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Year 8 - Spanish

News and media: -er verbs in 1st person plural

Comparing what people do: -ER and -IR verbs

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils learn to form the first person plural form of -er and -ir verbs, and the third person plural 'hacen'. They learn English has two translations of the Spanish present tense - present simple and continuous. Spanish subject pronouns are introduced. Stressed syllables are introduced.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use -er verbs in 1st person singular (you) and 1st person plural (we) to understand and talk about activities a journalist does.

Key Notes

  • If the stress is on the final syllable of a Spanish word ending in 'n' or 's', there is an accent on the last vowel.
  • Words ending in others consonants have final syllable stress and no accent, e.g. 'beber'.
  • Using the surrounding words in a sentence helps to work out the meaning of unfamiliar words.
  • The 1st person plural (we) ending for present tense -er verbs is -emos. The 1st person singular (I) ending is -o.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • final syllable stress: pronouncing the final syllable more heavily than other syllables in a word
  • -er verb: verb whose infinitive form ends in -er
  • 1st person plural: form of pronouns and verbs used to refer to 'we'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • To say what 'we do' instead of what 'I do' in Spanish, you just change the pronoun from 'I' to 'we' and keep the verb the same.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

If the stress is on the final syllable of a Spanish word ending in 'n' or 's', there is an accent on the last vowel. Words ending in others consonants have final syllable stress and no accent, e.g. 'beber'.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'final syllable stress'

pronouncing the final syllable more heavily than other syllables in a word. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: To say what 'we do' instead of what 'I do' in Spanish, you just change the pronoun from 'I' to 'we' and keep the verb the same. Correction: In Spanish it's the verb ending and not the pronoun that changes the subject of the verb, so you need to pay close attention to the verb form to know who is doing the action of the verb, e.g. 'I sell' - 'vendo', 'we sell' - 'vendemos'.

More Lessons In This Unit

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