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Ortografía: Las letras J y G

Why do you want to know this?

Why do you want to know this?

Spelling mistakes between <J> and <G> are very common among native, heritage and second language learners.

We want to know the rules and practice our spelling so people can understand what we write and make the right sounds when they read our writing.

How to become better at spelling

There are many spelling rules, sometimes too many! While it is good to know them, the best way to become a better speller is by doing the following: 

  1. Lee mucho
  2. Aprende a usar el diccionario
  3. Lleva cuenta de tus errores más comunes 
  4. Vuelve a escribir las palabras erradas
  5. Haz dictados para practicar
  6. Escribe mucho y revisa cada borrador
  7. Usa recursos tecnológicos como “spell check” 
  8. Estudia las reglas básicas

¿Cuáles de estas actividades ya haces?

The /x/ and /g/ sounds 

For the /x/ sound we can use the following spelling combinations:

[xa] = JAmón, XAvier

[xe] = GEnte, JErga)

[xi]  = GItano), JIrafa, MéXIco

[xo] = JOya

[xu] = JUsticia

For the /g/ sound we can use the following spelling combinations

[ga] = GAto

[ge] = GUErra

[gwe] = GÜEro

[gi] = GUItarra

[gwi] = pinGÜIno

[go] = GOta

[gu] = GUsto

¡Practiquemos!

¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!

Más ejercicios AQUÍ

Some rules for the use o <J> in Spanish

The sounds [xa], [xo] and [xu] are easy to write because they are represented with the letter <j> as in <ja>, <jo> and <ju>,  but the sounds [xe] and [xi] make us think twice, because it could be a  letter <g> or a <j> Here are some spelling rules that can help us know when to use <j>: 

  • We use a J for words ending in  –jería: 
    • conserjería, cerrajería, relojería
  • Conjugations of verbs that have the letter <j>: 
    •  trabaja de trabajar

       

  • Conjugations of verbs that have the letter <g> making the [xe] sound but cannot be written with <g> because it would not preserve the sound: 
    • Proteger = Yo protejo  Escoger = Yo escojo (Yo en el presente)
    • Proteger = Proteja / protejan, Escoger = Escoja / escojan (Usted y ustedes en imperativo)
    • Proteger = Que él proteja, Escoger = Que ella escoja (Todos en subjuntivo presente)
  • Words that have the following combinations:. aje, eje, ije, oje, uje 
    • ajeno, ejecutivo, dije, ojeras, cuje 
          • Exceptions include:
            • The conjugations of verbs like “proteger” and “escoger” 
            • Words like estratagema, exagerar, tragedia, digerir, sugerir, cónyuge y vegetal. 
            • Words that after the combination have an L, N or S (flagelo, agente, digestivo)

¡Practiquemos!

¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!

Más ejercicios AQUÍ

Some rules for the use o <G> in Spanish

Here are some spelling rules for using the letter <g>: 

  • We use <g> when the prefix is “geo”
    • geografía, geometría, geología 
  • We use <g> if the ending is “gen” 
    • origen, margen, aborigen, etc.;
  • We use <g> if the endings are: “gélico,” “genario,” “géneo,” “génico,” “genio,” “génito,” “gesimal,” “gésimo,” “gético” including plurals and femenine forms: 
    •  angélico, sexagenario, homogéneo, fotogénico, ingenio, primogénito, cuadragesimal, vigésimo, apologético
  • We use <g> if the endings are “gia,” “gio,” “gión,” “gional,” “gionario,” “gioso” and “gírico”: 
    • magia, regio, religión, regional, legionario, prodigioso, panegírico
  • We use <g> in the verb endings of verbs ending in “ger” and “gir”: 
    • proteger, escoger, recoger, fingir, corregir, dirigir, etc, except, crujir 

¡Practiquemos!

¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!

Más ejercicios AQUÍ

Some rules to preserve the sound /g/ 

When we use the letter combination <ge> and <gi> the sound we make is [xe] and [xi]. If we want to represent the sound [ge] and [gi] we need to use a different letter combination:

  • The sound [ge] has to be represented by the letter combination <gue> where the <u> is silent:

      • Guerra
      • Guerrilla
      • Albergue

         

  • The sound [gi] has to be represented by the letter combination <gui> where the <u> is silent:

      • Guitarra
      • Guiar
      • Guillermo

         

What if you need the <u> to make a sound? 

In the letter combination <gue> and <gui> the letter <u> is silent, but sometimes you want it to make a sound, so for that you add the “diéresis” (two little dots above the <u>!

      • Pingüino
      • Vergüenza
      • Cigüeña

¡Practiquemos!

¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!

Más ejercicios AQUÍ

Pensamientos finales

Paying attention to spelling helps us communicate better in written form, avoid confusions and project a professional image. Poor spelling can affect people’s career prospects and leave a bad impression. It is important to make an effort to spell well!

There are lots of spelling rules and they can be hard to memorize. A better approach is to read a lot while paying attention to how things are spelled, that way, when you are writing, your brain knows something doesn’t look right. Still, it is good to know some rules or where to find the rules for when you have a doubt. Using a dictionary can also be a great strategy. Finally, while spellcheckers catch many spelling errors, sometimes they miss the context and don’t alert us to words that may sound the same but need to be spelled differently, so we still need to use our brains.

This unit “Ortografía: Las letras J y G” was created by Alegría Ribadeneira and is licensed  CC BY-NC-SA