercar yo acerqué

to add

agregar yo agregué

to have lunch

almorzar yo almorcé

to turn off

apagar yo apagué

to park

aparcar yo aparqué

to attack

atacar yo ataqué

to terrorize

aterrorizar yo aterroricé

to authorize

autorizar yo autoricé

to find out

averiguar yo averigüé

to look for, search

buscar yo busqué

to load, to charge

cargar yo cargué

to punish

castigar yo castigué

to clarify

clarificar yo clarifiqué

to classify

clasificar yo clasifiqué

to place

colocar yo coloqué

to begin, to start

comenzar yo comencé

to conjugate, to combine

conjugar yo conjugué

to dance, to be on the go

danzar yo dancé

to stand out

destacar yo destaqué

to destroy

destrozar yo destrocé

to build

edificar yo edifiqué

to bring up, to educate

educar yo eduqué

to pack

empacar yo empaqué

to pack

empacar yo me empaqué

to begin

empezar yo empecé

to rinse

enjuagar yo enjuagué

to wash

fregar yo fregué

to enjoy oneself, to enjoy

gozar yo gocé

to play

jugar yo jugué

to justify

justificar yo justifiqué

to throw

lanzar yo lancé

to tie

ligar yo ligué

to arrive, to come

llegar yo llegué

to mark

marcar yo marqué

to memorize

memorizar yo memoricé

to deny

negar yo negué

to organize

organizar yo organicé

to pay

pagar yo pagué

to sin

pecar yo pequé

to hit, to stick

pegar yo pegué

to practice

practicar yo practiqué

to water (a plant)

regar yo regué

to pray

rezar yo recé

to snore

roncar yo ronqué

to take out, to remove

sacar yo saqué

to mow (grass, etc)

segar yo segué

to symbolize

simbolizar yo simbolicé

to touch, to play (musical instrument)

tocar yo toqué

to swallow

tragar yo tragué

to trace

trazar yo tracé

to stumble

tropezar yo tropecé

to bump (into)

tropezarse yo me tropecé

to wander

vagar yo vagué