Spanish Preterite: Ser & Ir Verbs

Activity Includes: intermediate vocabulary, words that signal the past (ayer, hace + time, anoche, el año pasado)

The verbs ser and ir in the preterite have identical verb forms. It is only from context that a reader or listener would know if the meaning was related to “going” or to “being.” Sometimes students don’t fully grasp this right away and creating original sentences helps the concept sink in. As demonstrated in the model storyboard, have students use the traditional storyboard to create a cell for each conjugation of ser and ir.

In the cells, students will write a sentence for each meaning, color coding them for clarity on ir versus ser. The model only includes examples for yo, tú, nosotros, and vosotros, but students should add two more cells for the él and ellos forms. In the cells students should also include images that match their sentences. This activity can be simplified with the use of simple sentences or advanced with other grammar and/or new vocabulary.