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

Section A: foundation

There are four questions in Section A. They will always appear in this order.

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 hay (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

Write 50 words

• 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 Spanish

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

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

• You must be able to identify:

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

  • which verb endings match with which pronouns

  • different tenses and how they are formed (e.g. the two different ending types in the imperfect - ía for -ar verbs and -aba for -er and -ir verbs)

Translation into Spanish

• This question is worth 10 marks

• You will need to translate five sentences into Spanish - each is worth two marks

• 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 'my' or 'not' which are easily missed

• Remember the key differences in Spanish and English grammar, e.g. adjective agreements

• Don't be fooled by false friends

• Check your translations carefully when you have finished