Did you hear the news?
¿Has oído las noticias?
- Discuss what you saw on television or heard on the radio.
- Time expressions for recent events.
- Get to know the popular media stations in your host country.
- The simple past: Regular verbs
- The simple past: irregular verbs
Explore the pretérito indefinido with regular and irregular verbs through real-life examples like "vi" (I saw), "oíste" (you heard), and "llamamos" (we called). Practice discussing news broadcasts and reports to solidify your past tense skills.
Listening & reading materials
Practice vocabulary in context with real materials.
Vocabulary (13) Share Copied!
Exercises Share Copied!
These exercises can be done together during conversation lessons or as homework.
Exercise 1: Translate and use in a sentence
Instruction: Pick a word, translated and use the word in a sentence or dialogue.
1
Las noticias actuales
The current news
2
El presentador
The presenter
3
Dejar un mensaje
Leave a message
4
Ver un programa de televisión
To watch a television programme
5
El reportero
The reporter
Ejercicio 2: Conversation exercise
Instrucción:
- Describe what happened on the news. (Describe what happened on the news.)
- Describe the different media types you see. (Describe the different media types you see.)
- Do you read or watch the news regularly? (Do you read or watch the news regularly?)
Teaching guidelines +/- 10 minutes
Example phrases:
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En Luxemburgo, el gobierno tuvo una reunión. Una mujer dio un discurso. In Luxembourg, the government had a meeting. A woman gave a speech. |
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Hubo una gran protesta en París. Autobuses y coches no podían circular más. There was a big protest in Paris. Busses and cars could not drive anmore. |
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Veo vídeos cortos e imágenes sobre las noticias en las redes sociales. I see short videos and pictures about the news on social media. |
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Veo las noticias en la televisión. I see the news on the television. |
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Leí las noticias en un sitio web. I read the news on a website. |
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Veo las noticias todas las noches. I watch the news every night. |
| ... |
Exercise 3: Dialogue Cards
Instruction: Select a situation and practice the conversation with your teacher or fellow students.
Exercise 4: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct solution
1. Ayer ______ un reportaje muy interesante en la televisión.
(Yesterday ______ a very interesting report on television.)2. Después ______ por teléfono a un amigo para comentarlo.
(Later ______ a friend on the phone to discuss it.)3. Él me ______ que también había visto las noticias actuales esa semana.
(He ______ me that he had also seen the current news that week.)4. Nosotros ______ al presentador sobre el programa después de terminar.
(We ______ the presenter about the program after finishing.)Exercise 5: Did you hear the news?
Instruction:
Verb Tables
Ver - See
Pretérito indefinido
- yo vi
- tú viste
- él/ella vio
- nosotros/as vimos
- vosotros/as visteis
- ellos/ellas vieron
Presentar - Host
Pretérito indefinido
- yo presenté
- tú presentaste
- él/ella presentó
- nosotros/as presentamos
- vosotros/as presentasteis
- ellos/ellas presentaron
Preguntar - Ask
Pretérito indefinido
- yo pregunté
- tú preguntaste
- él/ella preguntó
- nosotros/as preguntamos
- vosotros/as preguntasteis
- ellos/ellas preguntaron
Oír - Hear
Pretérito indefinido
- yo oí
- tú oíste
- él/ella oyó
- nosotros/as oímos
- vosotros/as oísteis
- ellos/ellas oyeron
Recibir - Receive
Pretérito indefinido
- yo recibí
- tú recibiste
- él/ella recibió
- nosotros/as recibimos
- vosotros/as recibisteis
- ellos/ellas recibieron
Llamar - Call
Pretérito indefinido
- yo llamé
- tú llamaste
- él/ella llamó
- nosotros/as llamamos
- vosotros/as llamasteis
- ellos/ellas llamaron
Exercise 6: El pretérito indefinido: Los verbos regulares
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
Grammar: The simple past: Regular verbs
Show translation Show answerspregunté, navegamos, preguntasteis, volvió, volvimos, vieron, volviste, reaccionamos
Exercise 7: El pretérito indefinido: Los verbos irregulares
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
Grammar: The simple past: irregular verbs
Show translation Show answersdio, fuiste, navegó, quise, supimos, tuvimos, fue
Grammar Share Copied!
It's not the most exciting thing, we admit, but it’s absolutely essential (and we promise it'll pay off)!
Verb conjugation tables for this lesson Share Copied!
Preguntar to ask Share Copied!
Pretérito indefinido
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| (yo) pretérito indefinido (indicativo) | I asked |
| (tú) pregunté | You asked |
| (él/ella) preguntaste | he/she asked |
| (nosotros/nosotras) preguntó | we asked |
| (vosotros/vosotras) preguntamos | You asked |
| (ellos/ellas) preguntasteis | they asked |
Ver to see Share Copied!
Pretérito indefinido
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| (yo) vi | I saw |
| (tú) viste | You saw |
| (él/ella) vio | He/she saw |
| (nosotros/nosotras) vimos | we saw |
| (vosotros/vosotras) visteis | You saw |
| (ellos/ellas) vieron | they saw |
Oír to hear Share Copied!
Pretérito indefinido
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| (yo) oí | I heard |
| (tú) oíste | You heard |
| (él/ella) oyó | he/she heard |
| (nosotros/nosotras) oímos | we heard |
| (vosotros/vosotras) oísteis | You heard |
| (ellos/ellas) oyeron | they heard |
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Lesson Overview: "Did you hear the news?"
This lesson focuses on understanding and using the Spanish pretérito indefinido tense, particularly with both regular and irregular verbs, in the context of discussing news and events. It helps learners describe past actions, such as what they heard or saw on the radio, television, or in other media.
Key Topics Covered
- Spanish TV and Radio Channels: Familiarize yourself with common Spanish news sources and vocabulary related to media like Cadena SER, TVE, Antena 3, and radio stations such as COPE.
- Pretérito Indefinido - Regular Verbs: Learn to conjugate and use regular verbs like preguntar (to ask), presentar (to present), and llamar (to call) in past tense.
- Pretérito Indefinido - Irregular Verbs: Focus on important irregular verbs such as ver (to see), oir (to hear), and decir (to say), with their unique conjugations.
Useful Vocabulary and Expressions
- ¿Oíste las noticias ayer en la radio? — Did you hear the news on the radio yesterday?
- Escuché que hubo una huelga en el transporte público. — I heard there was a strike in public transport.
- Vi un reportaje en TVE sobre el tema. — I saw a report on TVE about the topic.
- Supiste algo nuevo sobre el horario del metro? — Did you find out anything new about the metro schedule?
Differences Between English and Spanish Instructions
English speakers learning Spanish will notice differences in how past actions are expressed. The pretérito indefinido is used in Spanish for completed actions in the past with a clear time frame, whereas English often uses the simple past tense. Spanish also distinguishes between regular and irregular verb conjugations that must be memorized, unlike the relatively simpler English past tense.
Useful phrases to note include:
- Oír vs. hear: oír is the infinitive verb meaning "to hear," often used for receiving sounds actively or passively.
- Ver vs. see: ver means "to see," used when watching something intentionally or without much focus.
- Dijo (decir) vs. said: Spanish verb decir conjugates irregularly in the past (dijo), important to communicate reported speech.
Understanding and practicing these verbs in the pretérito indefinido will help learners effectively talk about past events such as news stories and conversations.
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