LENGUA RICA INTERMEDIATE HOMEWORK PAGE
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Lavanda Homework Class 1
Lavanda Homework Class 2
Lavanda Homework Class 3
Lavanda Homework Class 4
Lavanda Homework Class 5
Lavanda Homework Class 6
Lavanda Homework Class 7
 

Lavanda Class 1

Lesson 1: The Preterite Tense
The preterite is one of the principle past tenses in Spanish. Its uses:
-To express that an action happened and was completed in the past.
-To express that an action happened or began at a particular time in the past.
(When we go over the IMPERFECT tense, you?ll see that the first use is relative.)

Examples:
Ayer, hablé con dos estudiantes. (Yesterday, I spoke with two students.)
Hace tres años, viajé a Ecuador. (Three years ago, I traveled to Ecuador.)

Lesson 2: First Conjugation Verbs in the Preterite (-AR Verbs)
First conjugation preterite endings are as follows:
-é    -amos
-aste
-ó    -aron

Example:
HABLAR
hablé        hablamos
hablaste
habló        hablaron

Lesson 3: Second and Third Conjugation Verbs in the Preterite (-ER & -IR Verbs)
Second and third conjugation preterite endings are the same:
-í    -imos
-iste
-ió    -ieron

Examples:
COMER
comí        comimos
comiste
comió        comieron

VIVIR
viví        vivimos
viviste
vivió        vivieron

ASSIGNMENT 1
Practice the form of the preterite by writing out the full conjugation for three regular verbs from each group (3 -AR, 3 -ER, 3 -IR).

ASSIGNMENT 2
Practice these verbs and others ORALLY, conjugating them by memory, without looking, until you have them down.

ASSIGNMENT 3
Write a page, double spaced, which details a sequence of events from yesterday, or your last trip to Cancún or whatever.

All verbs should be in the preterite. Endeavor to use all regular verbs. It should be, "This happened, then this happened, then this happened?" Example: Volé a Cancún. Salí del avión. Entré al baño. Oriné. Etc. Assignment 4 Read a children's book and bring it to class.

 

Lavanda Class 2

Lesson
Imperfect tense
The imperfect is used to express actions in the past from the perspective
that they are not complete. This does not mean that, relative to the
present they are not complete. Usually it is relative to other actions in
the past.
Principal uses:
1. As a context for other actions.
Cuando yo caminaba al mercado, vi un pájaro.
(When I was walking to the market, I saw a bird.)
2. To describe habitual or frequent actions in the past.
Durante los años 90, yo comía mucho en el Restaurante Otto's.
(During the 90s, I ate at Otto's Restaurant a lot.)

All verbs are regular in imperfect (with the exception of 3, that we'll study week 4).
Examples
AR
hablaba     hablábamos
hablabas
hablaba     hablaban

ER
comía     comíamos
comías
comía     comían

IR
vivía     vivíamos
vivías
vivía     vivían

Assignment
1. In oral and written form, practice the above verbs and others in the imperfect until you can recite them from memory.
2. Write a page about things you used to do (habitual, frequent actions). Use the imperfect heavily.

 

Lavanda Class 3

LESSON 1:
Some irregular verbs in preterite tense

SER/IR
fui     fuimos
fuiste
fue    fueron

PONER
puse     pusimos
pusiste
puso     pusieron

PODER
pude     pudimos
pudiste
pudo     pudieron

(PODER in the preterite means to accomplish something that you were making an effort at. In the negative, it means to fail.)

SABER
supe      supimos
supiste
supo     supieron

(SABER in the preterite means to find out.)

ASSIGNMENT 1:
Study and memorize these preterite forms of SER/IR, PONER, PODER and SABER.

ASSIGNMENT 2:
Write two sentences with each verb. One sentence in each pair should use the verb in the preterite and the other in the imperfect. (Total: 10 sentences.)

ASSIGNMENT 3:
Read a book or article and bring it to class to share. 

 

Lavanda Class 4

LESSON 1: Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect
There are only three: SER, IR, and VER
SER
era             éramos
eras
era             eran

IR
iba             íbamos
ibas
iba             iban

VER
veía            veíamos
veías
veía            veían



ASSIGNMENT 1:
Study and practive these verbs in both written and oral form.

ASSIGNMENT 2: Write a page about the adventures you used to have as a kid. Write about both
things you used to do and something you did once. Make sure to
incorporate the use of the above 3 verbs in the imperfect!

 

Lavanda Class 5

LESSON 1: SER
SER is used to express something's IDENTITY.
(SER means "to be" in the sense of EXISTING and being identified as
something.)
USES of SER
1. Identifying something as a noun.
Esto es un libro.
2. Characteristics
El gato es negro.
3. Profession
Ramón es doctor.
4. Religion
Nosotros somos budistas.
5. Ideology
Ellos son socialistas.
6. Nationality
Tú eres italiano.
7. Geographic origin
Soy de Wenatchee.
8. Material origin
La silla es de metal.
9. When telling time
¿Qué hora es? Son las ocho.

LESSON 2: ESTAR
ESTAR is used to express something's CONDITION or LOCATION.
(ESTAR means "to be" in the sense of being in a particular STATE.) 1.
1. Physical condition
Estoy enfermo.
2. Mental condition
Ramón está contento.
3. Emotional condition
Nosotros estamos tristes.
4. Location
¿Dónde está Waldo? Waldo está en Puyallup.
5. Temperature of things
La sopa está fría.

Some comparisons of SER & ESTAR
¿Cómo está Roberto?
(This means "How is Roberto?" How is his mental/emotional/physical
condition.)
¿Cómo es Roberto?
(This means "What is Roberto like?" It requests a description of his
identity and characteristics.)

La casa es bonita.
(This means "The house is pretty." a characteristic)
La casa está bonita.
(This means "The house looks pretty." It has been dolled up, adorned with
Christmas lights or something. a condition)

Simón está aburrido.
("Simón is bored." a condition)
Simón es aburrido.
("Simón is boring." a charactersitic)

ASSIGNMENT
Write one original example of your own for each use of each verb for a total of 14 sentences.

 

Lavanda Class 6

Intermediate Homework Week 6

LESSON 1: The Present Progressive Tense
The Present Progressivie is yet another use of ESTAR and is used to express an action that is actually in process.

It a compound tense in which ESTAR serves as an auxiliary verb to another verb in its present participle (or gerund) form. Examples: El profesor está explicando. (The professor is explaining.) Los estudiantes están escribiendo. (The students are writing.) Note that ESTAR is conjugated as you'd expected based on the subject. Also note the endings of the present participles: -ANDO (as in "explicando") is used with -AR verbs. -IENDO (as in "escribiendo") is used with -ER and -IR verbs.
(There are some verbs with irregular present participles: the verb IR itself–its present participle is
YENDO–and those that end in -AER, -EER and -UIR. Their present participles end in -YENDO, as in
TRAYENDO, LEYENDO and CONSTRUYENDO)
Note: In Spanish, unlike in English, the simple present expresses this notion perfectly well. LESSON 2: The Past Progressive Tense By putting ESTAR in the IMPERFECT, you can express that an action WAS HAPPENING. Example: Yo estaba nadando. (I was swimming.) Nosotros estábamos viendo una película. (We were watching a movie.) Note: The simple imperfect itself expresses these things most of the time. ASSIGNMENT Write about an experience you had in the past having something to do with health and/or illness. Use SER, ESTAR, and the past progressive. -Who was sick? How were they sick? -What was another person doing while the first was sick? -Where did it happen? Describe the room or house. -Where were things in the room? Describe or indicate relative positions. -What was happening? What were you and others doing? Example: Recuerdo que, de niño, una vez cuando yo me enfermé, mi madre me
cuidó, como de costumbre. Cuando yo estaba viendo televisión
en la sala, que era pequeña y organizada, mi madre estaba preparóndome cosas para comer.

 

Lavanda Class 7

Intermediate Homework Week 7

LESSON:
Preterite vs. Imperfect Tenses
Both these tenses can describe the very same action, just from a different
perspective.
Preterite looks at the action as completed, overwith, very neat and tidy.
Imperfect looks at the action as ongoing relative to other actions, not so
neat or tidy.

Examples:
1. Ayer manejé a Portland. (Yesterday, I drove to Portland.)
2. Cuando manejaba a Portland, escuché la radio. (When I was driving to 
Portland, I listened to the radio.)
3. Cuando escuchaba la radio, supe que había una venta especial en REI.
(When I was listening to the radio, I found out that there was a sale at REI.)

Note that in example 2, the exact same action as in example 1 (manejar), 

ocurring at the exact same time on the exact same day, is expressed using
imperfect because, relative to the radio listening, the action began
before and finished afterward. Then in example 3, the same happens with
verb escuchar.

ASSIGNMENT: Write 3 series of sentences like the example series of 3 sentences above
(you will wind up with 9 sentences total).Double space your writing please.

Questions?
info[at]lenguarica.org
This page last updated 3 April 2019