New
New
Year 9

Past celebrations: -er and -ir verbs imperfect tense

Learning outcomes

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

I can pronounce words with [l] and [ll] confidently.

New
New
Year 9

Past celebrations: -er and -ir verbs imperfect tense

Learning outcomes

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

I can pronounce words with [l] and [ll] confidently.

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Lesson details

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.


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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.
'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

to attend, attending

Correct Answer:huir,to run away, to flee

to run away, to flee

Correct Answer:nacer,to be born, being born

to be born, being born

Correct Answer:oír,to hear, hearing

to hear, hearing

Correct Answer:celebrar,to celebrate, celebrating

to celebrate, celebrating

Correct Answer:correr,to run, running

to run, running

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:colina (f),hill

hill

Correct Answer:duda (f),doubt

doubt

Correct Answer:experiencia (f),experience

experience

Correct Answer:marido (m),husband

husband

Correct Answer:mujer (f),wife

wife

Correct Answer:raíz (f),root

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

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:fecha (f),date

date

Correct Answer:rato (m),time, while

time, while

Correct Answer:vecina (f),female neighbour

female neighbour

Correct Answer:vecino (m),male neighbour

male neighbour

Correct Answer:visita (f),visit

visit

Correct Answer:relación (f),relation

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

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