Conjugate irregular verbs ending in -gar in el Pretérito Indefinido (simple past)

Ana Matilla
2021-07-07
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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/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 Verb list: -gar 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.
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.
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