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Year 8 - Spanish

Socialising: -ar verbs 1st person present, 3rd person preterite

Activities past and present: -ar verbs, pronouns, adverbs

Unit Summary

This unit introduces pupils to the third person singular preterite of -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. Pupils contrast these forms with their present tense counterparts. Key sounds revisited are z, que, qui. Pupils contrast z with ce and ci.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use present and past tense verbs to talk about socialising online.

Key Notes

  • [ce], [ci] and [z] sound like the 'th' in 'think' in most of Spain, and 's' in Latin America and the Canary Islands.
  • Listening deepens vocabulary knowledge and speeds up processing, supported by six pre-, in- and post-listening steps.
  • 'Mucho' and 'poco' are both adverbs and adjectives. Adverb endings don't change, adjective endings match the noun.
  • Spanish -ar verb endings change depending on who the verb refers to and when the action takes place.
  • 1st person singular present tense -ar verbs end in -o. 3rd person singular preterite verbs end in -ó.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • present: describes habitual events in the present, e.g. 'I do'
  • preterite: describes completed events in the past, e.g. 'I did'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • 'Hablo' and 'habló' mean the same.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.

[ce], [ci] and [z] sound like the 'th' in 'think' in most of Spain, and 's' in Latin America and the Canary Islands. Listening deepens vocabulary knowledge and speeds up processing, supported by six pre-, in- and post-listening steps.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'present'

describes habitual events in the present, e.g. 'I do'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: 'Hablo' and 'habló' mean the same. Correction: The 1st person of the present ends in -o, e.g. 'hablo', meaning 'I speak'. The 3rd person of the preterite ends in -ó, e.g. 'habló', meaning 'she, he, it spoke'.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 8 Spanish guide library.