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      Pequeños grandes cambios: perfect and present tenses

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use the present and perfect tenses to talk about small changes that have a big impact on our lives.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. The perfect tense is used to express what has happened.
      2. To conjugate the perfect tense, use 'he', 'has', 'ha', 'hemos', 'habéis' or 'han' (from 'haber') + past participle.
      3. To form the past participle of regular verbs, remove the -ar/-er/-ar and add -ado (-ar verbs) or -ido (-er/-ir verbs).
      4. Remember to use the correct ending to refer to the right person in the present tense.

      Keywords

      • Perfect tense - tense used to express what has happened, e.g. 'I have listened', 'I have bought'

      • Haber - special verb that helps form the perfect tense in Spanish, translated as 'have, has' in English, e.g. 'I have lived', 'he has spoken'

      • Auxiliary - verb that helps form part of a 2-verb tense structure

      • Past participle - form of a verb used to form the perfect tense, e.g. 'listened', 'bought'

      Common misconception

      All past participles in Spanish end in -ado (-ar verbs) or -ido (-er/-ir verbs).

      Although most Spanish past participles do follow these regular patterns, some verbs have irregular past participles which just need to be learnt, e.g. 'escrito' ('written'), 'visto' ('seen'), 'hecho' ('done'), 'dicho' ('said').

      Teacher tip

      Teachers can end this lesson with a gratitude and micro-habit reflection exercise using sentence stems that clearly distinguish the tenses, e.g. 'Hoy estoy agradecido/a por/porque' and 'Cada día' + verb in the present tense.

      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 word means 'also, as well, besides'?

      Correct answer: además
      alguien
      demasiado
      mayor
      siempre

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:desayunar,to eat breakfast, eating breakfast

      to eat breakfast, eating breakfast

      Correct Answer:discutir,to argue, discuss

      to argue, discuss

      Correct Answer:esperar,to hope, wait

      to hope, wait

      Correct Answer:ignorar,to ignore, ignoring

      to ignore, ignoring

      Correct Answer:inventar,to invent, inventing

      to invent, inventing

      Correct Answer:dar,to give, giving

      to give, giving

      Q3.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:francés (m),French

      French

      Correct Answer:jueves (m),Thursday

      Thursday

      Correct Answer:habitación (f),room, bedroom

      room, bedroom

      Correct Answer:primer plano (m),foreground

      foreground

      Correct Answer:segundo plano (m),background

      background

      Correct Answer:título (m),title

      title

      Q4.
      Order the words to say: 'both books are here on the table'.

      1 - ambos
      2 - libros
      3 - están
      4 - aquí
      5 - en
      6 - la
      7 - mesa

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'es el dueño de la casa'.

      Correct Answer: he is the owner of the house, he's the owner of the house

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'it is still broken'.

      Correct Answer: todavía está roto, todavía está rota

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      Which verb does not have an irregular past participle?

      decir
      escribir
      hacer
      Correct answer: tener
      ver

      Q2.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:he,I have

      I have

      Correct Answer:has,you have

      you have

      Correct Answer:ha,she, he, it has

      she, he, it has

      Correct Answer:hemos,we have

      we have

      Correct Answer:habéis,you all have

      you all have

      Correct Answer:han,they have

      they have

      Q3.
      Match the verbs and pronouns.

      Correct Answer:yo,empleo

      empleo

      Correct Answer:,rechazas

      rechazas

      Correct Answer:ella, él,reconoce

      reconoce

      Correct Answer:nosotras, nosotros,insistimos

      insistimos

      Correct Answer:vosotras, vosotros,vivís

      vivís

      Correct Answer:ellas, ellos,beben

      beben

      Q4.
      Write in Spanish: 'I have spoken and you have eaten'. Do not include the pronouns.

      Correct Answer: he hablado y has comido

      To help you plan your 11 Spanish lesson on: Pequeños grandes cambios: perfect and present tenses, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...