Conjugate -gar verbs where g > gu in all forms in El Presente de Subjuntivo (present subjunctive)

Posted by Inma Sánchez

In: Level B1, Verbs Tenses & Conjugation, El Presente de Subjuntivo, Verbos con cambio ortográfico g>gu (presente subjuntivo)

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Spanish verbs ending in -gar replace the -g- with a -gu- in El Presente de Subjuntivo. This is to preserve the sound from the infinitive.

Here is the conjugation of pagar (to pay) affected by this spelling change:

yo	pague
tú	pagues
él / ella / Ud.	pague
nosotros	paguemos
vosotros	paguéis
ellos / ellas / Uds.	paguen

Read and listen to these examples:

No descansaré hasta que pague la deuda.
I won't rest until I pay my debt.

No voy a aceptar que pagues por todo.
I am not going to allow you to pay for everything.

Deja que él pague las cervezas.
Let him pay for the beers.

No tendremos vacaciones hasta que paguemos la hipoteca.
We won't have any holidays until we pay the mortgage.

Es justo que vosotros paguéis la mitad.
It is fair that you pay half.

Paguen en esa ventanilla, por favor.
Pay at that counter, please. ("you" formal plural)

There are other useful verbs that have this same g > gu spelling change, for example: apagar (to turn off), entregar (to deliver), jugar (to play)
Here are more examples with these verbs:

No apagues la luz del salón, por favor.
Please don't turn off the light in the lounge.

Cuando me entreguen el contrato seré feliz.
I'll be happy when they give me the contract.

Juguemos un rato a las cartas.
Let's play cards for a bit.

See the List of -gar verbs change in El Presente de Subjuntivo

Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics

El Presente de Subjuntivo

Verbos con cambio ortográfico g>gu (presente subjuntivo)

Examples and resources

No tendremos vacaciones hasta que paguemos la hipoteca.
We won't have any holidays until we pay the mortgage.

Juguemos un rato a las cartas.
Let's play cards for a bit.

Es justo que vosotros paguéis la mitad.
It is fair that you pay half.

Cuando me entreguen el contrato seré feliz.
I'll be happy when they give me the contract.

No descansaré hasta que pague la deuda.
I won't rest until I pay my debt.

No voy a aceptar que pagues por todo.
I am not going to allow you to pay for everything.

Deja que él pague las cervezas.
Let him pay for the beers.

Paguen en esa ventanilla, por favor.
Pay at that counter, please. ("you" formal plural)

No apagues la luz del salón, por favor.
Please don't turn off the light in the lounge.

Q&A Forum 2 questions, 6 answers

EmanuelB2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why is juguemos used with a las cartas as las cartas is not a person?

Asked 4 months ago

InmaKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hola Emanuel

In this sentence you are referring to:

Juguemos un rato a las cartas.

Let's play cards for a bit.

The subject of the sentence is not "las cartas"; The subject of "juguemos" is "nosotros". It is a bit difficult to see it as in English the translation is not literal, but if we analyse the English sentence we can see that "Let's play cards" means "Let US play cards"; it is referring to us.

In Spanish as you know we need to agree subject with verb: (Nosotros) juguemos...

I hope this clarified it.

Saludos,

Inma

Like04 months ago

Emanuel asked:View original

Why is juguemos used with a las cartas as las cartas is not a person?

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LucyA2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why is this verb plural?

Asked 10 months ago

InmaKwiziq team member

Hola Lucy

What do you mean? verbs don't have singular and plural.

Are you referring to a specific question?

Inma

Like010 months ago

LucyA2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

It was question #6 (B1 test): "He pedido a la mensajería que ________ el paquete por la tarde."

The answer entreguen is in the third person plural, but it seems to me it should be in third person singular, because the subject of the clause (mensajería) is singular. Please help. Thank you.

Like010 months ago

NelsonC1Kwiziq community member

Yes, same question. 'La mensajería' is a singular subject but the correct answer on the quiz is the plural conjugation. Thank you.

Like09 months ago

RobertB1Kwiziq community member

the translator probably is a Brit. Brits use 'the parliament have voted....'

Like01 month ago

RobertB1Kwiziq community member

the translator probably is a Brit. Brits use 'the parliament have voted....'

Like01 month ago

Lucy asked:View original

Why is this verb plural?

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