KS2 · Spanish · Year 5
How are they? 'Son' and 'están'
Me and others: plural 'estar' (for states) and 'ser' (for traits)
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/11
Your learning goal
I can describe people using 'son' and 'estan'.
1 of 11
How are they? 'Son' and 'están': 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 describe people using 'son' and 'estan'.
Key learning points
- The vowel [i] is a weak vowel and it merges with [a], [e] and [o] to make a single syllable.
- There are two verbs 'to be, being' in Spanish: 'ser' and 'estar'.
- From the verb ‘estar’, 'están' is 'they are' for location and temporary states.
- From the verb ‘ser’, 'son' is 'they are' for general traits.
- To describe more than one noun, plural masculine adjectives end in -os, feminine in -as; adjectives ending in -e add -s.
Words to know
- weak vowel
- the vowels [i] and [u] which merge with [a], [e] and [o] to make a single syllable
- están
- 'they are' for location and temporary state, part of the verb 'estar'
- son
- 'they are' for general traits, part of the verb 'ser'
- adjective
- a word that gives information about a noun
Common mistakes
There is only one way to say 'they are' in Spanish.
There are two verbs meaning to be, being. To say 'they are' for location and temporary state, we use 'estan' from the verb 'estar'. To say 'we are' for general traits, we use 'son' from the verb 'ser'.
For parents, carers and teachers
- To informally assess pupils' understanding, you could add additional sentences to the last activity, asking pupils to change the adjectives accordingly and write them on whiteboards for quick checking. Pupils could work in pairs to complete this.