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      Past celebrations: -er and -ir verbs imperfect tense

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use the preterite and imperfect tenses to talk about celebrations in the past.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. Revisiting vocabulary often helps to move the words from your short-term to your long-term memory.
      2. For something completed in the past, we use the preterite tense, e.g. 'serví '- 'I served', 'serviste' - 'you served'.
      3. To talk about something that used to happen repeatedly in the past, we use the imperfect tense.
      4. To mean 'I' remove the endings and add -ía. For 'you' add -ías and for 'she, he, it' add -ía.

      Keywords

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

      • Imperfect tense - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past

      Common misconception

      It does not matter whether I use the preterite or the imperfect as both refer to the past.

      To talk about something completed in the past, we use the preterite tense. However, to talk about something that happened repeatedly in the past, with the meaning 'used to', we use the imperfect tense.

      Teacher tip

      The teacher might choose to show students a short video about Mexico.

      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

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      'Mis padres están __________ de mi hermano'. Choose the correct missing word.

      orgulloso
      orgullosa
      Correct answer: orgullosos
      orgullosas

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:asistir,to attend, attending
      Correct Answer:huir,to run away, to flee
      Correct Answer:nacer,to be born, being born
      Correct Answer:oír,to hear, hearing
      Correct Answer:celebrar,to celebrate, celebrating
      Correct Answer:correr,to run, running

      Q3.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:colina (f),hill
      Correct Answer:duda (f),doubt
      Correct Answer:experiencia (f),experience
      Correct Answer:marido (m),husband
      Correct Answer:mujer (f),wife
      Correct Answer:raíz (f),root

      Q4.
      Order the words to say: 'the Cuban woman speaks to the Cuban man in the courtyard'.

      1 - la cubana
      2 - habla
      3 - con
      4 - el cubano
      5 - en
      6 - el patio

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'el baño es pequeño'.

      Correct Answer: the bathroom is small

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'they live in a castle'.

      Correct Answer: viven en un castillo, ellos viven en un castillo, ellas viven en un castillo

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:fecha (f),date
      Correct Answer:rato (m),time, while
      Correct Answer:vecina (f),female neighbour
      Correct Answer:vecino (m),male neighbour
      Correct Answer:visita (f),visit
      Correct Answer:relación (f),relation

      Q2.
      Order the words to say: 'she used to eat meat and you used to eat sweets'.

      1 - ella
      2 - comía
      3 - carne
      4 - y
      5 -
      6 - comías
      7 - dulces

      Q3.
      Write in Spanish: 'you used to serve'.

      Correct Answer: servías, tú servías

      Q4.
      Write in Spanish: 'I travelled around'.

      Correct Answer: recorré, yo recorré

      To help you plan your 9 Spanish lesson on: Past celebrations: -er and -ir verbs imperfect tense, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...