35 Spelling changes in present indicative
Some verbs ending in ER and IR undergo spelling changes to keep the original sound in the stem. For example, RECOGER (to pick up) is a regular verb in the pronunciation: /rrekoher/.
Pronunciation of “recoger”:
- /rrekóho/ (I pick up), written recojo
- /rrekóhes/ (you pick up), written recoges
- /rrekóhe/ (he,she picks up), written recoge
- /rrekohémos/ (we pick up), written recogemos
- /rrekóhen/ (they pick up), written recogen
For historical reasons, the original spelling was with G in /rrecohér/, but then in the yo-form, you need to change it to a J to keep depicting the H sound. However, some Spanish speakers make spelling mistakes and write everything with J in verbs like this.
This happens to verbs ending in GER and GIR. Regular verbs with spelling changes are: coger (=to pick up, to grab), escoger (=to choose), proteger (=to protect)Also verbs ending in GUER and GUIR soung /ger/ and /gir/ with the smooth G of “gap” or “get”. To make the YO-Form, you don’t use the U to keep the sound. One common regular verb with this change is: distinguir (=to distinguish), yo distingo (=I distinguish), tú distingues (=you distinguish).
Sample conversation:
Choosing something
A: Entre _________________ y _____________________, ¿cuál _____________ (=escoger in the tú form)?=Between _______ and ________, what do you choose?
B: Yo ______________ (=escoger in the yo form) ______________________ (add item you choose).
A: ¿Por qué?
B: Porque es ________________________________________.
Options:
- Un recogedor (=dustpan) y una aspiradora (=vacuum)
- Una taza de té (=tea cup) y un trago de ron (=a sip of rum)
- Un helado de chocolate (=chocolate icecream) y una limonada (=lemonade)
- Un hombre guapo y malo y un hombre feo y bueno
- Una mujer bonita y mala y una mujer fea y buena
- El reggaetón y la cumbia
- Un computador y un teléfono inteligente
- YouTube y TikTok
- Facebook y Snapchat (OR other social network you use)
