Choose exam board for KS4 Computer Science (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 English
Choose exam board for KS4 French
Choose exam board for KS4 Geography
Choose exam board for KS4 German
Choose exam board for KS4 History
Choose tier for KS4 Maths
Choose exam board for KS4 Music
Choose exam board for KS4 Physical education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Religious education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Spanish

      Past holidays: singular -ar verbs in the preterite, intonation questions

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use the preterite tense to describe and ask about past holidays.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. In Spanish, syllables often contain consonant-vowel pairs, or a vowel with a consonant either side.
      2. The preterite tense is used to express completed actions in the past.
      3. To conjugate singular forms of the preterite tense for regular -ar verbs, remove the -ar and add -é, -aste, -ó.
      4. Raise your voice at the end of a statement to form an intonation question.

      Keywords

      • Syllable - single unit of pronunciation, part of a word you can say in one beat

      • Preterite - verb tense used for completed actions in the past, e.g. 'I listened', 'I bought'

      • Intonation question - question that is formed by raising the tone of voice at the end of a statement

      Common misconception

      When asking questions like 'Did you travel by plane?' in Spanish, I need to start by translating the word 'did'.

      To ask a 'did'-style question in Spanish, you can form an intonation question by simply raising your voice at the end of a past-tense sentence. It is not necessary to translate the word 'did'.

      Teacher tip

      The chunked nature of task C2 lends itself to mini-whiteboard use to assess for whole-class learning.

      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

      Loading...

      Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.

      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Which question means 'really?'?

      ¿cómo es?
      Correct answer: ¿de verdad?
      ¿de acuerdo?
      ¿por qué?
      ¿qué tal?

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:aprovechar,to make the most of, take advantage of
      Correct Answer:bailar,to dance, dancing
      Correct Answer:caminar,to walk, walking
      Correct Answer:celebrar,to celebrate, celebrating
      Correct Answer:descansar,to rest, resting
      Correct Answer:llegar,to arrive, arriving

      Q3.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:cámara (f),camera
      Correct Answer:canción (f),song
      Correct Answer:fiesta (f),party
      Correct Answer:lugar (m),place
      Correct Answer:mar (m),sea
      Correct Answer:museo (m),museum

      Q4.
      Order the words to say: 'a long journey and a pretty view'.

      1 - un
      2 - viaje
      3 - largo
      4 - y
      5 - una
      6 - vista
      7 - preciosa

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'visito un país interesante'.

      Correct Answer: I visit an interesting country

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'tengo un bicicleta nueva'.

      Correct Answer: I have a new bike, I have a new bicycle

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the words to the number of syllables.

      Correct Answer:1,
      Correct Answer:2,pasar
      Correct Answer:3,verano
      Correct Answer:5,vacaciones

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:canto,I sing
      Correct Answer:cantó,she, he, it sang
      Correct Answer:canté,I sang
      Correct Answer:canta,she, he, it sings
      Correct Answer:cantas,you sing
      Correct Answer:cantaste,you sang

      Q3.
      Write in Spanish: 'I prepared the food'.

      Correct Answer: preparé la comida, yo preparé la comida

      Q4.
      Write in Spanish: 'Did you travel to the coast?'.

      Correct Answer: viajaste a la costa, tú viajaste a la costa

      To help you plan your 9 Spanish lesson on: Past holidays: singular -ar verbs in the preterite, intonation questions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...