Music: yesterday and today
Música: ayer y hoy
- Music vocabulary and concepts
- Music streaming platforms
- Imperfect tense of the irregular verbs: "ser, ir, ver"
Explore the flamenco revolution led by Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla while mastering the imperfect past of irregular verbs ser, ir, and ver for richer storytelling in Spanish.
Listening & reading materials
Practice vocabulary in context with real materials.
B1.12.1 Cultura
Paco de Lucía y Camarón de la Isla: la revolución del flamenco
Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla: the revolution of flamenco
Vocabulary (8) Share Copied!
Exercises Share Copied!
These exercises can be done together during conversation lessons or as homework.
Exercise 1: Pretérito imperfecto de los verbos irregulares: "ser, ir, ver“
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
Grammar: Imperfect tense of the irregular verbs: "ser, ir, ver"
Show translation Show answerséramos, eran, íbamos, iba, ibais, veías, veíamos, era
Grammar Share Copied!
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B1.12.2 Gramática
Pretérito imperfecto de los verbos irregulares: "ser, ir, ver“
Imperfect tense of the irregular verbs: "ser, ir, ver"
Verb conjugation tables for this lesson Share Copied!
Escribir to write Share Copied!
Pretérito imperfecto
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| (yo) escribía | I used to write |
| (tú) escribías | You used to write |
| (él/ella) escribía | he/she was writing |
| (nosotros/nosotras) escribíamos | we were writing |
| (vosotros/vosotras) escribíais | You wrote |
| (ellos/ellas) escribían | they were writing |
Cantar to sing Share Copied!
Pretérito imperfecto
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| (yo) cantaba | I was singing |
| (tú) cantabas | You were singing |
| (él/ella) cantaba | he/she was singing |
| (nosotros/nosotras) cantábamos | we were singing |
| (vosotros/vosotras) cantabais | You sang |
| (ellos/ellas) cantaban | they sang |
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Music: Yesterday and Today
This lesson explores the influential world of flamenco music, focusing on legendary artists Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla, who revolutionized this traditional Spanish genre. By learning about their contributions, you will gain cultural insights alongside language skills.
Key Grammar: Imperfect Tense of Irregular Verbs
We will focus on the pretérito imperfecto tense of three essential irregular verbs: ser (to be), ir (to go), and ver (to see). Understanding these verbs in their imperfect form is important for describing ongoing or habitual actions in the past, which is essential for talking about past events and histories such as music evolution.
Examples of the Imperfect Forms
- ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
- ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
- ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían
These forms will help you describe past scenes or repeated actions: for example, "Paco de Lucía era un guitarrista excepcional" (Paco de Lucía was an exceptional guitarist), or "Ellos iban a numerosos conciertos" (They used to go to many concerts).
Useful Expressions for Discussing Music
- la guitarra – the guitar
- el cantante – the singer
- el espectáculo – the show/performance
- la tradición – the tradition
- renovar – to renew
Language Notes: English vs. Spanish
In English, past habitual actions may be expressed by phrases like "used to" or "would" and past continuous forms. Spanish uses the pretérito imperfecto tense extensively for these cases with distinct conjugations, especially irregular verbs. For example, "used to be" translates as "era," not a direct word-for-word substitution. This tense also helps describe scenes or conditions in the past, something less common to express in English without additional words.
Remember that in Spanish, verb endings change according to subject in a more complex way than English. Mastering irregular verbs like ser, ir, and ver in the imperfect is a foundation for effective storytelling and past descriptions.
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