Original post by BuongiornoGCSE Spanish - Writing
To get a grade C you MUST include:
• At least two different tenses
• A simple negative
• Simple opinions with reasons using porque
• Adjectives to add description and detail
• Simple adverbs eg normalmente, generalmente
• Simple connectives eg y, o, pero, también, sin embargo, además
• Sequencing phrases eg primero, luego, después
• Time expressions eg durante el día, el día siguiente, por la mañana/tarde/noche
To increase your marks try to use:
• The we form as well as I eg amos/emos ending
• The imperfect tense to add description eg era, estaba, había
• A conditional to say what you would like to do eg (No) me gustaría + infinitive
• Less common negatives eg nunca, nada, nadie,
• Contrasting adjectives eg es caro pero es interesante
• A comparative eg es más grande que
• Adverbs of frequency eg siempre, a veces
• Creo que to give an opinion
• A more complex opinión eg Lo bueno/malo es que…
• Other connectives eg además, sin embargo, que, donde
• Si eg si hace sol…
To get higher than a C you need to include:
• Preterite, present and future tenses
• Verbs referring to different people eg I, he.she, we, they
• The imperfect tense to add description in the past
• A variety of reference to the future eg me gustaría + infinitive, quiero + infinitive, iré
• Longer sentences using a variety of connectives and time phrases eg además, sin embargo, que, donde, antes, por eso
• Less common negatives eg nunca, nada, nadie
• A comparative or a superlative eg es más grande que, es el mejor
• A more complex opinión eg Lo bueno/malo es que.., creo/pienso que.., para mí..
To impress the examiner and aim for an A* include:
• Complex sentences with a mixture of tenses eg use the preterite to say what you did combined with the imperfect to describe what something was like, use antes + imperfect pero ahora + present or use si + present + future
• Relative pronouns eg donde, cuando, que
• Adverbs eg normalmente, siempre, bastante
• More complex opinions on issues with justification eg environmental impact of travelling by plane
• More varied opinions eg lo que más me gusta, me da asco, me molesta
• Comparative and superlative adjectives eg lo más importante es que, lo mejor/peor es que
• A variety of negatives eg tampoco, falta, ni, ningún
• Para + infinitive to say in order to do something