Healthy Lifestyles: Grammar and Phonics (AQA GCSE Spanish): Revision Note
Exam code: 8692
To talk about healthy lifestyles, you need to know some important grammar – reflexive pronouns and verbs and verbs with prepositions. Let’s look at these grammar points in more detail.
Reflexive pronouns and verbs
Use reflexive verbs to talk about your daily routine, e.g. when you go to sleep and wake up - there are some key verbs in the vocabulary table you have already seen
If an infinitive ends in se it is a reflexive verb
Se is a reflexive pronoun, and we need to change both the verb and the reflexive pronoun to match the subject
The reflexive pronoun is placed before the verb
We often don’t use a reflexive pronoun in the English translation
Spanish | English |
relajarse | to relax |
me relajo | I relax |
te relejas | you relax (singular) |
se relaja | he / she relaxes |
nos relajamos | we relax |
os relajáis | you relax (plural) |
se relajan | they relax |
Verbs with prepositions
Some verbs in Spanish require a preposition
We use prepositions with English verbs too, but sometimes the translations are different, e.g. in Spanish we say soñar con but in English we say ‘to dream of’, not ‘with’
Sometimes we don’t use a preposition in English at all
If we use a verb after the preposition, it is always in the infinitive form in Spanish
Here are some examples of verbs using prepositions:
Spanish | English | Examples | |
dejar de | to stop | Voy a dejar de fumar. | I am going to stop smoking. |
emepezar a | to start | Empecé a beber más agua. | I started to drink more water. |
llegar a | to manage | Llegué a correr cinco kilómetros. | I managed to run five kilometres. |
Higher tier only
These verbs with prepositions are only required for Higher tier.
acabar de | to have just | Acabo de hacer ejercicio. | I have just done some exercise. |
consistir en | to consist of | Una dieta equilibrada consiste en comer mucha fruta. | A healthy diet consists of eating lots of fruit. |
tratar de | to try to | Trato de dormir ocho horas. | I try to sleep for eight hours. |
Healthy lifestyles: phonics
The Spanish letter [ñ] must be written with the accent on top, called a tilde
It sounds like the English sound [ny], or the sound in the word ‘lasagne’
el daño
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is important to know how to say and spell Spanish words accurately. The sounds covered here can appear in any words throughout the course.
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