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Year 9 - Spanish

Local and international events: present 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 what you and others are doing at events now using the present continuous.

Key Notes

In Spanish, the sounds [b] and [v] are the same, as in 'abuela' and 'verde', so we need to learn spellings by heart.
To say what is happening now, we use the verb 'estar' with a present participle; this is called the present continuous.
The present participle is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for others.
To say 'these' for masculine nouns we use 'estos' and for feminine nouns 'estas'; these are demonstrative adjectives.
Relative pronoun 'que' means 'who' or 'that'. 'Donde' means 'where'; there is no accent when it's a relative pronoun.

Vocabulary To Learn

present continous: describes events happening right now: 'I am doing'
demonstrative adjective: specifies a particular noun, indicating 'this', 'that', 'these' or 'those'
relative pronoun: pronoun, e.g. 'que' that introduces a relative clause

Common Mistakes To Avoid

The feminine plural demonstrative adjective for 'these' is the same as the 'tú' form of the verb 'estar'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

In Spanish, the sounds [b] and [v] are the same, as in 'abuela' and 'verde', so we need to learn spellings by heart. To say what is happening now, we use the verb 'estar' with a present participle; this is called the present continuous.

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

describes events happening right now: 'I am doing'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: The feminine plural demonstrative adjective for 'these' is the same as the 'tú' form of the verb 'estar'. Correction: Accents are really important in Spanish. The 'tú' form of 'estar' has an accent on the á: 'estás' (you are) whereas the demonstrative adjective for plural feminine nouns, 'estas' does not: 'estas flores' (these flowers).

More Lessons In This Unit

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