New
New
Year 8

Exercise and fitness: present continuous with -ar verbs

Learning outcomes

I can use the present continuous of -ar verbs in their singular forms to describe current or ongoing events.

I know where to place accents on words with stress on the antepenultimate or penultimate syllable.

New
New
Year 8

Exercise and fitness: present continuous with -ar verbs

Learning outcomes

I can use the present continuous of -ar verbs in their singular forms to describe current or ongoing events.

I know where to place accents on words with stress on the antepenultimate or penultimate syllable.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. When a word has antepenultimate (third-last) syllable stress, it always has an accent on the vowel of that syllable.
  2. Words with penultimate syllable stress ending in any consonant other than -n or -s have an accent on that syllable.
  3. The singular forms of 'estar' in the present tense are 'estoy' ('I am'), 'estás' ('you are') and 'está' ('she, he is').
  4. We use the present continuous to express an ongoing event. It is formed by using 'estar' + the present participle.
  5. The present particple of -ar verbs is formed by removing the -ar from the infinitive and adding -ando.

Keywords

  • Estar - Spanish verb meaning 'to be', also the auxiliary verb for the present continuous

  • Present continous - describes events happening right now, e.g. 'I am doing'

  • Present participle - verb form that forms the present continuous, together with the auxiliary verb 'estar'

Common misconception

To form the present continuous I use the present tense of 'estar' followed by an infinitive, as with other two-verb structures I know, i.e. modal verbs.

To form the present continuous you use the present tense of 'estar' followed by the present participle. For -ar verbs this is formed by removing the -ar ending and adding -ando, e.g. 'estoy saltando' ('I am jumping').


To help you plan your year 8 Spanish lesson on: Exercise and fitness: present continuous with -ar verbs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The present continuous lends itself well to miming activities where students have to guess what each other are pretending to do, e.g. '¿Está bailando?', '¿Está caminando?'.
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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.
To make a sentence negative in Spanish, we add the word ' ' before the verb.
Correct Answer: no
Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.
Correct Answer:guardar,to keep, keeping

to keep, keeping

Correct Answer:llorar,to cry, crying

to cry, crying

Correct Answer:pagar,to pay, paying

to pay, paying

Correct Answer:parecer,to seem, seeming

to seem, seeming

Correct Answer:querer,to want, to love

to want, to love

Correct Answer:volver,to return, returning

to return, returning

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.
Correct Answer:euro (m),euro

euro

Correct Answer:frío (m),coldness

coldness

Correct Answer:mes (m),month

month

Correct Answer:mitad (f),half

half

Correct Answer:precio (m),price

price

Correct Answer:tipo (m),type

type

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'the book is light and the story is practical'.
1 - el
2 - libro
3 - es ligero
4 - y
5 - la
6 - historia
7 - es práctica
Q5.
Write in English: 'es una marca famosa'.
Correct Answer: it is a famous brand, it's a famous brand
Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'she has a red skirt'.
Correct Answer: tiene una falda roja, ella tiene una falda roja

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which words require an accent?
historia
Correct answer: caracter
marca
mitad
Correct answer: sabado
Q2.
Match the Spanish and English.
Correct Answer:estar,to be, being

to be, being

Correct Answer:estoy,I am

I am

Correct Answer:estás,you are

you are

Correct Answer:está,she, he, it is

she, he, it is

Q3.
Which sentence means 'I am waiting'?
estoy esperar
estoy espero
Correct answer: estoy esperando
estar espero
estar esperando
Q4.
Write in Spanish: 'you are speaking'.
Correct Answer: estás hablando, tú estás hablando

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