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      Entre amigos: preterite and imperfect, role-play (Edexcel)

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can understand and translate verbs in the preterite and imperfect tenses, and respond confidently to role-play scenarios relating to family and celebrations.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. To conjugate regular -are verbs in the preterite tense, use the endings -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron.
      2. To conjugate regular -er/-ir verbs in the preterite tense, use the endings -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
      3. To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect tense, use the endings -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -ábais, -aban.
      4. To conjugate regular -er/-ir verbs in the imperfect tense, use the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
      5. The only irregular verbs in the imperfect tense are 'ir' ('iba'), 'ser' ('era') and 'ver' ('veía').

      Keywords

      • Preterite - tense used to express completed events in the past

      • Imperfect - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past

      Common misconception

      The only translation of 'I visited' in Spanish is 'visité'.

      In Spanish, 'visité' means 'I visited' for a single, completed action in the past. You could also, however, use 'visitaba' to mean 'I visited' for an action that happened repeatedly over a period of time.

      Teacher tip

      It is important to be aware of the fact that Edexcel does not require role-play answers to contain a verb, whereas AQA does.

      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.
      Which celebration involves the burning of papier mâché models?

      Día de Muertos
      Día de Reyes
      Correct answer: Las Fallas
      La Tomatina
      Nochevieja

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:abrir,to open, opening

      to open, opening

      Correct Answer:buscar,to look for

      to look for

      Correct Answer:gritar,to shout, shouting

      to shout, shouting

      Correct Answer:perder,to lose, miss

      to lose, miss

      Correct Answer:apreciar,to appreciate, appreciating

      to appreciate, appreciating

      Correct Answer:vivir,to live, living

      to live, living

      Q3.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:llave (f),key

      key

      Correct Answer:otoño (m),autumn

      autumn

      Correct Answer:aventura (f),adventure

      adventure

      Correct Answer:recuerdo (m),memory, souvenir

      memory, souvenir

      Correct Answer:ganas (fpl),desire, wish

      desire, wish

      Correct Answer:cita (f),appointment

      appointment

      Q4.
      Order the words to say: 'the film will be exciting but the ticket was expensive'.

      1 - la película
      2 - será
      3 - emocionante
      4 - pero
      5 - la entrada
      6 - fue
      7 - cara

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'en primavera hace frío'.

      Correct Answer: in spring it is cold, in spring it's cold, it is cold in spring, it's cold in spring

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'we went to the theme park'. Do not include the pronoun.

      Correct Answer: fuimos al parque temático

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      Which verbs are irregular in the imperfect tense?

      estar
      Correct answer: ir
      Correct answer: ser
      tener
      Correct answer: ver

      Q2.
      Which verbs mean 'I danced'?

      bailo
      bailaré
      Correct answer: bailé
      Correct answer: bailaba
      bailaría

      Q3.
      Write in Spanish: 'you worked and you ate'. Use the preterite.

      Correct Answer: trabajaste y comiste, tú trabajaste y tú comiste

      Q4.
      Write in Spanish: 'he wrote and she celebrated'. Use the imperfect.

      Correct Answer: escribía y celebraba, él escribía y ella celebraba

      To help you plan your 11 Spanish lesson on: Entre amigos: preterite and imperfect, role-play (Edexcel), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...