Spanish 1 classes have been busy conjugating regular -ar verbs! The following is a tool they use to learn the subject pronouns in Spanish.
The subject pronouns are not a direct translation from Spanish to English, because there are two ways to say they and we. When "ellos" [pronounced eh-yose] is used, it means "they" if the "they" are either all males or a combination of males and females. When "ellas" [pronounced eh-yahss] is used, it also means "they" but only if the "they" are ALL females.
As for nosotras [pronounced no-so-trahss], it means "we" only if the person using the word and those she is speaking about (as part of that "we") are all female. If not, nosotros [no-so-trose] is used to mean "we."
We use this box to learn the pronouns and also to help learn how the verbs are conjugated into the forms that are used for each pronoun. For example: in English the correct form of the verb to speak for the subject pronoun he is speaks (we don't say, "he speak;" we say "he speaks"). Also, in English there are only 2 forms for present tense regular verbs: for example to speak is used as speak or speaks. The Spanish language utilizes 5 different forms! Luckily all regular
-ar verbs follow a consistent pattern throughout the language.
The following is what we call a verb box. It is essentially the same as the box above, but has the verb conjugated within it.
In the process of acquiring an additional language, this tool is important and very beneficial. Your student will make MANY of these, if he/she is getting the amount of practice needed to succeed. Spanish 1 students are now able to conjugate all of the regular present-tense -ar verbs, with the help of this box. The short-term goal is to do it without the box. The long-term goal is to commit this to permanent memory and implement it often, with a variety of -ar verbs so it becomes fast and easy.
The subject pronouns are not a direct translation from Spanish to English, because there are two ways to say they and we. When "ellos" [pronounced eh-yose] is used, it means "they" if the "they" are either all males or a combination of males and females. When "ellas" [pronounced eh-yahss] is used, it also means "they" but only if the "they" are ALL females.
As for nosotras [pronounced no-so-trahss], it means "we" only if the person using the word and those she is speaking about (as part of that "we") are all female. If not, nosotros [no-so-trose] is used to mean "we."
We use this box to learn the pronouns and also to help learn how the verbs are conjugated into the forms that are used for each pronoun. For example: in English the correct form of the verb to speak for the subject pronoun he is speaks (we don't say, "he speak;" we say "he speaks"). Also, in English there are only 2 forms for present tense regular verbs: for example to speak is used as speak or speaks. The Spanish language utilizes 5 different forms! Luckily all regular
-ar verbs follow a consistent pattern throughout the language.
The following is what we call a verb box. It is essentially the same as the box above, but has the verb conjugated within it.
Hablar - to speak
In the process of acquiring an additional language, this tool is important and very beneficial. Your student will make MANY of these, if he/she is getting the amount of practice needed to succeed. Spanish 1 students are now able to conjugate all of the regular present-tense -ar verbs, with the help of this box. The short-term goal is to do it without the box. The long-term goal is to commit this to permanent memory and implement it often, with a variety of -ar verbs so it becomes fast and easy.-er and -ir verb conjugations are next on the list, where verbs are concerned!
