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Year 8 - Spanish

Questions about past trips: regular preterite verbs 1st and 2nd person singular

Asking questions: -ar, -er, -ir verbs

Unit Summary

This unit revisits past and present regular -ar, -ir, -er verbs. Pupils listen to and ask questions using rising intonation, and are reminded that Spanish does not use do, did or does to ask questions. Pupils revisit penultimate syllable stress.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use preterite tense verbs to ask and answer questions about someone's past trip.

Key Notes

  • One effective and enjoyable way to learn vocabulary is through games that challenge you to recall words from memory.
  • The preterite tense is used for completed actions in the past.
  • To mean 'I' with an -ar verb, remove the ending and add -é. With an -er/-ir verb, add -í.
  • To mean 'you' with an -ar verb, remove the ending and add -aste. With an -er/-ir verb, add -iste.
  • To form questions in Spanish, use the same verb with a rising tone and write it between two question marks (¿ ?).

Vocabulary To Learn

  • preterite: a tense used for events completed in the past
  • intonation: rise and fall of the voice in speaking

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • When forming a question the verb form changes in Spanish like it does in English (auxiliary 'did' + verb).

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

One effective and enjoyable way to learn vocabulary is through games that challenge you to recall words from memory. The preterite tense is used for completed actions in the past.

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

a tense used for events completed in the past. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: When forming a question the verb form changes in Spanish like it does in English (auxiliary 'did' + verb). Correction: The verb stays the same in Spanish and only the intonation (spoken) or punctuation (written) marks the sentence as a question. There is no need to translate a form of 'do', 'did' etc.

More Lessons In This Unit

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