The Preterite Tense: Verbs Ending in: –car,-gar and -zar
Comparen: ¿Sacaste fotos del aeropuerto? Did you take photos of the airport? Sí, saqué fotos des aeropuerto. Yes, I took pictures of the airport.
Comparen: ¿Con quién jugaste el fútbol? Who did you play soccer with? Jugué con mi primo. I played with my cousin.
Comparen: ¿Dónde almorzaste ayer? Where did you eat lunch yesterday? Almorcé con mi familia en Griffith Park. I ate with my family in Griffith Park.
Let’s take a closer look at the tú and yo form of these verbs. tú yo sacaste saqué jugué jugaste almorzaste almorcé
Can we make a rule? For verbs ending in –car: c becomes qu in the “yo” form For verbs ending in –gar: g becomes gu in the “yo” form For verbs ending in –zar” z becomes c in the “yo form
Why are these changes necessary? To keep the pronunciation the same. -qu keeps the “hard c” sound before the yo –é ending. gu keeps the “hard g” sound before an the yo -é ending. c is a “soft c” before the yo –é ending. (z is not necessary)
Práctica: Conjugate these verbs in the preterite tense yo/almorzar tu/pagar nosotros/explicar yo/llegar él/buscar yo/empezar yo/practicar
Práctica: Respuestas yo almorcé tú pagaste nosotros explicamos yo llegué él buscó yo empecé yo pratiqué
¡Magnífico!