When a sentence starts with 'me', when doing the preiterate tense, does a verb that ends with zar still change to ce'?

Question

...as in when a word that has 'yo' in front of it, a verb ending with zar, gar or car changes. Does it still change if it has 'me' in front of it rather than 'yo'?

• For example: Yo me (equivocar) de numero de telefono. The verb would be changed to equivoque' because its the 'yo' form of the preterite, as the verb ends in 'gar'. So what I'm asking is, in sentence like: 'Luego me (deslizar) en una cascara de platano'.. - doda_08 Sep 15, 2009
• **sorry it ends in 'car' not 'gar' - doda_08 Sep 15, 2009
• (continuing)...then does that 'me' in the second sentence, still count as 'yo', when changing the verbs? In other words, would the verb be "deslice'" or something else? - doda_08 Sep 15, 2009

Answer 1

Hi Doda, Can you give us an example? Thanks.

• For example: Yo me (equivocar) de numero de telefono. The verb would be changed to equivoque' because its the 'yo' form of the preterite, as the verb ends in 'car'. So what I'm asking is, in sentence like: 'Luego me (deslizar) en una cascara de platano' - doda_08 Sep 15, 2009
• ...then does that 'me' in the second sentence, still count as 'yo', when changing the verbs? In other words, would the verb be "deslice'" or something else? - doda_08 Sep 15, 2009

Answer 2

Well, the "me" you are referring to is a reflexive pronoun. Reflexive pronouns accompany pronomial (reflexive) verbs and usually show that the person doing the action is either responsible for the action themselves or is doing the action to themself. "Me" in any sentence does not equate to "yo", the latter of which is included in the conjugation of the verb.

When a verb ending in "car", "gar", or "zar" is conjugated in the first person singular (yo) form of the preterit tense, the is a spelling change to preserve the original sound of the verb.

• --The verbs ending in "car" change the "c" to a "qu" to maintain the hard c sound. Ex: "equivocar" (to be wrong) becomes "equivoqué" (I was wrong)
• --The verbs ending in "gar" change the "g" to a "gu" to maintain the hard g sound. Ex: "cargar" (to load) becomes "cargué" (I loaded)
• --The verbs ending in "zar" change the "z" to a "c" because the z is very rarely followed by an e. Ex: "empezar" (to begin) becomes "empecé" (I began)

So to answer your question, the inclusion of "me" in the sentence is not what will determine whether or not the verb will change, it is the subject of the conjugated verb. If the subject happens to be "yo" it will change; "me" has no relevance in the conjugation of the verb.

Answer 3

The me has nothing to do conjugating the verb. If the me is a reflexive pronoun, then, yes, yo may also be the subject of the verb, but not necessarily (see below). If the me was an object pronoun then it has nothing to do with the subject of the sentence which is what dictates which person that you conjugate the verb to.

Luego me deslicé en una cascara de plátano.

The me pronoun here is a reflexive pronoun AND the subject is yo. Your 2nd example is identical as you are using the reflexive pronoun with equivocar.

Me equivoqué del número de teléfono. (Yo is the subject)

However,

Me lo explicó.

The me pronoun here is an indirect object pronoun, the subject is not yo and the car does not change to qué.

The me is not what dictates how to conjugate the verb. It is the yo. It is the yo that dictates the me in reflexive usage; not the other way around.

Me puse los zapatos. (I put on my shoes-the subject is yo, the me is a reflexive pronoun)

Me puso los zapatos. (He put on my shoes- the subject is he, the me is a reflexive pronoun)

So even when the verb is being used reflexively it is the subject yo that determines the verb conjugation and the me has nothing to do with it.