Conjugate -gar verbs in the Spanish Preterite tense (El Pretérito Indefinido)

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Some Spanish verbs end in -gar. They undergo a change when they are conjugated in the preterite tense.

Learn about -GAR verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish

Verbs ending in -gar in Spanish, like: pagar (to pay)llegar (to arrive), apagar (to turn off) are irregular in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish because the spelling changes for pronunciation reasons only in the first person singular (yo).

Conjugation of "pagar" in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish

yo pagué
pagaste
él / ella / Ud. pagó
nosotros / nosotras  pagamos
vosotros / vosotras  pagasteis
ellos / ellas / Uds. pagaron
Notice that after -g- a -u- is required in the yo person to maintain the hard -g- sound. However, apart from the yo form, all the other endings are the same as those of regular -ar verbs: -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron.

Have a look at  and listen to these examples.

Jugué al tenis ayer.I played tennis yesterday.

Ya pagué la cuenta.I already/finally paid the bill.

Llegué a casa tarde.I arrived home late.

Apagué la luz antes de ir a la cama.I turned off the light before going to bed.

For more verbs that follow this pattern see the -gar Spanish verbs that change g > gu in the yo form in El Pretérito Indefinido

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Examples and resources

Jugué al tenis ayer.I played tennis yesterday.
Apagué la luz antes de ir a la cama.I turned off the light before going to bed.
Llegué a casa tarde.I arrived home late.
Ya pagué la cuenta.I already/finally paid the bill.
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