Routines: personal 'a' and contraction 'al'
I know how to use personal 'a' with the contraction 'al' and a range of adjectives, to understand and describe routine activities.
Routines: personal 'a' and contraction 'al'
I know how to use personal 'a' with the contraction 'al' and a range of adjectives, to understand and describe routine activities.
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Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- In Spanish we use a personal 'a' between the verb and the direct object if the object is a specific person or pet.
- The article 'el' ('the') refers to a singular masculine noun. If personal 'a' is followed by 'el', it becomes 'al'.
- Some adjectives come before the noun in Spanish, these are called prenominal adjectives, e.g. 'mismo', 'propio'.
- Certain prenominal adjectives, 'bueno', 'primero', 'tercero' and 'malo', lose their -o ending before a masculine noun.
- These adjectives may appear in sentences with personal 'a' or 'al', e.g. 'conoces a un buen doctor'.
Keywords
Personal 'a' - preposition placed before a direct object when that object is a specific person or pet
Al - contraction of the preposition 'a' with the article 'el'
Prenominal adjectives - adjective that goes before the noun
Common misconception
All prenominal adjectives ending in -o drop the -o before masculine nouns.
Not all prenominal adjectives ending in -o drop it before a masculine noun, although there are many common ones that do like 'bueno' and 'malo'. However 'segundo' and 'último' do not, and there are others that hold on to their -o too.
To help you plan your year 8 spanish lesson on: Routines: personal 'a' and contraction 'al', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 spanish lesson on: Routines: personal 'a' and contraction 'al', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
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Explore more key stage 3 spanish lessons from the Relationships and daily life: personal 'a', pronouns unit, dive into the full secondary spanish curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
heat
success
side
reason
sleepiness
luck
Exit quiz
4 Questions
a
al
nothing