KS4 · Spanish · Year 10
La Tomatina: singular present -ar, affirmative imperative (-a)
Travel and tourism: la cultura popular y tradicional
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IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/8
Your learning goal
I can use the imperative to tell somebody what to do at a famous Spanish festival, la Tomatina.
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La Tomatina: singular present -ar, affirmative imperative (-a): 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 use the imperative to tell somebody what to do at a famous Spanish festival, la Tomatina.
Key learning points
- Present tense -ar verbs in 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular (-o, -as, -a).
- Use the affirmative imperative (also known as a positive command) to tell somebody to do something or give instructions.
- When talking to somebody familiar to you (tú) with the affirmative imperative with -ar verbs, use the ending -a.
- [s] sounds like 'siempre', [z] sounds like 'empezar' and [ce] sounds like 'entonces'.
- La Tomatina is a Spanish festival in Buñol, where participants throw tomatoes at each other.
Words to know
- Imperative
- form of verb used to give instructions or commands
Common mistakes
The affirmative imperative is the same as 2nd person singular form of the verb.
When talking to somebody familiar to you, using 'tú', the affirmative imperative is the same as the 3rd person singular form of the verb.
For parents, carers and teachers
- As an extended and creative writing task, teachers can ask students to write their own 'rules' and advice for the festival. It's important to remind them to use the affirmative imperative and stay away from giving negative commands as this triggers the subjunctive.