Spanish conjugation explanation
Spelling change: -guar → -gü-
<p>In Spanish, verbs ending in <strong style="font-style: italic;">-guar</strong> undergo a spelling change in certain conjugations to <strong>preserve the pronunciation</strong> of the stem.</p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">The Pronunciation Rule</div>
<p>The ending <strong style="font-style: italic;">-guar</strong>, as in
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/averiguar/" title="Click to see conjugations for averiguar" target="_blank">averiguar</a>
, contains the sound <span style="font-style: italic;">/gw/</span> (pronounced like the "gw" in "Gwen"). In Spanish orthography, the letter <strong>g</strong> behaves differently depending on the vowel that follows:</p><ul>
<li><strong>gu</strong> + <strong>a</strong> or <strong>o</strong> = <span style="font-style: italic;">/gw/</span> (the <span style="font-style: italic;">u</span> is pronounced)</li>
<li><strong>gu</strong> + <strong>e</strong> or <strong>i</strong> = <span style="font-style: italic;">/g/</span> (the <span style="font-style: italic;">u</span> is silent, as in <span style="font-style: italic;">guerra</span>)</li>
</ul>
<p>When conjugating <strong style="font-style: italic;">-guar</strong> verbs, some endings start with an <strong>e</strong>. If we kept the spelling as <span style="font-style: italic;">gu</span>, the pronunciation would change to a hard /g/ sound. To force the <span style="font-style: italic;">u</span> to remain pronounced before an <strong>e</strong>, we must use a
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/conjugationExplanation/spanish_dieresis/" target="_blank">dieresis</a>
(two dots) over the <span style="font-style: italic;">u</span>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>gu</strong> → <strong>gü</strong> (before <strong>e</strong>)</p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Affected Forms</div>
<p>This spelling change <span style="font-style: italic;">gu</span> → <span style="font-style: italic;">gü</span> occurs in:</p>
<ul>
<li>The
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/18/" target="_blank">Preterite</a>
: First person singular (yo)</li><li>The
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/19/" target="_blank">Present Subjunctive</a>
: All forms</li><li>The
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/22/" target="_blank">Imperative</a>
: Formal commands (usted, ustedes) and the <span style="font-style: italic;">nosotros</span> command</li></ul>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Yo <span class="green_emphasis">averigüé</span> la hora del vuelo. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I found out the flight time.</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">Without the dieresis, *averigué would be pronounced /a-ve-ri-gé/.</div>
<p>Common verbs that follow this pattern include
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/averiguar/" title="Click to see conjugations for averiguar" target="_blank">averiguar</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to find out/investigate</span>),<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/apaciguar/" title="Click to see conjugations for apaciguar" target="_blank">apaciguar</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to appease/calm</span>),<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/atestiguar/" title="Click to see conjugations for atestiguar" target="_blank">atestiguar</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to testify</span>), and<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/menguar/" title="Click to see conjugations for menguar" target="_blank">menguar</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">to wane/diminish</span>).</p><div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Conjugation Tables</div>
<p>In the following tables for
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/esp/averiguar/" title="Click to see conjugations for averiguar" target="_blank">averiguar</a>
, the forms with the <strong>-gü-</strong> spelling change are highlighted:</p><div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/18/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Pretérito perfecto simple</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
yo
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüé<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
tú
</span>averiguaste
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
él
</span>averiguó
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
nosotros
</span>averiguamos
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
vosotros
</span>averiguasteis
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ellos
</span>averiguaron
</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/19/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Presente subjuntivo</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
yo
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüe<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
tú
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigües<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
él
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüe<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
nosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüemos<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
vosotros
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüéis<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ellos
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüen<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/22/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Imperativo afirmativo</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">---</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
(tú)
</span>averigua
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
(usted)
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüe<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
(nosotros)
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüemos<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
(vosotros)
</span>averiguad
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
(ustedes)
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">averigüen<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> Compare this to verbs like <span style="font-style: italic;">pagar</span> (
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/conjugationExplanation/spanish_orthograpic_change_gar_gu/" target="_blank">-gar → -gu-</a>
), where a silent <span style="font-style: italic;">u</span> is added to preserve a hard /g/ sound.</p>