Year 9 - Spanish
Past celebrations: -er and -ir verbs imperfect tense
Past routines and past events: imperfect tense
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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 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 preterite and imperfect tenses to talk about celebrations in the past.
Key Notes
- Revisiting vocabulary often helps to move the words from your short-term to your long-term memory.
- For something completed in the past, we use the preterite tense, e.g. 'serví '- 'I served', 'serviste' - 'you served'.
- To talk about something that used to happen repeatedly in the past, we use the imperfect tense.
- To mean 'I' remove the endings and add -ía. For 'you' add -ías and for 'she, he, it' add -ía.
Vocabulary To Learn
- preterite tense: tense used for events completed in the past
- imperfect tense: tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- It does not matter whether I use the preterite or the imperfect as both refer to the past.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Revisiting vocabulary often helps to move the words from your short-term to your long-term memory. For something completed in the past, we use the preterite tense, e.g. 'serví '- 'I served', 'serviste' - 'you served'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'preterite tense'
tense used for events completed in the past. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: It does not matter whether I use the preterite or the imperfect as both refer to the past. Correction: To talk about something completed in the past, we use the preterite tense. However, to talk about something that happened repeatedly in the past, with the meaning 'used to', we use the imperfect tense.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Extended reading (Don Quijote): 'había' and 'tenía' Study Guide
- Extended reading (Don Quijote): imperfect continuous Study Guide
- Past experiences of work: -ar verbs imperfect tense 1st person singular Study Guide
- Past experiences of work: -ar verbs imperfect tense 2nd and 3rd person singular Study Guide
- Past routines: -er and -ir verbs imperfect tense Study Guide
- The past of a Spanish-speaking city: 'era', 'eras' Study Guide
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