Year 5 - Spanish
El Día de los Muertos: information questions with 'cuántos' and 'cuántas'
Me and others: plural 'estar' (for states) and 'ser' (for traits)
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit requires pupils to use 'estar' and 'ser' effectively to communicate about how others are today and what they are like in general. When using the new plural forms 'están' and 'son' in the context of the festival 'El Día de los Muertos', pupils also use plural forms of familiar adjectives.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to ask and answer questions about El Día de los Muertos using 'cuántos' and 'cuántas'.
Key Notes
- Weak vowels [i] and [u] merge with strong vowels a, [o], and [e] to make a single syllable,
- The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday. Families set up and decorate special tables called 'altares'.
- The question word cuánto agrees with the gender and number of the noun it refers to: cuánto, cuánta, cuántos, cuántas.
- To describe plural nouns, add -s to adjectives ending in -a, -e and -o. For those ending in -l, -s or -z, we add -es.
Vocabulary To Learn
- strong vowel: the vowels [a], [e], [u] which are pronounced separately when they appear next to each other
- weak vowel: the vowels [i] and [u] which merge with [a], [e] and [o] to make a single syllable
- cuántos: question word meaning 'how many' for masculine plural nouns
- cuántas: question word meaning 'how many' for feminine plural nouns
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- There is only one way to say 'how many' in Spanish: 'cuánto'.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Weak vowels [i] and [u] merge with strong vowels a, [o], and [e] to make a single syllable,. The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday. Families set up and decorate special tables called 'altares'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'strong vowel'
the vowels [a], [e], [u] which are pronounced separately when they appear next to each other. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: There is only one way to say 'how many' in Spanish: 'cuánto'. Correction: In Spanish, the question word 'cuánto' agrees with the gender and number of the noun it refers to. There are four forms: cuánto (m), cuánta (f), cuántos (mpl) and cuántas (fpl),.
More Lessons In This Unit
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