Linguistic Questions on Preterite Test
(same questions that were on the tier1 and tier 2 quizzes)
a. Why is there a “yo” form spelling change in the preterite for verbs
that end with “car”?
Because you need to preserve the hard “C” sound.
b. Why is there a “yo” form spelling change in the preterite for verbs
that end in “gar”?
Because you need to preserve the hard “G” sound.
c. Why is there a “yo” form spelling change in the preterite for verbs
that end in “zar”?
Because in Spanish you can’t have the letter “Z” next to the
letter “E”. “There are no zebras in Spanish only cébras
d. Why do the spelling changes mentioned in questions a, b, and c
only occur in the “yo” form?
Because it is only in the “yo” form that you are adding a
weak/soft vowel sound (the letter “e”)
e. What is the preterite tense? When is it used (two reasons)?
The preterite is one of two tenses that expresses the past in
Spanish.
1. A completed action in the past that occurred at a specific
point.
2. An action that occurred over a period of time and that period
of time is now over.
f. What are the two types of verbs that are part of Tier 2?
1. Stem-changing “ir” verbs
2. “I to Y” Triphthong spelling changes
g. What is a diphthong?
Two different vowel sounds in the same syllable
h. What is a tripthong?
Three different vowel sounds in the same syllable