Using Articles and Pronouns
Lesson Plan
Video: 15 minutes
Lesson: 35 minutes
Pre-viewing
• :00 Warm up: Have the students brainstorm as many Spanish nouns as they can. Write them on the board, grouped by
their ending letter(s).
2 minutes
• :02 Pre-test: Ask the students if they know what any of the articles are for the nouns they gave. Ask them to look at the
words and determine what they have in common. Prompt the students to think about what the ending letters might
indicate. Go over the learning objectives.
4 minutes
Viewing
• :06 Playing Video: Hand out Viewing Guide. Go over viewing questions and expectations and tell the students to pay
attention to the program and answer the viewing questions while watching. Don’t hesitate to stop the program and
review if the students seem confused. Difficult concepts include the 5 forms of “you” and gender exceptions.
15 minutes
Post-viewing
• :21 Question & Answer Session: Ask the class for the answers to the viewing questions. See if any parts of the program
were difficult or confusing for the students. Ask a few questions to check their understanding of the key topics.
5 minutes
Sample Questions
1. What gender is the word yogur? What gender is the word universidad?
2. How do you make un programa plural?
3. Where do you use vosotros and vosotras?
Handouts
• :26 Practicing Material: Hand out the Worksheet and give the class 6-8 minutes to complete it. Students are allowed to
use their Viewing Guide. Monitor the students’ progress, helping where needed. Go over Worksheet as a class.
10 minutes
• :36 Applying Material: Ask the students to turn over their Viewing Guide and hand out the Activity. At this point the
students should be fairly comfortable using articles and pronouns. Go over in class.
10 minutes
• :46 Wrap-up: Briefly sum up what has been covered in class, using the students to do the summary. Refer back to the
questions from Pre-testing and show that they now can easily identify the gender of nouns. Assign any homework.
4 minutes
Viewing Questions Answer Key
1. What does a definite article refer to a specific thing or a non-specific thing? a specific thing
2. What plural pronoun has only one form for both male and female groups? ustedes
3. What is the difference between el and él? el is an article and él is a pronoun
Using Articles and Pronouns
Teacher’s Reference Guide
Video: 15 minutes
Lesson: 35 minutes
Learning Objectives
At the end of the module, students will be able to:
• define, pronounce, and correctly spell all vocabulary words
• use definite and indefinite articles correctly
• distinguish which pronouns apply to which groups
• understand the differences between formal and informal situations
• determine the gender of a noun
Materials
• Video: vocabulary, articles, pronouns; 15 minutes
• Viewing Guide: vocabulary, articles and pronouns charts, usage rules; 3 Viewing Questions
• Worksheet: definite articles, indefinite articles, pronouns
• Activity Sheet: choosing appropriate pronouns, guessing gender of new nouns
• Check Your Knowledge: vocabulary, gender rules, articles, pronouns; 50 points
Background
Though there are many grammatical structures and vocabulary that the students will not know, they should be able to
do the exercises without worrying about unknown words.
Preparation
None required.
Extension:
If the students have access to bilingual dictionaries, have them skim through the dictionary to find as many
words as they can that are exceptions to the gender rules.
Using Articles and Pronouns
Viewing Guide
VOCABULARY
la
el
el
el
actriz – actress
calcetín – sock
carro – car
cine – movie
la ciudad – city
el/la cliente – client
el día – day
el/la doctor(a) – doctor
DEFINITE ARTICLES (the)
Singular
Masculine
el
Feminine
la
el/la estudiante – student
la mano – hand
el martes – Tuesday
la mesa – table
Plural
los
las
INDEFINITE ARTICLES (a, an, some)
Singular
Plural
Masculine
un
unos
Feminine
una
unas
el papel – paper
el problema – problem
el programa – program
la promoción – promotion
el carro
la mesa
los carros
las mesas
un carro
una mesa
unos carros
unas mesas
PRONOUNS
Singular
Plural
yo
I
nosotros/nosotras
I
tú
you (informal)
vosotros/vosotras
you (plural, in Spain)
usted (Ud.)
you (formal)
ustedes (Uds.)
you (plural)
él
he
ellos
they (masculine)
ella
she
ellas
they (feminine)
A FEW REMINDERS
Nosotros – used for a group of men or a
mixed group of men and women
Nosotras – used for a group of women
Vosotros – used for a group of men or a
mixed group of men and women
Vosotras – used for a group of women
Masculine nouns end in:
L
O
N
E
R
S
Finally! All objects have a gender! So, “it” in
English is either él or ella in Spanish.
Viewing Questions
1. Does a definite article refer to a specific thing or a non-specific thing?
2. What plural pronoun has only one form for both male and female groups?
3. What is the difference between el and él?
Feminine nouns end in:
D
IÓN
Z
A
Using Articles and Pronouns
Worksheet
A. A Is for Article
Translate the English words below into Spanish. Be careful with plurals and exceptions!
1. the actress
7. Tuesday
2. a movie
8. some cars
3. some tables
9. the programs
4. the students
10. a sock
5. the problem
11. the hands
6. a promotion
12. some cities
B. Problems With Pronouns
Complete the sentence with the appropriate pronoun. Focus on the verb, determine what form it is and don’t worry if you don’t
know all the words.
1. (I)
cocino esas comidas en mi casa.
2. (you, informal)
tienes verrugas también.
3. (you, plural)
¡
apestan!
4. (she)
decide una cosa diferente cada día.
5. (we women)
somos jóvenes y bonitas.
6. (they)
son muy extraña.
7. (you, formal)
¿
8. (he)
canta en la lluvia?
no lee nunca.
C. Keeping Track of the Differences
Which pronouns have different endings depending on whether they refer to men or women?
Write them in the lines below.
MASCULINE
1.
2.
3.
FEMININE
Using Articles and Pronouns
Worksheet
Answer Key
A. A Is for Article
Translate the English words below into Spanish. Be careful with plurals and exceptions!
1. the actress
la actriz
7. Tuesday
el martes
2. a movie
un cine
8. some cars
unos carros
3. some tables
unas mesas
9. the programs
los programas
4. the students
los estudiantes
10. a sock
un calcetín
5. the problem
el problema
11. the hands
las manos
6. a promotion
una promoción
12. some cities
unas ciudades
B. Problems With Pronouns
Complete the sentence with the appropriate pronoun. Focus on the verb, determine what form it is and don’t worry if you don’t
know all the words.
1. (I)
Yo
cocino esas comidas en mi casa.
2. (you, informal)
Tú
tienes verrugas también.
Ustedes
apestan!
4. (she)
Ella
decide una cosa diferente cada día.
5. (we women)
Nosotras
somos jóvenes y bonitas.
6. (they)
Ellos
son muy extraña.
Usted
canta en la lluvia?
Él
no lee nunca.
3. (you, plural)
¡
7. (you, formal)
8. (he)
¿
C. Keeping Track of the Differences
Which pronouns have different endings depending on whether they refer to men or women?
Write them in the lines below.
MASCULINE
FEMININE
1.
nosotros
nosotras
2.
vosotros
vosotras
3.
ellos
ellas
Using Articles and Pronouns
Activity
A. The Proof Is in the Endings
Look at the list of words in the box. Using your list of rules for determining gender, group the words into the masculine and
feminine categories. Put a star ( * ) by the words that are exceptions.
Masculine
Feminine
• eructo
• fútbol
• guerra
• universidad
• drama
• maletín
• ferrocarril
• tiza
• guante
• señor
• dificultad
• televisión
• nación
• clima
• actriz
• hormiga
• foto
• huevo
• rascacielos
• luz
• sillón
• llave
• azúcar
• garaje
B. Pronoun Trivia
Answer the questions below.
1. Which singular Spanish pronoun would you use to address an old pal?
2. How many pronouns does Spanish have for the word “you”? What are they?
3. Which two pronouns are used only in Spain?
4. When referring to a group of men and women, which pronouns can you use?
5. Which pronouns can you abbreviate?
6. Is there a direct Spanish equivalent for the word “it”?
Using Articles and Pronouns
Activity
Answer Key
A. The Proof Is in the Endings
Look at the list of words in the box. Using your list of rules for determining gender, group the words into the masculine and
feminine categories. Put a star ( * ) by the words that are exceptions.
Masculine
Feminine
el eructo
el drama*
el ferrocarril
el guante
el rascacielos
el sillón
el azúcar
el fútbol
el maletín
el señor
el clima*
el huevo
el llave
el garaje
la guerra
la dificultad
la nación
la actriz
la foto*
la universidad
la tiza
la televisión
la hormiga
la luz
• eructo
• fútbol
• guerra
• universidad
• drama
• maletín
• ferrocarril
• tiza
• guante
• señor
• dificultad
• televisión
• nación
• clima
• actriz
• hormiga
• foto
• huevo
• rascacielos
• luz
• sillón
• llave
• azúcar
• garaje
B. Pronoun Trivia
Answer the questions below.
1. Which singular Spanish pronoun would you use to address an old pal? tú
2. How many pronouns does Spanish have for the word “you”? What are they? 5: usted, ustedes, vosotros, vosotras, tú
3. Which two pronouns are used only in Spain? vosotros & vosotras
4. When referring to a group of men and women, which pronouns can you use? ellos, nosotros, ustedes
5. Which pronouns can you abbreviate? usted (Ud.) and ustedes (Uds.)
6. Is there a direct Spanish equivalent for the word “it”? no
Using Articles and Pronouns
Check Your Knowledge
Total Score
/ 50
A. Vocabulary
Translate the following words into Spanish. Remember to use correct articles. (2 points each)
1. sock
2. student (male)
3. day
4. city
5. hand
B. Determining the Gender
Using your knowledge of the gender guidelines, write the correct article for each word below. Warning! There’s one irregular
noun in the list...but we’re sure you’ll spot it. (1 point each)
1.
canción
2.
actitud
3.
sistema
4.
abrelatas
5.
galón
6.
borrador
7.
figura
8.
cartel
9.
chimpancé
10.
idiotez
C. On the Contrary
Reverse the words below so that definite articles become indefinite articles, plurals become singular, and so on. (2 points each)
Example:
el carro (definite article, singular) unos carros (changed to the indefinite article, plural)
1. la ciudad
2. unos cines
3. las promociones
4. una cliente
5. el día
D. It’s All About the Pronouns
Translate into Spanish. (2 points each)
1. you (formal singular)
2. I
3. you (informal singular)
4. he
5. you (plural)
6. she
7. you (informal pl., masc., in Spain)
8. we (masc.)
9. they (masc.)
10. they (fem.)
Using Articles and Pronouns
Check Your Knowledge
Answer Key
Total Score
/ 50
A. Vocabulary
Translate the following words into Spanish. Remember to use the correct articles. (2 points each)
1. sock
el calcetín
2. student (male)
el estudiante
3. day
el día
4. city
la promoción
5. hand
la mano
B. Determining the Gender
Using your knowledge of the gender guidelines, write the correct article for each word below. Warning! There’s one irregular
noun in the list...but we’re sure you’ll spot it. (1 point each)
1.
la
canción
2.
la
actitud
3.
el
sistema
4.
el
abrelatas
5.
el
galón
6.
el
borrador
7.
la
figura
8.
el
cartel
9.
el
chimpancé
10.
la
idiotez
C. On the Contrary
Reverse the words below so that definite articles become indefinite articles, plurals become singular, and so on. (2 points each)
Example:
el carro (definite article, singular) unos carros (changed to the indefinite article, plural)
1. la ciudad
unas ciudades
2. unos cines
el cine
3. las promociones
una promoción
4. una cliente
las clientes
5. el día
unos días
D. It’s All About the Pronouns
Translate into Spanish. (2 points each)
1. you (formal singular
usted
2. I
yo
3. you (informal singular)
tú
4. he
él
5. you (plural)
ustedes
6. she
ella
7. you (informal pl., masc., in Spain)
vosotros
8. we (masc.)
nosotros
9. they (masc.)
ellos
10. they (fem.)
ellas