TV reality shows (AQA GCSE Spanish): Revision Notes

TV reality shows

TV reality shows have become a massive part of modern entertainment and celebrity culture. In Spanish-speaking countries, these programmes are just as popular as they are in the UK, covering everything from singing competitions to cooking challenges. Understanding how to discuss these shows will help you engage with contemporary Spanish culture and express opinions about media and entertainment.

Essential vocabulary

Spanish	English
el concurso	competition
el/la cantante	singer
la carrera	career
los medios de comunicación	the media
el programa	programme
el espectáculo	show
el público	public
el apoyo	support, backing
la relación	relationship
buscar	to seek, look for
ganar	to win, earn
preferir	to prefer
querer	to want
votar	to vote
el talento	talent
enamorarse (de)	to fall in love (with)

Grammar focus: irregular preterite verbs

When discussing past events on TV reality shows, you'll often need to use the preterite tense. Some of the most common verbs have irregular forms in the preterite, but don't worry - they follow predictable patterns once you learn them.

Key irregular preterite verbs

hacer (to do, make)

• $\text{hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron}$

tener (to have)

• $\text{tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron}$

poner (to put)

• $\text{puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron}$

traer (to bring)

• $\text{traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron}$

venir (to come)

• $\text{vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron}$

querer (to want)

• $\text{quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron}$

Grammar tip

Don't be intimidated by these irregular verbs! Apart from hacer, they all share the same pattern: they have a special stem that stays consistent, and they all use the same set of endings. Once you memorise the stems, the rest follows naturally.

Example sentences

Here are some useful sentences for discussing TV reality shows using both present and preterite tenses:

Example dialogue

Here's a conversation between three friends discussing different TV reality shows:

Practice exercises

Test your understanding of the vocabulary and irregular preterite verbs with these translation exercises:

Spanish to English translation

1. "El concurso tuvo mucho éxito entre el público joven."
2. "Los cantantes vinieron de diferentes países para participar."

English to Spanish translation

3. "The contestants wanted to win the cooking competition."
4. "She put a lot of effort into her singing performance."

Answers

1. "The competition was very successful with young audiences."
2. "The singers came from different countries to participate."
3. "Los concursantes quisieron ganar el concurso de cocina."
4. "Ella puso mucho esfuerzo en su actuación de canto."