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