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Year 9 - Spanish

Extended reading (Don Quijote): imperfect continuous

Past routines and past events: imperfect tense

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils learn how to form the imperfect tense for past habitual events with -ar, -er, -ir verbs. Irregular imperfect forms for 'ser' 'era' and 'eras' are also taught. Pupils reinforce their knowledge of the imperfect tense by exploring the text 'El Quijote'.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use the imperfect continuous to talk about what you and other people were doing in the past.

Key Notes

  • Words stressed on the penultimate syllable don't have an accent if they end in a vowel, -n or -s.
  • The imperfect continuous describes what someone was doing, e.g. 'estaba(s) caminando por la montaña.'
  • The preterite tense is used for completed actions in the past.
  • We can give extra information about when something happened using the relative pronoun 'cuando'.
  • We use 'cuando' + preterite to show a short action interrupts a longer, ongoing action.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • imperfect continuous: verb tense used to talk about ongoing actions in the past, what was happening
  • preterite: a tense used for events completed in the past
  • cuando: relative pronoun meaning 'when'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • When I talk about a past action I must always use the preterite.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Words stressed on the penultimate syllable don't have an accent if they end in a vowel, -n or -s. The imperfect continuous describes what someone was doing, e.g. 'estaba(s) caminando por la montaña.'.

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: When I talk about a past action I must always use the preterite. Correction: The preterite is used for actions that are completed and finished in the past. The imperfect is used for ongoing, habitual, or background actions in the past - things that were happening or used to happen.

More Lessons In This Unit

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