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Lesson 4 of 5
  • Year 8

Who does what? Personal 'a' and object-first word order

Learning outcomes

I can use the personal 'a' and object-first word order to describe the relationship between two people.

I can correctly pronounce words with silent 'h'.

Lesson 4 of 5
New
New
  • Year 8

Who does what? Personal 'a' and object-first word order

Learning outcomes

I can use the personal 'a' and object-first word order to describe the relationship between two people.

I can correctly pronounce words with silent 'h'.

Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The letter 'h' is silent in Spanish.
  2. There are two frequently used word orders in Spanish: subject + verb + object and object + verb + subject.
  3. The personal 'a' appears before the object if it’s a person or an animal.

Keywords

  • Subject - person, people or thing(s) doing the verb

  • Object - person, people or thing(s) receiving the action of the verb

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

Common misconception

In Spanish, like English, the object always goes after the verb.

In Spanish, unlike English, the object can go before or after the verb.


To help you plan your year 8 Spanish lesson on: Who does what? Personal 'a' and object-first word order, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For added challenge in Task C4, ask pupils to write their own sentences using different verbs such as 'escribir' and 'mandar', 'traer' and 'organizar'. For example, 'A Sofia le escribe mensajes Izzy'.
Teacher tip

Equipment

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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word is the opposite of 'barato'?

antiguo
bajo
Correct answer: caro
otro

Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:animal (m),animal

animal

Correct Answer:caballo (m),horse

horse

Correct Answer:gato (m),cat

cat

Correct Answer:pájaro (m),bird

bird

Correct Answer:profesor (m),teacher

teacher

Correct Answer:director (m),headteacher, director

headteacher, director

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:activo,active

active

Correct Answer:amarillo,yellow

yellow

Correct Answer:claro,clear

clear

Correct Answer:guapo,good-looking

good-looking

Correct Answer:tonto,silly

silly

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'the dark-haired boy and the nice girl'.

1 - el
2 - chico
3 - moreno
4 - y
5 - la
6 - chica
7 - simpática

Q5.
Write in English: 'tengo un amigo divertido'.

Correct Answer: I have a funny friend, I have a fun friend

Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'my friend (f) is tall'.

Correct Answer: mi amiga es alta

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which words are missing [h]?

_agua
Correct answer: _elado
_iglesia
Correct answer: _ospital
Correct answer: _uevo

Q2.
Which sentences are correct?

Correct answer: A Jun le preocupa Jacob.
A Jun Jacob le preocupa.
Correct answer: Jacob le preocupa a Jun.
Jacob a Jun le preocupa.
Le Jun preocupa a Jacob.

Q3.
Write in English: 'A Sam le alegra Andeep'.

Correct Answer: Andeep makes Sam happy, Andeep is making Sam happy

Q4.
Write in Spanish: 'Izzy annoys Laura'.

Correct Answer: Izzy le molesta a Laura, A Laura le molesta Izzy