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Year 9 - Spanish

Local and international events: imperfect continuous

Important events: present and imperfect continuous

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils combine imperfect forms of 'estar' with a present participle to talk about events in progress, and use the preterite for interruptions. 'Donde' and 'cuando' are introduced as relative pronouns for subject relative clauses. Demonstratives 'estos' and 'estas' are revisited.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to describe past events using the imperfect continuous combined with the preterite tense.

Key Notes

We can create nouns in Spanish by adding -idad to singular adjectives ending in a consonant. E.g. real to realidad.
The singular forms of 'estar' in the imperfect tense are 'estaba' (I was or he, she, was) and 'estabas' (you were).
To talk about ongoing events in the past we use 'estar' in the imperfect tense with a present participle.
The preterite is used for completed actions, remove the -ar verb ending and add -é (I), -aste (you) or -ó (he, she, it).
We can combine these two tenses to describe events in the past: 'Estaba escuchando la radio cuando noté un olor raro.'

Vocabulary To Learn

imperfect continuous: verb tense used to talk about ongoing actions in the past, what 'was happening'
estaba: I was/he, she, it was
estabas: you (singular) were

Common Mistakes To Avoid

To form the imperfect continuous instead of the present continuous both the form of 'estar' and the present participle need to change.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

We can create nouns in Spanish by adding -idad to singular adjectives ending in a consonant. E.g. real to realidad. The singular forms of 'estar' in the imperfect tense are 'estaba' (I was or he, she, was) and 'estabas' (you were).

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

verb tense used to talk about ongoing actions in the past, what 'was happening'. 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 imperfect continuous instead of the present continuous both the form of 'estar' and the present participle need to change. Correction: To form the imperfect continuous, only the form of 'estar' needs to change, into the imperfect tense. The present participle stays the same, it is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for all other verbs.

More Lessons In This Unit

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