icon-background-square
New
New
Year 7

Character or mood? 'Ser' and 'estar' in 1st and 2nd person singular

Learning outcomes

I can use the 1st and 2nd person singular of the verbs 'ser' and 'estar' to talk about character and mood.

I can differentiate between and pronounce the sounds [ll] and [l] correctly.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 7

Character or mood? 'Ser' and 'estar' in 1st and 2nd person singular

Learning outcomes

I can use the 1st and 2nd person singular of the verbs 'ser' and 'estar' to talk about character and mood.

I can differentiate between and pronounce the sounds [ll] and [l] correctly.

warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The SSC sound [ll] is pronounced as in the word 'llamar'
  2. The SSC sound [l] is pronounced as in the word 'libro'
  3. We use the 1st and 2nd person singular of the verb 'ser' - 'soy' and 'eres' for traits.
  4. We use the 1st and 2nd person ingular of the verb 'estar' - 'estoy' and 'estás' for state/mood.
  5. In Spanish, adjectives must always agree with the noun they refer to in gender and number.

Keywords

  • [ll] - the sound-symbol correspondence as pronounced in the word 'llamar'

  • [l] - the sound-symbol correspondence as pronounced in the word 'libro'

  • Ser - verb meaning 'to be, being' used for permanent traits

  • Estar - verb meaning 'to be, being' used for location and temporary state/mood

Common misconception

There is only one verb to say 'I am' and 'you are' in Spanish.

In Spanish, there are two ways to say 'I am' and 'you are'. 'I am in general' is 'soy' and 'I am now' is 'estoy'. 'You are in general' is 'eres' and 'you are now' is 'estás'.


To help you plan your year 7 spanish lesson on: Character or mood? 'Ser' and 'estar' in 1st and 2nd person singular, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The teacher might want to bring some photos of famous people and ask their students to play Guess Who. The teacher might want to give students the adjectives on slides 21-22 to make sure that they use all the adjectives learnt so far.
speech-bubble
Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

copyright

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

Loading...

Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.

6 Questions

Q1.
Which verb means 'to be, being' and is used for permanent traits?
deber
querer
Correct answer: ser
estar
poder
Q2.
Which verb means 'to be, being' and is used for temporary states/mood?
ser
deber
querer
Correct answer: estar
poder
Q3.
Match the forms of the verb 'ser' to the correct pronoun.
Correct Answer:I ,soy
tick

soy

Correct Answer:you,eres
tick

eres

Correct Answer:he, she, it,es
tick

es

Correct Answer:we,somos
tick

somos

Correct Answer:they ,son
tick

son

Q4.
Translate into Spanish: 'We (boys and girls) are serious (permanent trait)'.
Correct Answer: Somos serios.
Q5.
Match the forms of the verb 'estar' to the correct pronoun.
Correct Answer:I,estoy
tick

estoy

Correct Answer:you,estás
tick

estás

Correct Answer:he, she, it,está
tick

está

Correct Answer:we ,estamos
tick

estamos

Correct Answer:they,están
tick

están

Q6.
Translate into Spanish: 'They (girls) are calm (temporary state)'.
Correct Answer: Están tranquilas.

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the Spanish to the English.
Correct Answer:alegre,cheerful
tick

cheerful

Correct Answer:aburrido, aburrida,bored
tick

bored

Correct Answer:guapo, guapa,good-looking
tick

good-looking

Correct Answer:tonto, tonta,silly
tick

silly

Correct Answer:simpático, simpática,nice
tick

nice

Correct Answer:raro, rara,strange
tick

strange

Q2.
What do we use the verb 'ser' for?
Correct answer: to talk about permanent traits
to talk about temporary states/mood
to talk about location
Q3.
What do we use the verb 'estar' for?
to talk about permanent traits
Correct answer: to talk about temporary states/mood
Correct answer: to talk about location
Q4.
Which adjectives can be used with a feminine noun?
Correct answer: alegre
nervioso
Correct answer: rara
Correct answer: feliz
simpático
Q5.
How would you say 'You are tanned.'?
Soy moreno/a.
Eres moreno/a.
Estoy moreno/a.
Correct answer: Estás moreno/a.
Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'I (f) am dark-haired/dark-skinned.'
Correct Answer: Soy morena.

Additional material

Download additional material