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      Entrevista con Arturo Pérez Reverte: use imperfect and preterite together

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use knowledge of the imperfect and preterite to respond to reading comprehension questions in the context of the work of Arturo Pérez Reverte.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural imperfect endings of regular -er and -ir verbs are -íamos, -íais and -ían.
      2. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural imperfect forms of ‘ver’ are ‘veíamos’, ‘veíais’ and ‘veían’.
      3. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular imperfect endings of regular -ar verbs are -aba, -abas and -aba.
      4. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular imperfect endings of regular -er and -ir verbs are -ía, -ías, and -ía.
      5. Regular preterite tense endings are: -é, -aste, -ó for -ar verbs; and -í, -iste, -ió for -er and -ir verbs.

      Keywords

      • Imperfect - verb tense used to talk about something that used to happen repeatedly

      • Preterite - verb tense used to talk about something completed in the past

      Common misconception

      When answering reading comprehension questions, you should translate as much of the text as possible in the hope of including the correct answer.

      You should make sure that your answers to reading comprehension questions are specific by locating relevant vocabulary in the text before responding.

      Teacher tip

      Learning Cycle 1 is aimed at Higher Tier students. Starter and Exit Quiz Qs 2 and Exit Quiz Q3 are also aimed at Higher Tier students. You may wish to provide your class with the worksheet for Task C1 if you would like them to answer the questions in one go as it includes the full interview text.

      Licence

      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

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:nada,nothing, anything
      Correct Answer:papel,role
      Correct Answer:equilibrado,balanced
      Correct Answer:perdido,lost
      Correct Answer:cosa,thing
      Correct Answer:importar,to be important

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:referirse,to refer, referring
      Correct Answer:enamorarse de,to fall in love with, falling in love with
      Correct Answer:población,population
      Correct Answer:desaparecer,to disappear, disappearing
      Correct Answer:desear,to want, wanting (formal)
      Correct Answer:contar,to tell, telling

      Q3.
      What is 'you used to eat' in Spanish?

      comía
      Correct answer: comías
      comí
      comiste

      Q4.
      If 'querer' means 'to want, wanting', what is 'I used to want' in Spanish?

      Correct Answer: quería, yo quería

      Q5.
      Which infinitives are modal verbs?

      beber
      Correct answer: querer
      Correct answer: poder
      Correct answer: tener que
      vender

      Q6.
      Which verbs are in the preterite tense?

      Correct answer: ayudé
      Correct answer: ayudaste
      ayudaba
      Correct answer: ayudó
      ayudabas

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:pérdida,loss
      Correct Answer:no obstante,however, nevertheless
      Correct Answer:conclusión,conclusion
      Correct Answer:ningún,no, not ... any
      Correct Answer:salud,health
      Correct Answer:transgénero,transgender

      Q2.
      Match up the verbs.

      Correct Answer:aprendíamos,we used to learn
      Correct Answer:aprendíais,you (pl) used to learn
      Correct Answer:aprendían,they used to learn

      Q3.
      What is the Spanish for 'they used to be able to'?

      Correct Answer: podían, ellos podían, ellas podían

      Q4.
      Complete the sentence with the 1st person imperfect form of 'ver'. mucha pobreza en mi comunidad.

      Correct Answer: veía, yo veía

      Q5.
      What should you avoid doing when answering reading comprehension questions?

      locating relevant vocabulary in the text
      making an educated guess at the meanings of unknown words
      Correct answer: translating as much of the text as possible

      Q6.
      In what order would the words below appear in this text? __________ perdido y no __________ nada. __________ y un soldado me __________.

      1 - estaba
      2 - veía
      3 - grité
      4 - ayudó

      To help you plan your 10 Spanish lesson on: Entrevista con Arturo Pérez Reverte: use imperfect and preterite together, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...