Spelling Accommodations
Think back to that table of verbs with two irregularities in the previous chapter. Take corregir, for instance. You might have expected “I correct” to be translated as corrigo. Instead, you saw it listed as corrijo. The j is used in place of the g so as to maintain the hard “hh” sound that is in the original word, corregir (coh-rreh-HHEER).
Without this modification you would have had to pronounce it “coh-rreh-GHEER”—as you may remember, g is pronounced “hh” before e or i, and “gh” when it precedes any other letter.
The rule, then, is that when a verb ends with a –ger or –gir, the g changes to j whenever the verb ending does not end in an e or i—that is, the change only occurs in the yo form.
Spelling Accommodation in Verbs That End with –GER and –GIR
The following table presents other verbs that undergo a g to j change. Again, compare the yo, nosotros, and ellos/ellas/ustedes forms.
–GER and –GIR Verbs with Spelling Change from G to J
Verbs That End in –GUIR
In verbs that end in –guir, the g is pronounced as the “g” in “get”—the u is silent because it is there to keep the g hard (remember, –gir would sound like “hheer”). As you conjugate these verbs, you are trying to maintain a consistency of sound, which is why you need a modification in the yo form. Take a look at the following table to see if you can figure out what is going on.
–GUIR Verbs That Drop the U in the Yo Form
As you can see, when you are conjugating verbs that end in –guir, you need to drop the u in the yo form. To do otherwise would be to change the hard g in –guir from “g” as in “get” to “gw” as in “Gwen.” For example: consigo would be consiguo, which would be pronounced “kohn-SEEH-gwoh.”
Verb Practice #4
Translate the following sentences using the appropriate verb forms. Use your English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English dictionary to look up words you don't already know.
1. I take the small piece.
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2. I choose the yellow apple.
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3. I protect the family.
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4. I gather the clothes from the floor.
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5. I demand attention.
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Other –UIR Verbs
This spelling accommodation focuses on other verbs that end in –uir. The modification is straightforward. The i is replaced by a y and the personal endings follow. The following table presents the conjugation of huir (to flee).
Spelling Accommodation in Other –UIR Verbs
| –ir | huir (to flee) | |
| yo | –o | huyo |
| tú | –es | huyes |
| él, ella, usted | –e | huye |
| nosotros, nosotras | –imos | huimos |
| vosotros, vosotras | –ís | huís |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | –en | huyen |
For the other verbs that behave like huir in the present tense, refer to the following table.
Other –UIR Verbs That Undergo I to Y Change
You may be wondering why the i needs to be replaced at all, and why it is kept in the nosotros form. Notice that in the infinitive and in the nosotros form, the weak vowels have only themselves to contend with. They share the same strength and are each given equal weight. You've seen before how one weak vowel reacts when it is adjacent to a strong one—the i tends to adopt a “y” sound and the u a “w” sound. In this case, the u must retain its own sound, and the only way to keep it independent is to convert the i to y and thus make the separation between u and a strong vowel clearer with a more explicit “y” sound.
Verbs That End with a Consonant and –CER
Verbs that end in –cer undergo spelling-accommodation changes in the yo form for the same reason that the –guir verbs undergo a change from g to j—in order to keep the pronunciation consistent. There are two changes that may occur.
–Cer verbs must undergo a change in the yo form because if the –er is simply replaced by an o, the “s” sound produced by the ce combination in –cer would be transformed to a hard “k” sound.
The first scenario is that the base's final c may change to z. This occurs with verbs where the –cer ending is preceded by a consonant. For example, take the word convencer (cohn-vehn-SEHR), meaning “to convince.” If you want to ascribe that action to yourself, you would say, “cohn-VEHN-soh,” so it should be spelled convenzo. If you followed the regular-verb rule, you would have ended up with convenco (cohn-VEHN-coh) and, as a result, confuse a whole bunch of people. Refer to the following table for verbs that undergo this particular type of spelling accommodation.
Spelling Accommodation from C to Z
Verb Practice #5
Translate the following sentences using the appropriate verb forms. Use your English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English dictionary to look up words you don't already know.
1. Intolerance destroys society.
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2. You (plural, formal) construct homes.
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3. We flee from the police.
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4. Michelle contributes to her church.
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5. You (informal, singular) flee from responsibility.
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As you have already seen, a verb may undergo more than one change. In the first-person present-tense conjugation of torcer (to turn), for example, two changes occur: the o is replaced by ue, and the –cer changes to –zo: tuerzo (I turn), tuerces (you turn), tuerce (he, she, it turns; you turn), torcemos (we turn), torcéis (you turn), tuercen (they turn, you turn).
Verbs That End with a Vowel and –CER
If the letter that precedes the –cer ending in a verb is a vowel, the verb undergoes a slightly different transformation in the yo form of the present tense: In this case, the –cer ending changes to –zco. (This transformation is one of the many remnants left over from Latin.) The reasoning behind this transformation is similar—it is done to keep the ce sound that is voiced by the z in –zco.
| –er | ofrecer (to offer) | |
| yo | –o | ofrezco |
| tú | –es | ofreces |
| él, ella, usted | –e | ofrece |
| nosotros, nosotras | –emos | ofrecemos |
| vosotros, vosotras | –éis | ofrecéis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | –en | ofrecen |
There are quite a few other verbs in Spanish that undergo this transformation in the yo form of the present tense.
Verbs with Spelling Accommodation from C to ZC
Of course, there are some exceptions to this general rule of thumb. Take a look at the verbs hacer (to do), cocer (to cook), and mecer (to sway, rock), conjugated in the following table. Their yo-form conjugations do not follow the rule established for verbs that end in –cer preceded by a vowel.
Exceptions to Verbs with Spelling Change from C to ZC
Verbs That End in –UCIR
Treat verbs that end in –ucir as verbs that end in –cer preceded by a vowel (see previous section). That is, the c is transformed to a zc in the yo form of these verbs following the same rule of spelling accommodation. Use the conjugation of traducir as an example.
| –ir | traducir (to translate) | |
| yo | –o | traduzco |
| tú | –es | traduces |
| él, ella, usted | –e | traduce |
| nosotros, nosotras | –imos | traducimos |
| vosotros, vosotras | –ís | traducís |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | –en | traducen |
For a list of other –ucir verbs that behave similarly to traducir, refer to the following table.
Verbs with Spelling Accommodation from C to ZC
Verb Practice #6
Translate the following sentences using the appropriate verb forms. Use your English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English dictionary to look up words you don't already know.
1. I give thanks for the help.
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2. I do exercises in the morning.
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3. I obey the rules.
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4. The cow produces milk.
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5. The radio program introduces new singers.
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Once completed, find the answers to these verb practice exercises.
