Spanish Grade 6/7+ GUIDE
Working at a grade 8 in Spanish and predicted to get a 9, and I see so many people saying Spanish is difficult and because it's literally the only thing I can do I wanna help out.
This is mostly focused on writing, but this is transferable onto speaking if you try remember set phrases.
I'm not exactly sure what things equate to different grades, so I'm just going to pump out everything I know gets you the higher grades:
Verbs
TENSES
Use at least 5 verb tenses. I'd recommend:
-Present
I watch TV = veo la televisión
I like to watch... = me gusta ver...
When I talk... = Cuando hablo
-Preterite
Yesterday I ate vegetables = ayer comí las verduras
-Conditional
I would like to eat... = me gustaría comer...
I would buy... = Compraría...
-Simple future
I will go out with my friends = saldré con mis amigos
-Informal future (Voy a infinitive)
I am going to buy... = voy a comprar
-Perfect (He, ha, has... past participle)
I have written... He escrito
You cannot get higher than a grade 5 if you only talk in the first person. You need to be able to talk about somebody else (usually he/she or "we"
The endings for this are -ar = a, -ir/-er = e
An example of a regular -ar verb is:
comprar: I buy = Compro, my mum buys = mi madre compra
An example of a regular -er verb is:
comer: I eat = como, my brother eats = mi hermano come
A verb table that is very useful (If you can't read it I'll try post a word doc or link to site I got it):
***Like in English, commonly used verbs such as tener (to have), hacer (to do) are IRREGULAR so they do not follow the normal verb rules. You will have to learn these off by heart, minimally for the I, he/she and we forms. If you're in doubt, use spanishdict website to look up the infinitive of a verb and see all its endings.
Irregulars you should learn (at least for the present and preterite):
-tener
-pensar
-hacer
-ser
-estar
-ir
-querer
Desirables:
-saber
-ir
-ver
-poder
Basically, just learn as many verbs as you can. The best way you can learn new vocab is PRACTISING. Start writing stuff down in Spanish on a piece of paper, if you get stuck and want to use a verb you don't know then look it up and use the correct form.
Honestly, with any language GCSE you are not going to get high grades if you don't practise (same with most GCSEs, but specifically languages).
I jumped from a grade 5 to a grade 7/8 and predicted a 9 when I started practising Spanish outside of class. Personally, I think the best way to practise is to talk with native speakers (with apps like Tandem and Hellotalk, just remember like e-safety and all that stuff) because that way you can talk about a wider variety of things that aren't on the GCSE spec and pick up new vocabulary (the more the better) and practise verbs.The best part about talking to a native or fluent speaker is they will correct your mistakes. Just remember to request they speak grammatically correct and formally, otherwise you might learn things that won't work out too well for you in exams.
INFINITIVES
When using two infinitives together, you must connect them with "a" - unless the first infinitive is poder. For example:
I need to start studying Spanish = Necesito empezar a estudiar español.
My mother wants to be able to speak French = Mi madre quiere poder hablar francés.
Also, some neat lil things you should remember are:
-Tengo que = I need to... (same with tiene que = she needs to, tenemos que = we need to"
REMEMBER that even if you have a pronoun, you still must use the correct verb form. You cannot say "Laura pensar" for Laura thinks, you MUST say "Laura piensa"
Posessive Adjectives
Loads of people don't seem to know these, but they are really handy.
You should definitely learn these if you want to use more complex strucutres:
My: mi
Your: tu
Her: su
Our: nuestro/a
Their: su
Remember, because these are ADJECTIVES they change depending on whether the noun is plural or singular, and for "nuestro" it also functions on word gender.
My cat = mi gato, my cats = mis gatos
Our kingdom = neustro reino, our kingdoms = nuestros reinos.
There are, of course, posessive pronouns (like "mine" but you're more likely to use the adjectives in GCSE Spanish, so I wouldn't learn these for the exam because I personally find them confusing. But if you wanna learn them, search up "Spanish posessive adjectives)
OPINIONS
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember that when you are saying "me gusta" or "me encanta", when you're talking about plural they change to ME GUSTAN and ME ENCANTAN.
Same with TE GUSTAN (you like) and LE GUSTAN (he likes) for plural. Even I forget this sometimes but please remember this!! When you check through your writing at the end, specifically check over places where you have use "me gustan" and check you have definitely used "me gustan".
To get higher marks, you should use complex ideas, so rather than just using "...because it's pretty", go more in depth like "I like cats because when I was younger I had a kitten."
"Me gustan los gatos porque cuando era más joven tuve un gato."
Sounds better than "I like cats because they're cute.", doesn't it? Obviously use a combination of just adjectives and in depth reasons, but also for adjectives, rather than just saying "muy...", use -ísima and -ísimo.
E.g, muy guapo = guapísimo. (remove the o or a and replace it with ísimo/a)
REMEMBER TO COMPARE THINGS TOO:
Mas... que... (e.g Mas joven que...) MORE THAN
Menos... que... (e.g mas bajo que...) LESS THAN
tan...como.... (e.g tan largo como mi pelo) AS... AS... (like "as long as my hair)
(más should always have an accent over the a, but please excuse me I am doing this on a laptop and can't figure out the Spanish keyboard so I'm copying the letters from google and it's tedious af)
SUBJUNCTIVE
I’m not 100% certain if this is needed at GCSE, but this is something that will likely push up your grades a lot (maybe to a 9) as it's A-Level stuff. The subjunctive is a mood that expresses desire, opinion, etc. if you struggle already with remembering the indicative verb endings (like the tenses I spoke about above), learn these phrases:
SI PUDIERA, ME GUSTARíA... = If I could, I would like (to)...
NO CREO QUE SEA = I don't think it is...
I will keep editing this post and adding to it as I remember stuff, but here is a list of words/things you should know that I am currently too lazy to make big paragraphs on because I'm tired and in pain (coccyx injury makes sitting painful tbh)
-ENTRE = BETWEEN (Entre gatos y perros, prefiero...)(Between cats and dogs, I prefer...)
-DESDE = SINCE
-HASTA = UNTIL
-SI = IF
-O = OR
-EL PROBLEMA (this word sounds like it should be feminine but it's masculine, so don't get caught out by that "a" at the end)
SUMMARY because I know I typed a lot.
1. Use at least 5 verb tenses
2. Talk about more than just yourself, so talk about YO, EL/ELLA, NOS (we)
3. Give in-depth reasons (rather than just an opinion)
4. Use ísimo/a aswell as "muy adjective"
*OPTIONAL* 5. Use one of the subjunctive phrases I listed
**please could anybody fluent in Spanish or native or who is a teacher or anyone better than me at Spanish correct any mistakes I have made and give me more suggestions for this post, thank you***
If you have any more questions, feel free to drop them because if I can answer them they could be useful to add to this post!
This is mostly focused on writing, but this is transferable onto speaking if you try remember set phrases.
I'm not exactly sure what things equate to different grades, so I'm just going to pump out everything I know gets you the higher grades:
Verbs
TENSES
Use at least 5 verb tenses. I'd recommend:
-Present
I watch TV = veo la televisión
I like to watch... = me gusta ver...
When I talk... = Cuando hablo
-Preterite
Yesterday I ate vegetables = ayer comí las verduras
-Conditional
I would like to eat... = me gustaría comer...
I would buy... = Compraría...
-Simple future
I will go out with my friends = saldré con mis amigos
-Informal future (Voy a infinitive)
I am going to buy... = voy a comprar
-Perfect (He, ha, has... past participle)
I have written... He escrito
You cannot get higher than a grade 5 if you only talk in the first person. You need to be able to talk about somebody else (usually he/she or "we"
The endings for this are -ar = a, -ir/-er = e
An example of a regular -ar verb is:
comprar: I buy = Compro, my mum buys = mi madre compra
An example of a regular -er verb is:
comer: I eat = como, my brother eats = mi hermano come
A verb table that is very useful (If you can't read it I'll try post a word doc or link to site I got it):
***Like in English, commonly used verbs such as tener (to have), hacer (to do) are IRREGULAR so they do not follow the normal verb rules. You will have to learn these off by heart, minimally for the I, he/she and we forms. If you're in doubt, use spanishdict website to look up the infinitive of a verb and see all its endings.
Irregulars you should learn (at least for the present and preterite):
-tener
-pensar
-hacer
-ser
-estar
-ir
-querer
Desirables:
-saber
-ir
-ver
-poder
Basically, just learn as many verbs as you can. The best way you can learn new vocab is PRACTISING. Start writing stuff down in Spanish on a piece of paper, if you get stuck and want to use a verb you don't know then look it up and use the correct form.
Honestly, with any language GCSE you are not going to get high grades if you don't practise (same with most GCSEs, but specifically languages).
I jumped from a grade 5 to a grade 7/8 and predicted a 9 when I started practising Spanish outside of class. Personally, I think the best way to practise is to talk with native speakers (with apps like Tandem and Hellotalk, just remember like e-safety and all that stuff) because that way you can talk about a wider variety of things that aren't on the GCSE spec and pick up new vocabulary (the more the better) and practise verbs.The best part about talking to a native or fluent speaker is they will correct your mistakes. Just remember to request they speak grammatically correct and formally, otherwise you might learn things that won't work out too well for you in exams.
INFINITIVES
When using two infinitives together, you must connect them with "a" - unless the first infinitive is poder. For example:
I need to start studying Spanish = Necesito empezar a estudiar español.
My mother wants to be able to speak French = Mi madre quiere poder hablar francés.
Also, some neat lil things you should remember are:
-Tengo que = I need to... (same with tiene que = she needs to, tenemos que = we need to"
REMEMBER that even if you have a pronoun, you still must use the correct verb form. You cannot say "Laura pensar" for Laura thinks, you MUST say "Laura piensa"
Posessive Adjectives
Loads of people don't seem to know these, but they are really handy.
You should definitely learn these if you want to use more complex strucutres:
My: mi
Your: tu
Her: su
Our: nuestro/a
Their: su
Remember, because these are ADJECTIVES they change depending on whether the noun is plural or singular, and for "nuestro" it also functions on word gender.
My cat = mi gato, my cats = mis gatos
Our kingdom = neustro reino, our kingdoms = nuestros reinos.
There are, of course, posessive pronouns (like "mine"
but you're more likely to use the adjectives in GCSE Spanish, so I wouldn't learn these for the exam because I personally find them confusing. But if you wanna learn them, search up "Spanish posessive adjectives) OPINIONS
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember that when you are saying "me gusta" or "me encanta", when you're talking about plural they change to ME GUSTAN and ME ENCANTAN.
Same with TE GUSTAN (you like) and LE GUSTAN (he likes) for plural. Even I forget this sometimes but please remember this!! When you check through your writing at the end, specifically check over places where you have use "me gustan" and check you have definitely used "me gustan".
To get higher marks, you should use complex ideas, so rather than just using "...because it's pretty", go more in depth like "I like cats because when I was younger I had a kitten."
"Me gustan los gatos porque cuando era más joven tuve un gato."
Sounds better than "I like cats because they're cute.", doesn't it? Obviously use a combination of just adjectives and in depth reasons, but also for adjectives, rather than just saying "muy...", use -ísima and -ísimo.
E.g, muy guapo = guapísimo. (remove the o or a and replace it with ísimo/a)
REMEMBER TO COMPARE THINGS TOO:
Mas... que... (e.g Mas joven que...) MORE THAN
Menos... que... (e.g mas bajo que...) LESS THAN
tan...como.... (e.g tan largo como mi pelo) AS... AS... (like "as long as my hair)
(más should always have an accent over the a, but please excuse me I am doing this on a laptop and can't figure out the Spanish keyboard so I'm copying the letters from google and it's tedious af)
SUBJUNCTIVE
I’m not 100% certain if this is needed at GCSE, but this is something that will likely push up your grades a lot (maybe to a 9) as it's A-Level stuff. The subjunctive is a mood that expresses desire, opinion, etc. if you struggle already with remembering the indicative verb endings (like the tenses I spoke about above), learn these phrases:
SI PUDIERA, ME GUSTARíA... = If I could, I would like (to)...
NO CREO QUE SEA = I don't think it is...
I will keep editing this post and adding to it as I remember stuff, but here is a list of words/things you should know that I am currently too lazy to make big paragraphs on because I'm tired and in pain (coccyx injury makes sitting painful tbh)
-ENTRE = BETWEEN (Entre gatos y perros, prefiero...)(Between cats and dogs, I prefer...)
-DESDE = SINCE
-HASTA = UNTIL
-SI = IF
-O = OR
-EL PROBLEMA (this word sounds like it should be feminine but it's masculine, so don't get caught out by that "a" at the end)
SUMMARY because I know I typed a lot.
1. Use at least 5 verb tenses
2. Talk about more than just yourself, so talk about YO, EL/ELLA, NOS (we)
3. Give in-depth reasons (rather than just an opinion)
4. Use ísimo/a aswell as "muy adjective"
*OPTIONAL* 5. Use one of the subjunctive phrases I listed
**please could anybody fluent in Spanish or native or who is a teacher or anyone better than me at Spanish correct any mistakes I have made and give me more suggestions for this post, thank you***
If you have any more questions, feel free to drop them because if I can answer them they could be useful to add to this post!
(edited 6 years ago)
Scroll to see replies
Original post by Psaa
Great post, how do you learn vocab?
Personally, I like to use Quizlet. If you make an account and look up Spanish GCSE sets I'm certain you can find some sets relevant to you.
But also, I like to learn vocab in context, so along with learning grammar, so might repeat phrases in my head including vocab I need. Like I might randomly think "Pienso que un gran problema es..." or something completely random. Just trying to think in Spanish using the words I find is helpful for speaking practice, as you're making it up as you go along.
To apply this to writing, get out some paper and write out sentences involving the vocab you're learning. This way you're practising grammar, verbs and the vocabulary all at once
You can get your Spanish teacher to check what you've written down as well so you'll also be learning from any mistakes you might have made.Original post by Psaa
I used to use it but got annoyed at accents etc so I use memrise. The course I am doing has around 800 words on, do you think this is enough?
That should be enough, but I'm not entirely sure how many words you need to know. As long as the words you are learning fit into the topics that will come up in your exam, you should be good.
Original post by hqnnlr
SUBJUNCTIVE
YOU DO NOT NEED THIS FOR GCSE, but this is something that will likely push up your grades a lot (maybe to a 9) as it's A-Level stuff. The subjunctive is a mood that expresses desire, opinion, etc. so please for your sanity do not try to learn a whole new verb mood that literally does not have a modern English equivalent, instead just remember this:
SI PUDIERA, ME GUSTARíA... = If I could, I would like (to)...
NO CREO QUE SEA = I don't think it is...
YOU DO NOT NEED THIS FOR GCSE, but this is something that will likely push up your grades a lot (maybe to a 9) as it's A-Level stuff. The subjunctive is a mood that expresses desire, opinion, etc. so please for your sanity do not try to learn a whole new verb mood that literally does not have a modern English equivalent, instead just remember this:
SI PUDIERA, ME GUSTARíA... = If I could, I would like (to)...
NO CREO QUE SEA = I don't think it is...
Very good guide, but in 3 textbooks I've seen for GCSE you do need the Subjunctive in the environment module. TBH, the conjugations are quite simple, but learning where to use it is the difficult part. But you do need it for expressing views on the environment.
Original post by TheEyeOfBaradDur
Very good guide, but in 3 textbooks I've seen for GCSE you do need the Subjunctive in the environment module. TBH, the conjugations are quite simple, but learning where to use it is the difficult part. But you do need it for expressing views on the environment.
Crap, maybe it’s just my exam board that doesn’t do it at GCSE. My Spanish teacher always told us it was A-Level stuff, and so only taught it to me and one other girl in my class as we wanted to learn it.
Original post by hqnnlr
Crap, maybe it’s just my exam board that doesn’t do it at GCSE. My Spanish teacher always told us it was A-Level stuff, and so only taught it to me and one other girl in my class as we wanted to learn it.
What exam board you doing? I'm doing Edexcel.
Original post by TheEyeOfBaradDur
What exam board you doing? I'm doing Edexcel.
AQA
Original post by hqnnlr
AQA
Ahhh ok it might be different then
Original post by cj_sS
I'm on AQA for spanish too currently working on a grade 7. Have you done any listening mocks yet, if so how many marks did you get?
I can’t remember what mark I got, I know I got a grade 6 which was highest in the class, so I do think generally everyone gets low in listening.
Even if you get a lower grade in listening, the other aspects can easily bring it up. I got an 8 overall in my mock despite the 6 in listening.
Original post by hqnnlr
I can’t remember what mark I got, I know I got a grade 6 which was highest in the class, so I do think generally everyone gets low in listening.
Even if you get a lower grade in listening, the other aspects can easily bring it up. I got an 8 overall in my mock despite the 6 in listening.
Even if you get a lower grade in listening, the other aspects can easily bring it up. I got an 8 overall in my mock despite the 6 in listening.
Oh okay what about writing and reading?
In writing i got 52/60
In reading i got 43/60
Original post by cj_sS
Oh okay what about writing and reading?
In writing i got 52/60
In reading i got 43/60
In writing i got 52/60
In reading i got 43/60
I don’t think I got marks back, only the grades. 7 in reading and 8 in writing
Original post by Shabby33
i came from a grade 5+ to a 2+ :__
Do you know why your grades dropped?
Original post by hqnnlr
Do you know why your grades dropped?
I ended up focusing more on the other subjects
friends
change teacher
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