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      At school: -er and -ir verbs 1st person singular preterite

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use -er/-ir verbs to talk about what I did and do at school.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. If the final syllable is stressed and the word ends in a vowel or 'n' or 's' there is an accent on the final vowel.
      2. The 1st person singular of -er and -ir verbs in preterite ends in -í, e.g. 'describí'.
      3. The 1st person singular of -er and -ir verbs in present ends in -o, e.g.' describo'.

      Keywords

      • Preterite - describes completed events in the past, e.g. 'I did'

      • Present - describes habitual events in the present, e.g. 'I do'

      Common misconception

      -er and -ir verbs have different endings in the preterite.

      -er and -ir verbs share the same endings in the preterite. The 'I' form of both -er and -ir verbs is -í.

      Teacher tip

      The teacher might prefer to do Task A1 as a class activity.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), 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

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the English and Spanish.

      Correct Answer:to have dinner, having dinner,cenar
      Correct Answer:to speak, speaking,hablar
      Correct Answer:to help, helping,ayudar
      Correct Answer:to work, working,trabajar
      Correct Answer:to learn, learning,aprender

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish to the English.

      Correct Answer:dormir,to sleep, sleeping
      Correct Answer:escribir,to write, writing
      Correct Answer:decidir,to decide, deciding
      Correct Answer:repartir,to hand out, handing out
      Correct Answer:ir,to go, going

      Q3.
      Order the pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, they.

      1 - yo
      2 -
      3 - él
      4 - ella
      5 - nosotros, nosotras
      6 - ellos, ellas

      Q4.
      'I do my homework before sleeping.' Choose the correct translation.

      Hago mis deberes después de dormir.
      Haces mis deberes antes de dormir.
      Haces mis deberes después de dormir.
      Correct answer: Hago mis deberes antes de dormir.
      Hacer mis deberes antes de dormir.

      Q5.
      ' las respuestas después de dar mi actividad al profesor.' Choose the correct verb.

      Cené
      Hablé
      Ayudé
      Correct answer: Miré
      Trabajé

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'I learned'.

      Correct Answer: Aprendé., Yo aprendé.

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      If the final syllable of a word is stressed and the word ends in , there is an accent on the final vowel.

      n or s
      a consonant other than n or s
      Correct answer: a vowel, n or s
      a vowel

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:compartir,to share, sharing
      Correct Answer:describir,to describe, describing
      Correct Answer:imprimir,to print, printing
      Correct Answer:elegir,to choose, choosing

      Q3.
      Match the English and Spanish.

      Correct Answer:dialogue,el diálogo
      Correct Answer:short,corto, corta
      Correct Answer:long,largo, larga
      Correct Answer:finally,finalmente

      Q4.
      Which verb means 'I choose?'

      elegir
      Correct answer: elijo
      elegí

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'Describí el libro'.

      Correct Answer: I described the book.

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'I shared the answers.'

      Correct Answer: Compartí las respuestas., Yo compartí las respuestas.

      To help you plan your 8 Spanish lesson on: At school: -er and -ir verbs 1st person singular preterite, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...