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KS3 · Spanish · Year 9

Looking after others: object-first word order and personal 'a'

Activities and opinions: pronouns, gustar-type verbs

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Your learning goal

I can use object-first word order, the personal 'a', and the correct indirect object pronoun to show who is being cared for in Spanish.

1 of 11

Looking after others: object-first word order and personal '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.

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What you’ll learn

I can use object-first word order, the personal 'a', and the correct indirect object pronoun to show who is being cared for in Spanish.

Key learning points

  • Indirect object pronouns ('to, for him', 'them') indicate the person or thing that is indirectly affected by the verb.
  • To refer to one person or thing indirectly affected by an action, use 'le'.
  • If more than one person or thing is indirectly affected, use 'les'.
  • Spanish sentences can start with the subject ('doer') or the object ('receiver').
  • The personal 'a' is used before the object when it is a specific person or animal we have a name for.

Words to know

indirect object pronoun
replaces the person, people or thing(s) that the verb action is done to, when the action is to me, for you, to them
subject
person, people or thing(s) doing the verb
object
person, people or thing(s) receiving the action of the verb
personal 'a'
preposition placed before a direct object when that object is a specific person or animal we have a name for

Common mistakes

The first noun in a sentence is always the subject.

If there is a personal 'a' before the first noun it is not the subject, it is the object (usually a person) receiving the action.

For parents, carers and teachers
  • The teacher might want to do Task B1 as a class competition.
IllumED Slides adapts “Looking after others: object-first word order and personal 'a'”, Spanish, by Oak National Academy ↗. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Slides and recall practice adapted by IlluminatED; no publisher endorsement. Restricted lessons have listing information only.