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 |
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
Ricky
Kwiziq community member
11 October 2018
1 reply
jugar and al
Jugué al tenis ayer.
I played tennis yesterday.
Where does the 'al' come from here?
Thanks
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
11 October 2018
11/10/18
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.
Have a look at this Contracted masculine singular articles: al and del
Inma :))