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Year 8 - Spanish

Sustainability activities: -er and -ir verbs singular persons 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 -er and -ir preterite verbs to talk about what you and other did to live sustainably.

Key Notes

  • The sound-symbol correspondence [que] is pronounced as in the word '¿por qué?' and [qui] as in the word 'equipo'.
  • The preterite tense is used to describe completed actions in the past.
  • For -er and -ir verbs, for 'I' we remove the ending and add -í, for 'you' we add -iste and for 'she, he, it' we add -ió.
  • Being able adapt a sentence creatively using linguistic knowledge is important for speaking, vocabulary and writing.

Vocabulary To Learn

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

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • In the preterite tense, er and -ir verbs have different endings.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

The sound-symbol correspondence [que] is pronounced as in the word '¿por qué?' and [qui] as in the word 'equipo'. The preterite tense is used to describe completed actions in the past.

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

describes completed events in the past, e.g. 'I did'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: In the preterite tense, er and -ir verbs have different endings. Correction: -er and -ir verbs share the same endings in the preterite: -í for 'I', -iste for 'you' and -ió for 'she, he, it'.

More Lessons In This Unit

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