New
New
Year 9

Rigoberta Menchú: -ar verbs 1st and 2nd person singular (preterite)

I can use -ar verbs in the preterite tense to ask and answer questions about other people's past experiences.

New
New
Year 9

Rigoberta Menchú: -ar verbs 1st and 2nd person singular (preterite)

I can use -ar verbs in the preterite tense to ask and answer questions about other people's past experiences.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Word mastery includes recognising, understanding, and using a word in different contexts.
  2. The preterite tense is used to talk about events completed in the past.
  3. For -ar verbs, to say 'I', remove the -ar and -é. For 'you' add -aste, and for 'she, he, it' add -ó.
  4. Spanish doesn’t have a word for 'do' or 'did' in questions. When asking questions, only the main verb is used.

Keywords

  • Preterite tense - a tense used for events completed in the past

Common misconception

We have to use a word like 'did' in Spanish questions.

In Spanish, you don't need a word like do or did to ask questions. The verb ending itself shows the tense and subject, e.g. '¿Trabajaste en el campo?' - 'Did you work in the countryside?'.


To help you plan your year 9 Spanish lesson on: Rigoberta Menchú: -ar verbs 1st and 2nd person singular (preterite), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The teacher could use the interrogative explanation slides as a rapid-response activity with mini whiteboards. Optimally, pupils will have the worksheet to complete the final speaking activity so that they can sit back to back to create an 'information gap'.
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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.
Which word or phrase means 'about'?

así que
hoy
que
solo
Correct answer: sobre

Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:creer,to believe, believing

to believe, believing

Correct Answer:dirigir,to direct, directing

to direct, directing

Correct Answer:escapar,to escape, escaping

to escape, escaping

Correct Answer:leer,to read, reading

to read, reading

Correct Answer:publicar,to publish, publishing

to publish, publishing

Correct Answer:visitar,to visit, visiting

to visit, visiting

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:arte (m),art

art

Correct Answer:ánimo (m),encouragement

encouragement

Correct Answer:colegio (m),school

school

Correct Answer:letra (f),letter

letter

Correct Answer:opción (f),option

option

Correct Answer:sueño (m),dream

dream

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'my friend always makes me laugh'.

1 - mi
2 - amigo
3 - siempre
4 - me
5 - da
6 - risa

Q5.
Write in English: 'la actriz tiene apoyo'.

Correct Answer: the actress has support

Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'I have a lot of money'.

Correct Answer: tengo mucho dinero, yo tengo mucho dinero

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
'Debe traducir las __________ rusas'. Choose the correct missing word.

correcta
libros
frase
Correct answer: palabras
paredes

Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:tomar,to take, taking

to take, taking

Correct Answer:tomé,I took

I took

Correct Answer:tomaste,you took

you took

Correct Answer:tomó,she, he, it took

she, he, it took

Q3.
Write in English: '¿Trabajaste en una escuela?'.

Correct Answer: did you work in a school

Q4.
Write in Spanish: 'Did she listen?'.

Correct Answer: escuchó, ella escuchó

Additional material

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