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Year 7

Possibilities and limits: negatives with 'pueden', 'deben' and 'quieren'

Learning outcomes

I can use singular and plural modal verbs to talk about what my family can, must and want to do in the summer.

I can confidently read aloud sentences with a range of sound-symbol correspondences (SSCs).

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New
New
Year 7

Possibilities and limits: negatives with 'pueden', 'deben' and 'quieren'

Learning outcomes

I can use singular and plural modal verbs to talk about what my family can, must and want to do in the summer.

I can confidently read aloud sentences with a range of sound-symbol correspondences (SSCs).

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Before reading aloud, it is important to identify tricky sound-symbol correspondences (SSCs) and rehearse mentally.
  2. Spanish modal verbs (e.g. 'can') change ending to match the person doing the action and are followed by an infinitive.
  3. The possessive 'my' in Spanish is 'mi' for one thing and 'mis' for more than one thing.
  4. The possessive your’ in Spanish is 'tu' for one thing and 'tus' for more than one thing.

Keywords

  • Pueden - modal verb meaning ‘they can, are able to’, part of 'poder'

  • Quieren - modal verb meaning ‘they want (to)’, part of 'querer'

  • Deben - modal verb meaning ‘they must, have to’, part of 'deber'

  • Mi, mis - the possessive pronoun ‘my’, in Spanish it has a singular and plural form

  • Tu, tus - the possessive pronoun ‘your’, in Spanish it has a singular and plural form

Common misconception

There is no preparation needed before I read Spanish aloud.

Trickier sounds can trip us up when we read aloud in Spanish. Identifying any tricky sounds, then mentally rehearsing before we read aloud can help us read more accurately and fluently.


To help you plan your year 7 spanish lesson on: Possibilities and limits: negatives with 'pueden', 'deben' and 'quieren', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

To build oral confidence with modal verbs, teachers or pupil pairs might start or finish a lesson by cuing oral translations in chunks from memory, e.g. My parents (mis padres) - want (quieren) - to go (ir) - on holiday (de vacaciones) - in March (en marzo) - but they can't (pero no pueden).
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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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which pairs of letters have the same sound in Spanish?
Correct answer: j / g (before ‘e’ and ‘i’)
Correct answer: b / v
r / rr
l / ll
e / i
Q2.
Match each place to the tricky sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) they contain.
Correct Answer:Argentina,[ge]
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[ge]

Correct Answer:Bolivia,[v]
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[v]

Correct Answer:Palencia,[ci]
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[ci]

Correct Answer:Perú,[r]
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[r]

Correct Answer:Sevilla,[ll]
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[ll]

Q3.
Match the Spanish and English verbs.
Correct Answer:descansar,to rest, relax
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to rest, relax

Correct Answer:disfrutar,to enjoy, enjoying
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to enjoy, enjoying

Correct Answer:llevar,to wear, carry
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to wear, carry

Correct Answer:pasar,to spend, spending (time)
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to spend, spending (time)

Correct Answer:viajar,to travel, travelling
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to travel, travelling

Correct Answer:visitar,to visit, visiting
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to visit, visiting

Q4.
Match the possessive adjectives to their English meanings.
Correct Answer:mi,my (singular)
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my (singular)

Correct Answer:mis,my (plural)
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my (plural)

Correct Answer:tu,your (singular)
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your (singular)

Correct Answer:tus,your (plural)
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your (plural)

Q5.
Modal verbs are verbs of necessity or possibility, e.g. 'must', 'can', 'want'. Which of the following are modal verbs?
bailar
correr
Correct answer: deber
Correct answer: poder
Correct answer: querer
Q6.
Match the verb and noun or noun phrase to make logical phrases.
Correct Answer:hacer,ejercicio
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ejercicio

Correct Answer:ir,de vacaciones
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de vacaciones

Correct Answer:llevar,zapatos
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zapatos

Correct Answer:montar,a caballo
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a caballo

Correct Answer:sacar,la basura
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la basura

6 Questions

Q1.
Read aloud. Which letters in this sentence are pronounced differently from English? 'Voy a ganar algo el domingo con mis amigos de Galicia. ¡Estoy segura!'
Correct answer: [ci]
[m]
[n]
Correct answer: [r]
Correct answer: [v]
Q2.
'Deber', 'querer' and 'poder' are examples of verbs.
Correct Answer: modal
Q3.
Match the Spanish and English.
Correct Answer:debe,she, he, it must
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she, he, it must

Correct Answer:deben,they must
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they must

Correct Answer:puede,she, he, it can, is able to
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she, he, it can, is able to

Correct Answer:pueden,they can, are able to
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they can, are able to

Correct Answer:quiere,she, he, it wants (to)
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she, he, it wants (to)

Correct Answer:quieren,they want (to)
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they want (to)

Q4.
Create logical verb phrases.
Correct Answer:no deber,trabajar
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trabajar

Correct Answer:comer,comida rica
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comida rica

Correct Answer:comprar,ropa nueva
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ropa nueva

Correct Answer:hacer,deporte
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deporte

Correct Answer:ir,a la playa
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a la playa

Correct Answer:pasar,tiempo con familia
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tiempo con familia

Q5.
Order the words to make a sentence.
1 - no
2 - pueden
3 - ir
4 - de
5 - vacaciones
Q6.
Write in Spanish: 'They want to travel with my friends.'
Correct Answer: Quieren viajar con mis amigos.

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