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.
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This page last updated 3 April 2019