New
New
Year 9

Where people go and went: simple present and preterite

Learning outcomes

I can use present and past tense verbs to talk about where people go and went.

I can identify when to use or remove an accent based on penultimate or antepenultimate syllable stress.

New
New
Year 9

Where people go and went: simple present and preterite

Learning outcomes

I can use present and past tense verbs to talk about where people go and went.

I can identify when to use or remove an accent based on penultimate or antepenultimate syllable stress.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Many English adverbs ending in -ly become -mente in Spanish, e.g. 'especial' - 'especialmente'.
  2. If an adjective has -o/-a forms, use the -a form + -mente to make the adverb, e.g. 'lento' - 'lenta' - 'lentamente'.
  3. Words ending in -n or -s generally stress the penultimate syllable and do not need an accent, e.g. 'examen'.
  4. Adding the plural ending -es shifts stress to the antepenultimate syllable, so an accent is needed, e.g. 'exámenes'.
  5. 'Voy', 'vas', 'va' are the simple present forms of the verb 'ir', and 'fui', 'fuiste', 'fue' are the preterite forms.

Keywords

  • Penultimate syllable stress - pronouncing the second-last syllable more heavily than other syllables in a word

  • Antepenultimate stress - pronouncing the third-last syllable more heavily than other syllables in a word

  • Simple present - describes habitual events in the present, e.g. 'I do'

  • Preterite - a tense used for events completed in the past, e.g. 'I did'

Common misconception

All Spanish adverbs are made by simply adding -mente to any adjective form.

When an adjective has masculine -o and feminine -a forms, you must use the -a form before adding -mente, e.g. 'rápido' - 'rápida' - 'rápidamente'.


To help you plan your year 9 Spanish lesson on: Where people go and went: simple present and preterite, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

To avoid printing for task A2, project the word list and have students race to write the correct Spanish words in their books instead - the first to finish correctly wins the point.
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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.
Which word is not a compass direction?

oeste
este
sur
Correct answer: esta
norte

Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:bajar,to lower, lowering

to lower, lowering

Correct Answer:comprar,to buy, buying

to buy, buying

Correct Answer:descubrir,to discover, discovering

to discover, discovering

Correct Answer:escribir,to write, writing

to write, writing

Correct Answer:visitar,to visit, visiting

to visit, visiting

Correct Answer:viajar,to travel, travelling

to travel, travelling

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:avión (m),plane

plane

Correct Answer:frontera (f),border

border

Correct Answer:iglesia (f),church

church

Correct Answer:paseo (m),walk

walk

Correct Answer:sociedad (f),society

society

Correct Answer:tienda (f),shop

shop

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'the girlfriend does not talk to her boyfriend'.

1 - la
2 - novia
3 - no
4 - habla
5 - con
6 - su
7 - novio

Q5.
Write in English: 'me gusta ir a Italia'.

Correct Answer: I like going to Italy, I like to go to Italy

Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'sometimes he goes to France'.

Correct Answer: a veces va a Francia, a veces él va a Francia

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which word means 'necessarily'?

necesario
necesaria
necesariomente
Correct answer: necesariamente
necesidad

Q2.
Which words need an accent?

resumen
Correct answer: examenes
joven
Correct answer: imagenes

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:voy,I go, I am going

I go, I am going

Correct Answer:vas,you go, you are going

you go, you are going

Correct Answer:va,she, he, it goes; she, he it is going

she, he, it goes; she, he it is going

Correct Answer:fui,I went

I went

Correct Answer:fuiste,you went

you went

Correct Answer:fue,she, he, it went

she, he, it went

Q4.
Write in Spanish: 'I went to the countryside'.

Correct Answer: fui al campo, yo fui al campo

Additional material

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