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Year 8 - Spanish

Travel: -er and -ir verbs singular persons preterite, subject pronouns

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 the preterite and subject pronouns to compare different people's past travel experiences.

Key Notes

  • To mean 'I' in the preterite with -er/-ir verbs, we remove -er/-ir and add -í, -iste for 'you' and -ió for 'she, he,it'.
  • Spanish subject pronouns add emphasis or clarity when comparing different people.
  • Spanish singular subject pronouns are: 'yo' ('I'), 'tú' ('you'), 'él' ('he') and 'ella' ('she').
  • Adjectives usually come after the noun; however, certain prenominal adjectives come before the noun.
  • Prenominal adjectives 'primero' and 'tercero' drop the -o before a masculine singular noun.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • preterite: describes completed events in the past, e.g. 'I did'
  • prenominal adjective: an adjective that appears before the noun it describes
  • subject pronoun: represents the person, people or thing(s) doing the verb, e.g. 'I', 'we', 'they'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Adjectives always come after the noun in Spanish.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

To mean 'I' in the preterite with -er/-ir verbs, we remove -er/-ir and add -í, -iste for 'you' and -ió for 'she, he,it'. Spanish subject pronouns add emphasis or clarity when comparing different people.

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: Adjectives always come after the noun in Spanish. Correction: In Spanish, adjectives generally come after the noun; however, certain prenominal adjectives come before the noun, e.g. 'último', 'mismo', 'propio', 'primero', 'segundo', 'tercero'.

More Lessons In This Unit

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