icon-background-square
New
New
Year 8

People and places: 'ser' and 'estar' singular and plural persons

Learning outcomes

I can describe places and people using a variety of adjectives and the verbs ‘ser’ and ‘estar’.

I can read words that contain the weak vowel [i] correctly.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 8

People and places: 'ser' and 'estar' singular and plural persons

Learning outcomes

I can describe places and people using a variety of adjectives and the verbs ‘ser’ and ‘estar’.

I can read words that contain the weak vowel [i] 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 weak vowel [i] when next to [a], [e] and [o] become a single syllable.
  2. The verb 'ser' means 'to, be, being' and it is used to describe permanent traits.
  3. The verb 'estar' means 'to, be, being' and it is used to describe temporary states/moods.
  4. In Spanish, adjectives must agree with the nouns they accompany in gender and number.

Keywords

  • Weak vowel - vowel that is not strong or dominant in pronunciation. e.g. the letter [u]

  • Strong vowel - vowel that is strong in pronunciation. e.g. [a], [e], [o]

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

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

Common misconception

When a weak vowel is next to a strong vowel, we pronounce them separately.

When a weak vowel is next to a strong vowel, like for example [i] next to [a], [e] or [o], it merges with them to make a single syllable.


To help you plan your year 8 spanish lesson on: People and places: 'ser' and 'estar' singular and plural persons, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For Task A2, the teacher might want to play just one round and put all the sentences on one slide.
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.
Match the English and Spanish.
Correct Answer:to learn, learning,aprender
tick

aprender

Correct Answer:to have dinner, having dinner,cenar
tick

cenar

Correct Answer:to run, running,correr
tick

correr

Correct Answer:to sleep, sleeping,dormir
tick

dormir

Correct Answer:to write, writing,escribir
tick

escribir

Q2.
Select the word which means the same as 'normalmente'.
nunca
Correct answer: generalmente
algo
después
siempre
Q3.
Select the word which means the opposite to 'igual'.
parque
pelo
Correct answer: diferente
idioma
así
Q4.
'Camina por la ciudad.' Which words could replace 'por'?
de
Correct answer: en
con
Correct answer: fuera de
Q5.
Translate into English: 'Estás triste hoy.'
Correct Answer: You are sad today.
Q6.
Translate into Spanish. 'She is clever.'
Correct Answer: Es lista.

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the Spanish and English.
Correct Answer:triste,sad
tick

sad

Correct Answer:limpio,clean
tick

clean

Correct Answer:listo,smart, ready
tick

smart, ready

Correct Answer:malo,sick, bad
tick

sick, bad

Correct Answer:sucio,dirty
tick

dirty

Correct Answer:seguro,safe, certain
tick

safe, certain

Q2.
What does 'quizás' mean?
according to
generally
Correct answer: maybe
the same
like this
Q3.
Match the English and Spanish.
Correct Answer:I am (trait),soy
tick

soy

Correct Answer:I am (state),estoy
tick

estoy

Correct Answer:you are (trait),eres
tick

eres

Correct Answer:you are (state),estás
tick

estás

Correct Answer:we are (trait),somos
tick

somos

Correct Answer:we are (state),estamos
tick

estamos

Q4.
Match the Spanish and English.
Correct Answer:Soy malo.,I'm a bad person.
tick

I'm a bad person.

Correct Answer:Estoy malo.,I'm ill.
tick

I'm ill.

Correct Answer:Es seguro.,It's safe.
tick

It's safe.

Correct Answer:Está seguro.,He is certain.
tick

He is certain.

Correct Answer:Son listos.,They are intelligent.
tick

They are intelligent.

Correct Answer:Están listos.,They are ready.
tick

They are ready.

Q5.
Translate into Spanish: 'She is calm'.
Correct Answer: Es tranquila., Élla es tranquila.
Q6.
Translate into Spanish: 'The parks are dirty.'
Correct Answer: Los parques están sucios.

Additional material

Download additional material