Spanish Modal Verb Song for Kids
Había una vez = Once upon a time there was …
Spanish Song for children in the Imperfect Tense about a little puppy that wanted to escape and explore …
Había = there was
Había una vez = Once upon a time there was …
Había una vez un perrito chiquitito
Once upon a time there was a little puppy
Un Perrito Chiquitito is sung to the tune of the traditional Spanish children’s song: El Barquito Chiquitito
Modal Verbs, 3rd person, Imperfect Tense:
no sabía – it didn’t know
no podía – it couldn’t
no debía – it was not supposed to …
Modal verbs need a 2nd verb in the infinitive:
escapar = to escape:
No sabía escapar – it didn’t know how to escape
No podía escapar – it couldn’t escape
No debía escapar – it wasn’t supposed to escape
The story ends in the perfect tense.
LYRICS + GUITAR CHORDS:
A E A
Había una vez
. E A
un perrito chiquitito,
(There was once a little puppy) x2
A E A
Había una vez
. E A
un perrito chiquitito,
. D
Que no sabía,
That didn’t know how to,
. A
que no podía,
that couldn’t,
. E A
que no debía escapar.
that wasn’t supposed to escape.
Hold up your hands and count to 6 on your fingers whilst singing:
. A E A
Pasaron un, dos, tres,
. E A
cuatro, cinco, seis semanas
1 2 3 4 5 6 weeks went by(x2)
. A E A
Pasaron un, dos, tres,
. E A
cuatro, cinco, seis semanas …
. D
Y aquel perrito,
. A
y aquel perrito,
. E A
y aquel perrito escapó.
(And that little puppy,
and that little puppy,
and that little puppy escaped.)
Repeat!
For more practice using Spanish Modal Verbs in the context of scoring goals on a Playstation this time, go to:
Modal Verbs in Spanish
