What is pagar in preterite?

Verbs that end in –gar

Remember that the consonant g is pronounced hard (like the g in good) or soft (like the g in gym) depending on the vowel that follows the g. If a Spanish verb ends in – gar, the infinitive is pronounced with a hard gsound. However, when you remove the – ar infinitive ending and add the yo preterite ending, the hard g is suddenly followed by – é and would be pronounced as a soft g. To maintain the hard g sound of the infinitive, the letter u is added between the g and é. This creates the hard g sound of the infinitive pronunciation.

Whenever you see a verb ending in – gué, you can assume the u is only there to produce the correct hard g sound, and you don't pronounce the u.

To simplify matters, remember that a verb ending in – gar will change g– to gu– in the yo form of the preterite. Table 1 is the preterite conjugation chart for the verb pagar (to pay) which serves as a good example. Note that the yo form would be pronounced [pah‐GAY].

The following verbs are all regular – ar verbs in the preterite tense. Since they all end in – gar, you must change the g to gu in the yo form and then use the regular yo ending. All other preterite forms of these verbs are completely regular forms for a regular – ar verb in the preterite tense.

Verbs that end in –car

The Spanish letter c is a lot like the letter g. It has a hard sound (like the English letter k) and a soft sound (like the English letter s). The c is pronounced soft when it's followed by –i or – e. It is pronounced hard when it's followed by – o, – a, or –u. Any verb that ends in – car will have the hard c sound in its infinitive form. This must be maintained in all the conjugated forms, but the preterite yo ending causes problems.

When you add – é to the base of a verb ending in – car, the c becomes a soft sound, which is unacceptable. So you must change the letter c to qu only in the yo preterite form. The resulting ending (– qué) is pronounced like the English name Kay. The combination of letters – qu is always pronounced like the English letter k, and you never say the u sound. It is never pronounced like the English word queen.

Table 2 is the preterite conjugation chart for the verb tocar (to play an instrument, to touch), which is an example for all regular – ar verbs in the preterite that end in – car.

To simplify the rule: If a verb ends in – car, change c to qu in the yo form of the preterite.

Here are some common verbs that end in – car, and they are all conjugated like tocar.

Verbs that end in –zar

Whenever z is followed by e, it changes to c. This rule becomes important in the preterite tense because the verbs that end in – zar will change spelling in the yo form. Since the yo form has the ending – é, the z must change to c. For example, Table 3 shows the preterite conjugation of the verb cruzar (to cross).

Here are some common verbs that end in – zar, and they are conjugated like cruzar.

I to y

When the stem of the verb ends in a vowel, some spelling changes are necessary in certain forms in the preterite. This special spelling change only happens in the preterite tense and is not considered a stem changer. If there are three vowels in a row and the middle one is the letter i, you must change the i to y. The preterite endings for – er and – ir verbs will cause the i>y spelling change to happen in the third person forms ( él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes), and an accent will be added to any other letter – i in the base of the verb in the conjugation chart.

Table 4 is a conjugation chart of the verb caer (to fall), which illustrates these changes. Consider the él form of the verb. If you simply added the ending –ió to the base of the verb ca–, the result would be caió. Since there are three vowels and the middle one is the letter i, it changes to y in the chart. Notice this also happens to the third person plural form of the verb.

Other verbs that have a base ending in a vowel are conjugated like caer. For example:

The preterite tense is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past. Notice the spelling change that occurs in the yo form of the preterite tense, pagué.

The Indicative Preterite of pagar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "pagué por la comida", meaning "I paid for the meal".

When conjugated to the present tense, this verbhas no stem changes. Use these conjugations of pagar to say that a person pays for something. For example: Vamos a los tacos, yo pago.

Pagar preterite conjugations have a -gar to -gu change only for the pronoun ‘yo’. Use the preterite tense to explain that a person paid something at a specific moment in the past. For instance: ¿Ya le pagaste a Ellie?

Take Note: In Spanish, the letter g has a different pronunciation depending on the following vowel. The -gar to gu stem change is made to keep a soft g sound across all conjugations. Apply this rule to all verbs ending with –gar, such as jugar, llegar, apagar, etc.

Pagar conjugated to the Spanish imperfect tense expresses that people used to pay for something repeatedly in the past. For instance: Mi papá nos pagaba por limpiar la casa.

Use the present tense forms of ir + a + pagar (infinitive) to conjugate to the near future tense in Spanish. These pagar conjugations convey that someone will pay a person or for something in the immediate future. Here is an example: ¿Cuándo nos vas a pagar?

The future simple conjugations of this verb convey that someone will pay another person or for something in the future. For instance: Si la rentamos, la casa se pagará sola.

The pagar conditional conjugations convey that someone would pay. If applicable to your sentence, you can add conditions to express that a person would pay if a circumstance is met. For instance: ¿Sabes si Luis ya le pagaría a Esteban?

The Spanish present perfect is formed with haber present tense conjugations + pagado. Use these pagar conjugations to say whether someone has paid a person or for something. Here is a sentence: July ha pagado el internet los últimos tres meses.

Conjugate this verb to the Spanish past perfect tense to explain that a person had or hadn’t paid before another past action or moment. This tense is formed with haber (imperfect forms) + a + past participle verb (pagado for this example).

For instance: Discúlpenme, pensé que ya les había pagado.

If you want to express that someone will have paid for something by or before a certain future moment, you must conjugate this verb to the future perfect tense. For instance: En un año, habré pagado todas mis deudas.

In Spanish, the conditional perfect conjugations of pagar communicate that a person will have paid if a past condition had occurred. For example: Si no te hubiera dicho nada, estoy segura que no me habrías pagado.

Use estar’s indicative conjugations + pagando (present participle) to form the progressive tenses in Spanish. These conjugations are used to convey that someone is paying at the moment of speaking. Here is an example: Tu papá está pagando la cuenta.

The subjunctive mood in Spanish allows you to talk about expectations, hopes, demands, doubts, advice, hypothetical situations, or recommendations. The following pagar conjugation charts will show you how to conjugate this verb to the most common subjunctive tenses.

Pagar subjunctive conjugations have a -gar to gu change for all subject pronouns. These forms are used to suggest or hope that someone pays something. For example: Necesito que me pagues mañana.

Take Note: When pronouncing the letter g in Spanish, the vowel e produces a hard g sound. However, in its infinitive form, pagar has a soft sound that we must keep across all conjugations. Since the present subjunctive endings start with ‘e’, we use the stem pagu to produce a soft g sound. This rule is applied to all verbs ending in -gar.

In Spanish, the present perfect subjunctive tense is formed by using haber present subjunctive forms + pagado. These pagar conjugations allow you to communicate hopes or uncertainty about whether someone has paid something. Dudo que Juan ya le haya pagado a tu papá.

The imperfect subjunctive tense is used to refer to past expectations, advice, suggestions, or requests you had about someone paying. Here is a sentence: Te pedí que me pagaras hoy.

Depending on the Spanish dialect you’re learning (Castilian or Latin American), there are two ways to conjugate the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish:

Latin American Spanish version

Note: Vosotros is not used in Latin American Spanish. As a result, this subject pronoun has been excluded from the previous pagar conjugation chart.

Castilian Spanish version

Use the past perfect subjunctive of pagar to say that someone would have paid if a past circumstance took place. With these forms, you can also express regret for having paid something or not. Si hubiéramos pagado a tiempo, no habríamos acumulado tantos intereses.

In Spanish, the imperative conjugations are used to order people to do or not do something.

To maintain the pronunciation, use the stem pagu for ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’. Pagar affirmative commands allow you to order someone to pay. For example: Págale a la señorita, por favor.

This verb’s negative command conjugations have an -gar to gu change. Use these imperative forms to order someone not to pay. No le pagues, ya no le debemos nada.

Since now you know how to conjugate pagar, let’s check how you should use this verb. As the direct translation of ‘to pay’, this verb can refer to paying a person or for something:

[Pagar conjugated] + [complement]

Matt nunca paga a tiempo.Matt never pays on time.

Espero que este año nos paguen mejor.I hope they pay us better this year.

No tenemos internet, ¿sí lo pagaste?We don’t have internet, did you pay for it?

Yo compré los boletos. Si los quieres, ¡págamelos!I bought the tickets. If you want them, pay me.

Take Note: Pagar is a verb that takes both direct and indirect object pronouns. In this case, direct object pronouns replace the thing you pay, while indirect object pronouns refer to the person you’re paying to. As a result, this verb can work with Spanish double-object pronouns (example #4).

Before learning how to conjugate pagar, let's take a look at some useful vocabulary related to this verb:

We use the preterite to talk about past actions that are finished or completed.

The good news is that pagar is regular in this tense (except for a small change in the first person). To conjugate it, take its stem (pag-) and add the preterite endings.

Note: For the first person singular (yo) we need to add an u to the stem. We do this to keep the hard /g/ sound. Otherwise, g + e would sound like the English /hay/.

Javi and Laura are checking their monthly bills. Laura is a very organized person and has everything under control.

They are off today and they have planned to go to a concert with some friends:

With the subjunctive, which is a mood or mode of expressing ideas, we talk about information which is not factual, but subjective. Use it to express wishes or talk about possibilities or suppositions.

Conjugating pagar in the subjunctive is easy. Do you remember the first person singular (yo) of the preterite? Well, just take the same stem (pagu-) and add the subjunctive endings, as shown in the table:

Don't forget that all forms have an u in the stem now to keep the hard /g/ sound!

Let's see now how we can use the subjunctive in context. You can start your sentences with the expressions: