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Acciones para un mundo mejor: 'ir' imperfect, past continuous

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can use the imperfect, preterite and past continuous tenses in the context of protests and social movements.

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. 'iba', 'ibas' and 'iba' are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular imperfect forms of 'ir'. These are irregular.
  2. The preterite tense is used to talk about something completed in the past.
  3. The imperfect tense is used to talk about something that used to happen repeatedly in the past.
  4. The past continuous is created by combining imperfect forms of 'estar' with the present participle.
  5. When 'cuando' indicates an interruption to a past continuous action, the preterite tense is generally used afterwards.

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

  • Past continuous - verb tense used to talk about what was happening

  • Cuando - word used to introduce relative clauses, meaning 'when'

Common misconception

The only translation of 'iba' is 'I used to go'.

'iba' can means 'I used to go' or 'she, he, it used to go'. As 'iba' has several meanings, it’s important to consider to context of the sentence to work out who it refers to.

Teacher tip

If some students need extra scaffolding for Task C2, you could provide them with the English translation of the text to help them fill in the gaps. This is available on the slide deck feedback and the worksheet answers for this lesson.

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:Nochebuena,Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Correct Answer:Nochevieja,New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve

Correct Answer:Reyes Magos,Three Kings

Three Kings

Correct Answer:Día de Reyes,Epiphany (6th January)

Epiphany (6th January)

Correct Answer:santo,saint

saint

Correct Answer:cristiano,christian

christian

Q2.
Which statement best describes the imperfect tense?

it is used to talk about something completed in the past
Correct answer: it is used to talk about something that used to happen repeatedly in the past
it is used to talk about something that is ongoing in the present

Q3.
What is 'you used to help' (singular, informal) in Spanish?

ayudas
ayudaba
Correct answer: ayudabas
ayudé

Q4.
What is the preterite tense verb in this sentence? Estaba caminando por la calle cuando escuché un ruido detrás de mí.

estaba
Correct answer: caminando
escuché

Q5.
What is the present participle of the verb 'hablar' (to talk, talking)?

Correct Answer: hablando

Q6.
Order the words to translate this sentence: I was eating when I decided to dance.

1 - estaba
2 - comiendo
3 - cuando
4 - decidí
5 - bailar

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the Spanish and English.

Correct Answer:evento,event

event

Correct Answer:huelga,strike

strike

Correct Answer:paz,peace

peace

Correct Answer:manifestación,protest

protest

Correct Answer:campaña,campaign

campaign

Correct Answer:planta,floor (of a building)

floor (of a building)

Q2.
The __________ tense is used to talk about something that happened repeatedly in the past.

preterite
Correct answer: imperfect
past continuous

Q3.
Which form of the verb 'ir' completes this sentence?: Lucas a la costa en mayo (Lucas used to go to the coast in May).

Correct Answer: iba

Q4.
In which order would the verbs appear in this sentence? __________ de vacaciones a España cada año pero el verano pasado __________ a México.

1 - iba
2 - fui

Q5.
Which is an example of the past continuous?

Correct answer: estaba hablando
estoy hablando
estamos hablando

Q6.
Complete the sentence with the correct form of ‘entrar’. Estaba hablando cuando en la cocina.

Correct answer: entré
entraba
entrando

To help you plan your 10 Spanish lesson on: Acciones para un mundo mejor: 'ir' imperfect, past continuous, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...