KS2 · Spanish · Year 5
Dates: questions with 'cuál', 'qué' and 'cuándo'
Describe things and events: 'es'
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/11
Your learning goal
I can understand and answer different questions about dates.
1 of 11
Dates: questions with 'cuál', 'qué' and 'cuándo': slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can understand and answer different questions about dates.
Key learning points
- The vowel [u] is a weak vowel and it merges with [a] [e] and [o] to make a single syllable.
- 'Cuál' and 'qué' can be used to ask about today's date; 'cuándo' is used to ask about specific dates.
- 'Cuál' and 'cuándo' are followed by 'es'; qué is followed by a noun.
- Days of the week, months of the year and numbers 1-31 are used to understand and communicate dates.
Words to know
- weak vowel
- the vowel [u] which merges with [a], [e] and [o] to make a single syllable
- strong vowels
- the vowels [a], [e], [u] which are pronounced separately when they appear next to each other
- cuál
- question word meaning which
- qué
- question word meaning what
- cuándo
- question word meaning when
Common mistakes
'¿Qué?' and '¿cuál?' are always interchangeable when asking for dates: '¿Qué es la fecha?' and '¿Cuál es la fecha?' are both correct.
The natural way to ask the date in Spanish is '¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?'. 'Cuál' is followed by ‘es’ and 'qué' is followed by a noun.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Students can practise using the correct question word by working in pairs to research different Spanish-speaking festivals. Each pair chooses or is assgined a festival and then they ask questions like '¿Qué día es la fiesta?', '¿Cuál es la fecha de la fiesta?', '¿Cuándo es la fiesta?'.