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      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

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      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

      to make the most of, take advantage of

      Correct Answer:bailar,to dance, dancing

      to dance, dancing

      Correct Answer:caminar,to walk, walking

      to walk, walking

      Correct Answer:celebrar,to celebrate, celebrating

      to celebrate, celebrating

      Correct Answer:descansar,to rest, resting

      to rest, resting

      Correct Answer:llegar,to arrive, arriving

      to arrive, arriving

      Q3.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:cámara (f),camera

      camera

      Correct Answer:canción (f),song

      song

      Correct Answer:fiesta (f),party

      party

      Correct Answer:lugar (m),place

      place

      Correct Answer:mar (m),sea

      sea

      Correct Answer:museo (m),museum

      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

      pasar

      Correct Answer:3,verano

      verano

      Correct Answer:5,vacaciones

      vacaciones

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:canto,I sing

      I sing

      Correct Answer:cantó,she, he, it sang

      she, he, it sang

      Correct Answer:canté,I sang

      I sang

      Correct Answer:canta,she, he, it sings

      she, he, it sings

      Correct Answer:cantas,you sing

      you sing

      Correct Answer:cantaste,you sang

      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...