El imperativo

What do we use "Imperativo" for? 
To command something to someone.

After you learn/review Imperativo try some writing using these writing prompts. Remember to read carefully the instructions first and then include all details required.

This topic can be covered at the very beginning of the school year. I actually do it pretty soon because I usually use it to teach my students how to come up with their own class rules in Spanish.
Along with this, we work with the song La flaca [Andrés Calamaro] to internalize these structures. These lyrics are formidable to work on Commands in Spanish. There is a very interesting packet available online to work along with the song [B1 CEFR]. The melody of this song is also very sticky and help the students memorize these forms. 
Activity: From this verse [below] Find the command forms in Spanish and tell me if they are affirmative or negative.

Flaca [Andrés Calamaro]

Aunque casi me equivoco y te digo poco a poco

no me mientas, no me digas la verdad

no te quedes callada, no levantes la voz

ni me pidas perdón.

Activity: Home connection.
Look at the image provided in this post. Those are personal reminders for me [Levántate, Sueña, Lucha...] think of your own personal and if you want/need private reminders write them down and put them up in your desk so when you are studying or doing something else you can always see them and remember your own personal goals.

Activity: try these conversation cards to practice your commands in Spanish, it is also funny to actually do what you are requested and that demonstrates comprehension.


There are also resources at the bottom of this post [in Resources] that will help you explain commands to your class, worksheets, visual activities... don't miss them out!

The activity ¡A los pasillos! is usually very attractive for the students because it includes a scavenger hunt and their own interpretation of an image, creativity. Give it a try and get back to me with your students impressions!

Some of most important irregularities when using commands in Spanish can be found in the table below:

Infinitivo Afirmativo Negativo decir hacer poner salir ser tener valer venir di haz pon sal sé ten val ven no digas no hagas no pongas no salgas no seas no tengas no valgas no vengas

Sometimes we can also use the infinitive as a command in Spanish. They are actually very common structures. So, maybe it would be a good idea to memorize these couple of cases not to interfere with your learning of commands in Spanish.

Another way of commanding in Spanish is using the following structure: a + infinitivo

¡A jugar!

¡A dormir!

Atención

When the subject is impersonal the infinitive can be used as a command form. It is also very common to find the structure participle + infinitive in the public regulations signs.

Example: 

No fumar / No hablar / No gritar / No hacer ruido / ...

Prohibido fumar / Prohibido nadar / Prohibido jugar a la pelota / ...

Resources:
- Worksheet Imperativo #1 [pdf] 
- Worksheet Imperativo #2 [pdf]
- Worksheet Imperativo #3 [pdf]
- Presentation El imperativo [pdf]
- Activity ¡A los pasillos! [pdf]
- Poster [jpg]
- Theory, El imperativo [html]
- Gramática intensiva [html]
- Writing prompts [pdf]
- Kahoot: Imperativo #1
- Kahoot: Imperativo #2
- Kahoot: Imperativo #3

Lunaprofe 1/09/2017  No comment

Gerund in Spanish

This is a tough one in Spanish. Most of the times all the mistakes come from transferring the English language into the Spanish one. With this post I am going to try to give a few, simple and direct tips to avoid the incorrect use of this verb form in Spanish for beginners.
First thing we do in my class is using the visual provided here to deduce the rule for gerund in Spanish. Putting this responsibility upon students shoulders is a great strategy to develop autonomy, critical thinking, logical thinking skills. They get used to be detectives in my class. Actually they wear so many different hats in my class, but isn't it real life like that?

One big idea when using gerund in Spanish:

The action expressed by the gerund MUST happen before or at the same time as the action of the main verb, NEVER later

Correct:	Incorrect:
Paco aprende español cantando canciones.	Preguntó al profesor ayudándose de las ayudas visuales.
Thinking activity:  Looking at the first example, when is the action happening? is it previous, simultaneous or later?  In the second example, previous, simultaneous or later?

The following sequences can help us to establish and settle authentic pieces of language highlighting the concept of gerund. Pay attention to how two first sentences get combined into the third one: 

Sequences of gerund:

Llegó muy tarde a clase de español. Pidió permiso para entrar. Llegó muy tarde a clase de español pidiendo permiso para entrar.

Observó atentamente la imagen. Preguntó una duda. Observó atentamente la imagen preguntando una duda.

Quiso aprender español después de la escuela. Preguntó al profesor que podía hacer. Quiso aprender español después de la escuela preguntando al profesor que podía hacer.

Do you want to check if you've learnt something? Yes?
Complete the Google form below

Some of the ideas from this post have been borrowed from Proyecto Aula 

Want to know more?

• Usos del gerundio [Fundación del español urgente]
• El gerundio. Grammar [El juego]
• Continuous tense. Grammar [El juego]
• 7 worksheets [ISL Collective]
• Correct and incorrect use of the gerund [Borradores]
• Intensive grammar [Ministerio de educación]

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest

Benjamin Franklin

Lunaprofe 10/23/2015  1 comment

Noun gender in Spanish: heterónimos

We've seen some rules to determine the gender of a noun in Spanish. But language is usually like life, a lot of rules don't apply sometimes. This might be the case of it. Heterónimos in Spanish have a different word to talk about ladies & gentlemen.
If we look at the word itself and we break it down we find:
hetero- which is a prefix we borrowed from the Greek language and means "distinct, different, other"
ónimo- a greek suffix that meant "name"
After the analysis we put the pieces together and we see that the buzzword means "a different name" which clarifies a bit our purpose. 
It is worth it to do this deep comprehension practices with your students, they might like to know the history of the words (sometimes;)
We are plenty of examples in our languages from this structure but two will be enough to illustrate the idea: sinónimo / antónimo.
Along with this brief lines about today's topic there is a visual resource ready to use in class.

Data is not information, information is not knowledge, 

knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom.

Clifford Stoll

Lunaprofe 3/09/2015  No comment

Noun gender in Spanish: Special rules [compilation]

We know that life is not that easy as we learn a rule and everything works just great. We know it's a little bit more difficult than that and so are languages. 
We've seen in previous posts some interesting tips and rules to learn the noun gender in Spanish, but still we'll find more nouns ending in a different letter that doesn't apply to any of those. Now it is the time to get a little deeper into it. Everything in a language has a reason to be, but we don't need to explore all of them to learn basic Spanish.
The poster attached to this post is a simple summary of special rules applying to noun gender in Spanish, but to make them more accessible to our students we can work with it in different ways (to diversify is always a great choice).

We can group them by gender, like:

Generally, a noun is masculine in Spanish if it ends in:

• - o: el 
• - or: el amor, el olor, el dolor, el amargor, el anterior, el sabor, el ardor...
• - aje: el coraje, el paisaje, el garaje, el masaje, el mestizaje, el dopaje... 
• - ema: el problema, el tema, el lexema, el esquema, el poema, el sistema...

Regularly, a noun is feminine in Spanish if it ends in:

• - a: la casa, la almohada, la aceitera, la anchura, la daga, la 
• - dad: la normalidad, la ciudad, la verdad, la cavidad, la nulidad, la disponibilidad, la diversidad, la deportividad, la exclusividad...
• - tad: la libertad, la amistad, la lealtad, la tempestad, la pubertad, la facultad, la voluntad, la enemistad, la deslealtad, la majestad...

We can also give our students a list of nouns and ask them to group them by masculine or feminine in two different columns:

tema, mano, masaje, olor, árbol, amistad, canción, igualdad, libertad, problema, radio, garaje, amor, función, maternidad, lealtad, día, moto, peaje, sabor, condición, nocturnidad, mitad, sofá, foto, paisaje, error, formación, paternidad

Masculine nouns	Feminine nouns
el error	la paternidad

Check with this "The odd one out" [in Spanish: encuentra al intruso] your understanding of what we have been talking about:

Check your answers

Children must be taught HOW TO THINK,

not what to think.

Margaret Mead

Lunaprofe 12/05/2014  No comment

Noun gender in Spanish: General rule

To know the gender of the nouns in Spanish is crucial because all articles, adjectives, pronouns... need to agree with the noun in gender when you are making a sentence.
Also, in terms of agreement, the masculine noun goes with El and the feminine noun goes with La, like in 

El libro / La hoja 

[We are always talking about the singular form]

We already talked about an acronym than can help us remembering which ones are masculine and feminine: LONERS. This is certainly a very useful tool to learn this important concept when learning Spanish, but as we always say there are no magic tricks when learning languages but there are patterns that can help us in the process.
The most general rule is simple and easy as you can see in the poster we present in this post. 

• masculine nouns end in -o
• feminine nouns end in -a

Masculine nouns	Feminine nouns
El perro	La perra
El gato	La gata
El niño	La niña
El chico	La chica
El abuelo	La abuela
El tío	La tía
El primo	La prima
El nieto	La nieta
El sobrino	La sobrina
El cuñado	La cuñada

Do this online activity to check if you understood what we talked about:
Check your answers ;)

Related posts:

• An acronym to learn noun genders: LONERS

Education is not the learning of facts,

but the training of the mind to think.

Albert Einstein

Lunaprofe 12/01/2014  No comment

An acronym to learn noun gender: LONERS

I know simplification can be a problem if we don't understand what it is and everything it comes with it... but if we truly understand that simplification doesn't mean we are going to live in a perfect world and we still have to face trouble because of the exceptions... can be a great tool to work with and can be very beneficial for our students.
This poster strives to be a colorful resource to remember our acronym: LONERS for masculine nouns in Spanish and also provides examples for each ending. 
Matching colors are a great strategy for visual learners to remember things. 

Try yourself out with this activity below to see if you internalize this concept:


Let's recap:

If a word ends in l,o,n,e,r,s it's almost always going to be a masculine word in Spanish.

Remember: in language there are no rules without exceptions ;)

If this works for you don't hesitate to use it, share it or print it out;)

More related resources:

• Short, simple and clear explanation [Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition]
• A Wikibook [A brief explanation with tables]

Don't put a limit on anything.

The more you dream, the farther you get.

Michael Phelps

22 medals

Lunaprofe 11/24/2014  No comment