Year 8 - Spanish
Films and cinema: present continuous and modal verbs
What is happening now: present continuous, 'este' and 'esta'
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn how to form the present continuous of -ar, -er, and -ir verbs to talk about what is happening now. Demonstratives 'esta' and 'estas' and modal verb 'querer' are revisited. In phonics, pupils revisit ante-penultimate syllable stress.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use the present continuous to describe what we or they are doing now, and 'querer' + infinitive to say what we or they want to do, in the context of describing film scenes.
Key Notes
- When a word has a stress on the antepenultimate syllable, it always has a written accent to show where the stress falls.
- To say what is happening right now, Spanish uses the present continuous which is a form of 'estar' + present participle.
- To form -er/-ir verb present participles, remove -er/-ir from the infinitive and add -iendo, e.g. 'están traduciendo'.
- The verb 'querer' is a modal verb and means 'to want' or 'to love'. To say 'they want', we use 'quieren'.
- 'Querer' is commonly used before an infinitive, to mean 'to want to', e.g. 'quieren conducir' ('they want to drive').
Vocabulary To Learn
- modal verbs: verb of necessity or possibility used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, e.g. 'must', 'can', 'want'
- querer: Spanish modal verb meaning 'to want' or 'to love'
- present continuous: describes events happening right now, e.g. 'I am doing'
- estar: Spanish verb meaning 'to be', also the auxiliary verb for the present continuous
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- To form the present continuous I just use 'está' + present participle.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
When a word has a stress on the antepenultimate syllable, it always has a written accent to show where the stress falls. To say what is happening right now, Spanish uses the present continuous which is a form of 'estar' + present participle.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'modal verbs'
verb of necessity or possibility used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, e.g. 'must', 'can', 'want'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: To form the present continuous I just use 'está' + present participle. Correction: To form the present continuous you first conjugate 'estar'; e.g. for 'they are' use 'están'. Then add the present participle; which is the verb stem + -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -er/-ir verbs, e.g. 'están hablando' - 'they are talking'.
More Lessons In This Unit
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