Section A: Foundation (AQA GCSE German): Revision Note

Section A: Foundation Writing

In the Foundation writing paper, the first four questions will always appear in this order. There is also a fifth question, the 90-word overlap task, which appears in Section B.

Photo description

• This question is worth 10 marks

• You need to write five sentences about a photo

• Each sentence is worth 2 marks

• The structure es gibt (there is / there are) is very useful and can apply to any photo

• Your sentences can be short and simple and do not need developing

50-word question

• This question is worth 10 marks

• You are given a topic and five bullet points to cover

• You must say something about all five bullet points for full marks

• You don't have to cover each bullet point equally, as long as you mention each one

• There is no requirement to use different tenses, so you can just use the present tense if preferred

• For the highest marks, you should aim for a variety of vocabulary and structures

Grammar gap fill

• This question is worth 5 marks

• There are five sentences in German

• Each has a gap with three possible answers to choose from

• The gaps test your knowledge of grammar, e.g. tenses, pronouns, adjective agreements, and noun gender

• Some examples of the grammar which might be tested are:

  • the number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) of nouns and adjectives

  • which verb endings match with which pronouns

  • different tenses and how they are formed (e.g. the correct auxiliary verb in the perfect tense)

Translation into German

• This question is worth 10 marks

• You will need to translate five sentences into German

• You will translate around 35 words in total

• Avoid word-for-word translations - aim to transfer meaning

• Ensure that every detail is included in the translation, particularly small words like 'very' or 'not', which are easily missed

• Remember the key differences in English and German grammar, e.g. word order and case endings

• Be aware that some words may be false friends

• Check your translations carefully when you have finished