Possibilities and limits: negatives with 'pueden', 'deben' and 'quieren' | Spanish

Starter quiz

Which pairs of letters have the same sound in Spanish?
- j / g (before ‘e’ and ‘i’) ✓
- b / v ✓
- r / rr
- l / ll
- e / i
Match each place to the tricky sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) they contain.
- Argentina
  
  ⇔
  
  [ge] ✓
- Bolivia
  
  ⇔
  
  [v] ✓
- Palencia
  
  ⇔
  
  [ci] ✓
- Perú
  
  ⇔
  
  [r] ✓
- Sevilla
  
  ⇔
  
  [ll] ✓
Match the Spanish and English verbs.
- descansar
  
  ⇔
  
  to rest, relax ✓
- disfrutar
  
  ⇔
  
  to enjoy, enjoying ✓
- llevar
  
  ⇔
  
  to wear, carry ✓
- pasar
  
  ⇔
  
  to spend, spending (time) ✓
- viajar
  
  ⇔
  
  to travel, travelling ✓
- visitar
  
  ⇔
  
  to visit, visiting ✓
Match the possessive adjectives to their English meanings.
- mi
  
  ⇔
  
  my (singular) ✓
- mis
  
  ⇔
  
  my (plural) ✓
- tu
  
  ⇔
  
  your (singular) ✓
- tus
  
  ⇔
  
  your (plural) ✓
Modal verbs are verbs of necessity or possibility, e.g. 'must', 'can', 'want'. Which of the following are modal verbs?
- bailar
- correr
- deber ✓
- poder ✓
- querer ✓
Match the verb and noun or noun phrase to make logical phrases.
- hacer
  
  ⇔
  
  ejercicio ✓
- ir
  
  ⇔
  
  de vacaciones ✓
- llevar
  
  ⇔
  
  zapatos ✓
- montar
  
  ⇔
  
  a caballo ✓
- sacar
  
  ⇔
  
  la basura ✓

Exit quiz

Read aloud. Which letters in this sentence are pronounced differently from English? 'Voy a ganar algo el domingo con mis amigos de Galicia. ¡Estoy segura!'
- [ci] ✓
- [m]
- [n]
- [r] ✓
- [v] ✓
'Deber', 'querer' and 'poder' are examples of ______ verbs.
- 'modal' ✓
Match the Spanish and English.
- debe
  
  ⇔
  
  she, he, it must ✓
- deben
  
  ⇔
  
  they must ✓
- puede
  
  ⇔
  
  she, he, it can, is able to ✓
- pueden
  
  ⇔
  
  they can, are able to ✓
- quiere
  
  ⇔
  
  she, he, it wants (to) ✓
- quieren
  
  ⇔
  
  they want (to) ✓
Create logical verb phrases.
- no deber
  
  ⇔
  
  trabajar ✓
- comer
  
  ⇔
  
  comida rica ✓
- comprar
  
  ⇔
  
  ropa nueva ✓
- hacer
  
  ⇔
  
  deporte ✓
- ir
  
  ⇔
  
  a la playa ✓
- pasar
  
  ⇔
  
  tiempo con familia ✓
Order the words to make a sentence.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  no
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  pueden
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  ir
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  de
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  vacaciones
Write in Spanish: 'They want to travel with my friends.'
- 'Quieren viajar con mis amigos.' ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

Before reading aloud, it is important to identify tricky sound-symbol correspondences (SSCs) and rehearse mentally.
Spanish modal verbs (e.g. 'can') change ending to match the person doing the action and are followed by an infinitive.
The possessive 'my' in Spanish is 'mi' for one thing and 'mis' for more than one thing.
The possessive your’ in Spanish is 'tu' for one thing and 'tus' for more than one thing.

Common misconception

There is no preparation needed before I read Spanish aloud.

Trickier sounds can trip us up when we read aloud in Spanish. Identifying any tricky sounds, then mentally rehearsing before we read aloud can help us read more accurately and fluently.

Keywords

Pueden - modal verb meaning ‘they can, are able to’, part of 'poder'
Quieren - modal verb meaning ‘they want (to)’, part of 'querer'
Deben - modal verb meaning ‘they must, have to’, part of 'deber'
Mi, mis - the possessive pronoun ‘my’, in Spanish it has a singular and plural form
Tu, tus - the possessive pronoun ‘your’, in Spanish it has a singular and plural form