Posted by Ana Matilla

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

yo	pagué
tú	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 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 List of -gar verbs changing g > gu in the yo form in El Pretérito Indefinido

Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics

El Pretérito Indefinido

Verbo irregular

Verbos con cambio ortográfico g>gu (pretérito indefinido)

Examples and resources

Ya pagué la cuenta.
I already paid the bill.

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

Jugué al tenis ayer.
I played tennis yesterday.

Llegué a casa tarde.
I arrived home late.

Q&A Forum 2 questions, 2 answers

EmanuelB2

Hi. Why is there ya pague and not ya he pagado? Is it not latin american Spanish?

Asked 20 hours ago

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Emanuel asked:View original

Hi. Why is there ya pague and not ya he pagado? Is it not latin american Spanish?

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RickyA2

jugar and al

Jugué al tenis ayer.
I played tennis yesterday.

Where does the 'al' come from here?

Thanks

Asked 10 months ago

Like0Answer2

InmaKwiziq language super star

Hola Ricky,

In English you say "play tennis" but in Spanish "jugar" as in playing a sport or game you need:

a la + feminine noun

al + masculine noun (a+el are contracted->al)

For example, jugar a la petanca (to play boules), or jugar al baloncesto (to play basketball)

I hope this clarifies it.