Year 9 - Spanish
News events: present and imperfect continuous
Important events: present and imperfect continuous
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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 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 ongoing events in the present and the past, using the present and imperfect continuous tenses.
Key Notes
- The sound-spelling correspondences [n] and [ñ] are pronounced differently: like the [n] in 'poner' and the [ñ] in 'año'.
- 'Estar' means 'to be' and is used to express a state or location. 'You are' is 'estás' and 'you were' is 'estabas'.
- We use 'estar' in the present + present participle to describe ongoing events. This is called the present continuous.
- We use 'estar' in the imperfect + present participle to describe past ongoing events; this is the imperfect continuous.
- The present participle stays the same: remove the infinitive ending and add -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -er/-ir.
Vocabulary To Learn
- present continuous: describes events happening right now, e.g. 'I am doing'
- imperfect continuous: verb tense used to talk about ongoing actions in the past, what was happening
- estar: verb meaning 'to be', also the auxiliary verb for the present and imperfect continuous tenses
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- In the imperfect continuous I can tell who the subject of the verb is by looking at the form of 'estar' being used.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
The sound-spelling correspondences [n] and [ñ] are pronounced differently: like the [n] in 'poner' and the [ñ] in 'año'. 'Estar' means 'to be' and is used to express a state or location. 'You are' is 'estás' and 'you were' is 'estabas'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'present continuous'
describes events happening right now, e.g. '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: In the imperfect continuous I can tell who the subject of the verb is by looking at the form of 'estar' being used. Correction: The 'I' and 'he, she, it' forms of the imperfect tense of 'estar' are the same: 'estaba'. Therefore you have to use the context to work out who the subject of the verb is when this form is being used.
More Lessons In This Unit
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