Sp:Past Tense

Question

Which of the following verbs have spelling changes only in the "yo" form in the preterit?

tener poder jugar poner sacar comenzar ir

I would say Jugar and Sacar

I agree with you. - Jubilado, Jan 18, 2013

Would that be all of it or other ones? - 45Shadow, Jan 18, 2013

Answer 1

In a way you could say they all change but I think the emphasis was on how "g" in jugar changes to "gu", and "c" changes to qu in sacar because they are followed by "e" which in Spanish spelling would affect a sound change in "c" and "g" if it followed immediately.

Agreed, but with that emphasis, I think one would have to also include empezar, since it changes to ¨yo empecé¨

Basically, all the -car, -gar, -zar verbs.

Yes, comencé would change the "z" to '"c" so I agree with Rogspax's last sentence. - Jubilado, Jan 19, 2013

Answer 2

To answer your comment question I need more clarification on "other ones". Of course there are many verbs that conjugate like jugar and sacar in the preterite. I suggest you find the book (or something similar) at the library 500 Spanish Verbs.

Also the spelling changes in the yo form of the preterite for your list of verbs does not address the change in the verbal stem that occurs in tener, poder, poner and ir. As you go through the verbs in Spanish note how certain verbs have similar patterns and a few may be unique. There's a lot of memory involved as well.

By other ones I meant would it be either one of tener, poder, poner and ir as well? - 45Shadow, Jan 19, 2013

Answer 3

tener: the stem in the preterite is tuv-

poder: the stem in the preterite is pud-

poner: the stem in the preterite is pus-

The stems are the same in all 6 changes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons, singular and plural and the 1st and 2nd person singular do not carry the written accent.

ir: the stem in the preterite is fu- The stem is consistent throughout - no spelling changes.

jugar: the stem is jugu- for the 1st person singular, but jug- for the rest.

sacar: the stem is saqu- for the 1st person singular, but sac- for the rest.

In a way you could say they all change but I think the emphasis was on how "g" in jugar changes to "gu", and "c" changes to qu in sacar because they are followed by "e" which in Spanish spelling would affect a sound change in "c" and "g" if it followed immediately.