New
New
Year 5

Today vs. in general: 'son' and 'están'

I can say how people are, today and in general.

New
New
Year 5

Today vs. in general: 'son' and 'están'

I can say how people are, today and in general.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Practising and revisiting vocabulary helps reinforce learning and improves communication skills.
  2. There are two verbs 'to be, being' in Spanish: 'ser' and 'estar'.
  3. From the verb ‘estar’, 'están' is 'they are' for location and temporary states.
  4. From the verb ‘ser’, 'son' is 'they are' for general traits.
  5. Adjectives agree with the gender and number of the noun.

Keywords

  • Están - 'they are' for location and temporary state, part of the verb 'estar'

  • Son - 'they are' for general traits, part of the verb 'ser'

Common misconception

There is only one way to say 'they are' in Spanish.

In Spanish, there are two verbs for 'to be, being': estar and ser. To say 'they are'with estar, we use 'están' for location and temporary states. To say 'they are' with ser, we use 'son' for general traits.


To help you plan your year 5 Spanish lesson on: Today vs. in general: 'son' and 'están', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

As an extension to task B4, some pupils may like to create their own sentences using están, son, estamos and somos. This could be an individual or paired task so that pupils could use their knowledge of estar and ser and adjectival agreement.
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Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the Spanish to the English.
Correct Answer:aprender,to learn, learning

to learn, learning

Correct Answer:comer,to eat, eating

to eat, eating

Correct Answer:escuchar,to listen, listening

to listen, listening

Correct Answer:jugar,to play, playing

to play, playing

Correct Answer:practicar,to practise, practising

to practise, practising

Correct Answer:preparar,to prepare, preparing

to prepare, preparing

Q2.
Which word means 'to wear, wearing'?
leer
Correct answer: llevar
ser
estar
escribir
Q3.
'__________ contentas hoy.' Which words best complete this sentence?
somos
soy
Correct answer: estamos
estás
Correct answer: están
Q4.
Order the words to say 'normally the adults are annoying and serious'.
1 - normalmente
2 - los
3 - adultos
4 - son
5 - pesados
6 - y
7 - serios
Q5.
'Los gatos están cansados pero tranquilos.' Translate this sentence into English.
Correct Answer: The cats are tired but calm
Q6.
'We are always active together.' Translate this sentence into Spanish.
Correct Answer: Somos siempre activas juntas, Somos siempre activos juntos

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the Spanish to the English.
Correct Answer:estoy,I am (temporary state)

I am (temporary state)

Correct Answer:estamos,we are (temporary state)

we are (temporary state)

Correct Answer:están,they are (temporary state)

they are (temporary state)

Correct Answer:soy,I am (permanent trait)

I am (permanent trait)

Correct Answer:somos,we are (permanent trait)

we are (permanent trait)

Correct Answer:son,they are (permanent trait)

they are (permanent trait)

Q2.
Which word means 'sentence'?
cama
profesora
canción
clase
Correct answer: frase
Q3.
Fill in the gap. Esta tarde, las niñas __________ nerviosas porque tienen un examen.
son
somos
estamos
Correct answer: están
está
Q4.
Order the words to say 'we are always positive but today we are angry'.
1 - somos
2 - siempre
3 - positivos
4 - pero
5 - hoy
6 - estamos
7 - enfadados
Q5.
'A veces mi hermano está tonto.' Translate this sentence into English.
Correct Answer: Sometimes my brother is silly
Q6.
'Today they are ill and sad.' Translate this sentence into Spanish.
Correct Answer: Hoy están enfermas y tristes, Hoy están enfermos y tristes, Hoy están enfermas y tristes

Additional material

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