New
New
Year 9

Friendships: personal 'a'

I can use the personal 'a' to describe relationships and actions involving friends.

New
New
Year 9

Friendships: personal 'a'

I can use the personal 'a' to describe relationships and actions involving friends.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. 'Z' is added before the 'co' to keep the soft 'c' sound in verbs ending in '-cer' or '-cir', e.g. 'conocer' - 'conozco'.
  2. To mean ‘you’, -er/-ir verbs end in -es. To mean ‘you all’, -er verbs end in -éis and -ir verbs end in -ís.
  3. IOPs indicate the person or thing affected by the verb. Use 'le' to mean 'to, for him, her, it', and 'les' for 'them'.
  4. Two structures are possible: subject + verb + indirect object or indirect object + verb + subject.
  5. We use the personal ‘a’ before the object when it’s a person or a thing.

Keywords

  • Indirect object pronoun - replaces the person, people or thing(s) that the verb action is done to, when the action is to me, for you, to them

  • Personal 'a' - preposition placed before a direct object when that object is a specific person or animal we have a name for

Common misconception

Spanish always uses English word order when using indirect objects (subject + verb + object).

In Spanish, the indirect object can go before or after the verb. Both 'le doy un regalo a mi hermano' and 'a mi hermano le doy un regalo' are correct - the second just adds emphasis to who receives the gift.


To help you plan your year 9 Spanish lesson on: Friendships: personal 'a', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

If there is time, the teacher can give students a list of characters to choose from. Students pick two and write four sentences showing actions between them, e.g. 'la niña le ofrece un dulce al niño', 'a la niña le vende una revista el niño'.
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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.
'¿Dónde está nuestra __________?'. Choose the correct missing word.

materiales
Correct answer: planta
bebidas
plato

Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:dejar,to let, to leave

to let, to leave

Correct Answer:desaparecer,to disappear, disappearing

to disappear, disappearing

Correct Answer:guardar,to save, saving

to save, saving

Correct Answer:hacer,to do, make

to do, make

Correct Answer:pasar,to spend (time), pass, happen

to spend (time), pass, happen

Correct Answer:usar,to use, using

to use, using

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:agua (m),water

water

Correct Answer:día (m),day

day

Correct Answer:esfuerzo (m),effort

effort

Correct Answer:fuego (m),fire

fire

Correct Answer:mundo (m),world

world

Correct Answer:vergüenza (f),embarrassment

embarrassment

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I never lose my mobile because it is important'.

1 - nunca
2 - pierdo
3 - mi
4 - móvil
5 - porque
6 - es
7 - importante

Q5.
Write in English: 'hay mucha basura'.

Correct Answer: there is a lot of rubbish, there is lots of rubbish, there's a lot of rubbish, there's lots of rubbish

Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'I give you an example'.

Correct Answer: te doy un ejemplo, yo te doy un ejemplo

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which sentences mean 'the girl helps the boy'?

El chico ayuda a la chica.
A la chica le ayuda el chico.
Correct answer: La chica ayuda al chico.
Correct answer: Al chico le ayuda la chica.
La chica ayuda a los chicos.

Q2.
Order the words to say: 'I offer her the chicken and she offers them the meat'.

1 - le
2 - ofrezco
3 - el pollo
4 - y
5 - les
6 - ofrece
7 - la carne

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:conoces,you know

you know

Correct Answer:imprimes,you print

you print

Correct Answer:conocéis,you all know

you all know

Correct Answer:imprimís,you all print

you all print

Q4.
Write in Spanish: 'I seem sad'.

Correct Answer: parezco triste, yo parezco triste

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