HOMEWORK: LAVANDA

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 1 (due at class 2)

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 have the same endings:

-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

Do reading of your choice in Spanish (a children’s book, a chapter book, an article) and bring it to class, prepared to tell a partner about it. (This assignment applies to Homework 1, 3, 5, and 7.

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 2 (due at class 3)

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, which we'll study week 4).

Examples:

Assignment 1

In oral and written form, practice the above verbs and others in the imperfect until you can recite them from memory.

Assignment 2

Write a page, DOUBLE SPACED, about things you used to do (habitual, repeated actions). Use the imperfect heavily, if not exclusively.

Assignment 3

Write 5 brand new creative sentences using TENER to express possession. Include some of the singular/plural pairs from Assignment 1, above.

Assignment 4

Write 5 brand new creative sentences using TENER QUE to express obligation. Include some of the singular/plural pairs from Assignment 1, above.

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 3 (due at class 4)

LESSON: Some irregular verbs in preterite tense

SER/IR

fui fuimos

fuiste

fue fueron

PONER

puse pusimos

pusiste

puso pusieron

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

pude pudimos

pudiste

pudo pudieron

Example: Ayer no pude hablar con mi hermano porque no contestó el teléfono. (Yesterday I couldn’t talk to my sister because she didn’t answer the phone.")

SABER (NOTE: SABER in the preterite means to find out.)

supe supimos

supiste

supo supieron

Example: Ayer Catarina supo que los resultados de la biopsia fueron normales. (Yesterday Catarina found out that the results of the biopsy were negative.)

ASSIGNMENT 1

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

ASSIGNMENT 2

Write two sentences with each verb (5 verbs = 10 sentences). One sentence in each pair should use the verb in the preterite and the other in the imperfect.

ASSIGNMENT 3

Read a book or article and bring it to class to share with a partner.

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 4 (Due at class 5)

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 practice these verbs in both written and oral form.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Write a page about the adventures you used to have as a kid. Write both about things you used to do and something you did once. Make sure to incorporate the use of the above 5 verbs in the imperfect!

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 5 (due at class 6)

LESSON 1: SER

SER is used to express something's IDENTITY and CHARACTERISTICS. (SER means "to be" in the sense of EXISTING and being identified as something.)

USES of SER

1. Identifying something as a noun. (Example: Esto es un libro.)

2. Characteristics (Example: El gato es negro.)

3. Profession (Example: Ramón es doctor.)

4. Religion (Example: Nosotros somos budistas.)

5. Ideology (Example: Ellos son socialistas.)

6. Nationality (Example: Tú eres italiano.)

7. Geographic origin (Example: Soy de Perú.)

8. Material origin (Example: La silla es de metal.)

9. When telling time (Example: ¿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. Physical condition (Example: Rosario está enferma.)

2. Mental condition (Example: Ramón está contento.)

3. Emotional condition (Example: Nosotros estamos tristes.)

4. Location (Example: ¿Dónde está Waldo? Waldo está en Puyallup.)

5. Temperature of things (Example: La sopa está caliente.)

SOME COMPARISONS OF SER & ESTAR

ASSIGNMENT 1

Using the preterite and imperfect tenses at your discretion, write one original example of your own for each use of each verb (9 uses of SER, 5 uses of ESTAR) for a total of 14 sentences. Please always DOUBLE SPACE.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Read a book or article and bring it to class to share with a partner.

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 6 (due at class 7)

LESSON 1: The Present Progressive Tense

The Present Progressive is yet another use of ESTAR and is used to express an action that is actually in process. It is 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 expect, 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.

Examples:

Yo estaba nadando. (I was swimming.)

Nosotros estábamos viendo una película. (We were watching a movie.)

Note: The simple imperfect itself also expresses these things.

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? (USE THE PAST PROGRESSIVE FOR THIS ITEM.)

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 preparándome comidas y remedios.

LAVANDA HOMEWORK 7 (due at class 8)

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, over with, 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), occurring 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). As always, please DOUBLE SPACE.

Note that each series of 3 sentences should be like a little story. Please use this format (the same as I used above) for each series of 3 sentences:

1. Verb 1: preterite

2. Verb 1: imperfect, Verb 2: preterite

3. Verb 2: imperfect, Verb 3: preterite

Another example:

1. El año pasado, estudié estadística. (Last year, I studied statistics.)

2. Cuando estudiaba estadística, leí muchos libros. (When I was studying statsitcs, I read many books.)

3. Cuando leía los libros, aprendí mucho. (When I was reading the books, I learned a lot.)