CARROTTA
carrotta.net
✍️ Compendium
Grammar
ES
Español — Spelling-change verbs
Some Spanish verbs change their spelling in certain forms so the pronunciation stays the same: buscar becomes busqué, llegar becomes llegué, empezar becomes empecé.
1
How it works
✓ Rule
Before the vowel e (yo of the preterite and the present subjunctive), c changes to qu (buscar → busqué), g to gu (llegar → llegué) and z to c (empezar → empecé); before o or a, c changes to z (vencer → venzo) and g to j (proteger → protejo); and an unstressed i between vowels becomes y (leyó).
2
Examples
| Change | Example | When it happens |
|---|---|---|
| c → qu | buscar → busqué | before e (preterite yo, present subjunctive) |
| g → gu | llegar → llegué | before e (preterite yo, present subjunctive) |
| z → c | empezar → empecé | before e (preterite yo, present subjunctive) |
| gu → gü | averiguar → averigüé | before e (diéresis keeps the u) |
| c → z | vencer → venzo | before o/a (yo present, subjunctive) |
| g → j | proteger → protejo | before o/a (yo present, subjunctive) |
| gu → g | distinguir → distingo | before o/a (yo present, subjunctive) |
| i → y | leer → leyó | unstressed i between vowels |
3
Good to know
⚠ Note
These are not stem-changing verbs: the sound stays the same and only the spelling adapts. Watch the diéresis — averiguar → averigüé keeps the u audible.