Notes · SpanishUK · A-Levels

Grammar

AQA publishes a prescribed grammar list for Spanish, divided into an AS list and an A-level list, and states that A-level students are expected to have studied everything in both. Knowledge of GCSE grammar is assumed on top of it. These notes work through that annex in the order that matters for the exam: the verb system and the present, the past tenses and the narrative choice between indefinido and imperfecto, the future, the conditional and the verbal periphrases the list names explicitly, the subjunctive with all of its listed triggers, ser and estar with the passive and the many uses of se, and finally pronouns, prepositions and the sentence patterns - cleft sentences, hace and desde hace, indirect speech, discourse markers - on which accuracy marks are won and lost.

6 sections~30 min reading time3 competenciesLevel Standard 2 · Advanced 4

T·131313 / 16

Exam profile

AO3 · Manipulate the language accurately, in spoken and written forms, using a range of lexis and structureAO2 · Understand written Spanish accurately, including complex and abstract structuresAO1 · Understand spoken Spanish accurately at natural speed

Operators:conjugartransformarcorregirtraducirjustificaraplicar

basic level

The AS list covers nouns, articles, adjectives, numerals, adverbs, pronouns, the full set of indicative tenses, the subjunctive in commands, conditional sentences, time clauses and after para que and sin que, ser and estar, all prepositions with the personal a and por versus para, negation, questions, word order, time expressions with hace, cleft sentences, comparatives, indirect speech, discourse markers and fillers.

higher level

The A-level list adds, as active knowledge, the relative adjective cuyo, the subjunctive in relative clauses, after other subordinating conjunctions and with verbs of wishing, commanding, influencing, emotional reaction, doubt, denial, possibility and probability, the use of que to introduce a clause, comparatives of the type tiene más dinero de lo que creía, and, receptively, concession expressed by por muy... que and por mucho que.

Depth

Text

Contents · 6 sections

Grammar

The verb system: conjugations, the present, and what regular really means#

StandardAQA 7692 3.3.1.8 - Verbs: regular conjugations, radical-changing and orthographic-changing verbsAQA 7692 3.3 Grammar

El presente de indicativo: las tres conjugaciones

Fig. 1The three columns are the whole system. Everything called irregular is a deviation from these six rows, and most deviations affect only the stressed stem.

Spanish has three conjugations, identified by the infinitive ending: -ar (hablar), -er (comer) and -ir (vivir). The endings of the present indicative are the foundation of everything else, and they must be automatic rather than worked out. The commonest error at A-level is not ignorance of the endings but hesitation, which under exam pressure produces slips in the third person - a missing n on a plural, or the wrong person entirely. Drill the six forms of each conjugation aloud until they are as fast as English. Note that vosotros exists in Spain and not in Latin America, where ustedes serves as the plural of both tú and usted; AQA's material may use either, so both must be understood, and you should use one system consistently in your own production.

AQA's list explicitly names two categories that look irregular and are not. Radical-changing verbs - verbos con cambio vocálico - alter the stem vowel when it is stressed, which affects four of the six present-tense forms and leaves nosotros and vosotros untouched. The three patterns are e to ie (querer, quiero, pero queremos), o to ue (poder, puedo; recordar, recuerdo; dormir, duermo) and, in some -ir verbs, e to i (pedir, pido; seguir, sigo). Orthographic-changing verbs alter their spelling to preserve a sound: abrazar becomes abracé in the preterite, sacar becomes saqué, llegar becomes llegué, and verbs in -ger and -gir change g to j before a and o (coger, cojo).

The genuinely irregular verbs are few but universal, and every one of them appears in every exam. Ser, estar, ir, haber, tener, hacer, decir, poder, poner, saber, salir, venir, dar, ver, querer, traer, conducir. A large group has an irregular first person singular only in the present - hago, pongo, salgo, traigo, conozco, conduzco - and that yo form then generates the whole present subjunctive, which is the single most useful piece of morphological economy in Spanish: from tengo comes tenga, from digo comes diga, from conozco comes conozca. Learn the irregular yo form and you have the subjunctive free.

Finally, three verb constructions from the annex that are pure marks. Hay que plus infinitive expresses impersonal obligation and, as AQA specifies, must be known in all tenses: hay que, había que, hubo que, habrá que, habría que. Personal obligation is tener que plus infinitive or deber plus infinitive. And the verb of existence, haber, is impersonal in this use and therefore invariable: hay un problema, hay muchos problemas, había mucha gente - never habían mucha gente, an error so common among native speakers that it is worth extra vigilance.

Worked example

Diagnosing verb errors in a candidate paragraph

Correct and explain: «Los jóvenes españoles no puede encontrar trabajo estable. Habían muchos que estudian y trabajan a la vez. Yo penso que el gobierno no hace bastante y que nosotros debemos protestar.»

Fix the agreement
Los jóvenes... no puede is a third person plural subject with a singular verb: no pueden. This is the error that most often survives a candidate's re-reading, because the subject and verb are separated by an adjective.
Fix the existential
Habían muchos should be Había muchos. Haber in its existential use has no plural, whatever follows it. In the preterite it is hubo, in the future habrá, and in the conditional habría - all invariable.
Fix the radical change
Yo penso should be yo pienso: pensar is an e-to-ie verb and the stem is stressed in the yo form. The same applies to empiezo, quiero, entiendo, prefiero.
Check the remaining verbs
Estudian y trabajan are correct plurals; hace is correct for el gobierno, a singular collective; debemos is correct for nosotros. Note that Spanish drops subject pronouns unless they are emphatic, so yo pienso is acceptable for emphasis but pienso alone is more natural.
Upgrade the structures once the errors are gone
Replace no hace bastante with no hace lo suficiente, and add a subjunctive to show range: es necesario que el gobierno actúe. Accuracy first, range second - in that order, always.

Result: Los jóvenes españoles no pueden encontrar un trabajo estable. Había muchos que estudiaban y trabajaban a la vez. Pienso que el gobierno no hace lo suficiente y que es necesario que actúe.

Typical mistakes

Writing habían muchas personas; existential haber is invariable - había muchas personas.
Applying the stem change to nosotros and vosotros: it is podemos and queréis, never puedemos or quieréis.

Active revision

Conjuga en presente de indicativo diez verbos: tres regulares de cada conjugación y un verbo con cambio vocálico de cada tipo (e-ie, o-ue, e-i). Después escribe la forma «yo» del presente de subjuntivo de cada uno.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar (AQA) · GCE AS and A level subject content for modern foreign languages (Department for Education)

The past: indefinido, imperfecto and the compound tenses#

AdvancedAQA 7692 3.3.1.8 - Use of tenses: preterite, imperfect, perfect, pluperfectAQA 7692 3.3 Grammar

Indefinido e imperfecto

Fig. 2The columns are two ways of looking at the past, not two distances from it. The last row shows them working together, which is how they normally appear.

The choice between the pretérito indefinido and the pretérito imperfecto is the single most examined decision in Spanish, and it is not a matter of how long ago something happened. The indefinido presents an action as a complete, bounded event: se casaron en 1998, la dictadura terminó en 1975, ayer fui al médico. The imperfecto presents an action as ongoing, habitual, or as the background against which events occur: llovía, tenía veinte años, iba a misa todos los domingos, mientras cenaban. The test to apply under pressure is not when but what kind: ask whether the verb moves the story forward - indefinido - or describes the scene in which it moves - imperfecto.

Certain verbs change meaning between the two tenses, and knowing them is a reliable discriminator. Conocer: conocí a Marta en Sevilla means I met her; conocía a Marta means I knew her. Saber: lo supe ayer means I found out; lo sabía means I knew. Querer: quiso ayudar means he tried; quería ayudar means he wanted to. No querer: no quiso hablar means he refused. Poder: pude entrar means I managed to get in; podía entrar means I was able to, without saying whether I did. Tener: tuve una idea means an idea came to me; tenía una idea means I had one. These are not exceptions; they follow the same logic of bounded event against continuous state.

The compound tenses complete the system, and AQA lists them all. El pretérito perfecto - he hablado - is formed with the present of haber plus the past participle, and in peninsular Spanish it links a past action to the present time frame: hoy he trabajado mucho, este año hemos viajado poco. Note that Latin American usage often prefers the indefinido here, so recognise both. El pluscuamperfecto - había hablado - marks anteriority: cuando llegué, ya se habían ido. El futuro perfecto - habré hablado - and el condicional perfecto - habría hablado - complete the paradigm and appear chiefly in speculation and in conditional sentences. In all compound tenses, the participle is invariable: never las he vistas, always las he visto.

Two further points from the annex. First, the past participle also functions adjectivally with estar, and then it does agree: la puerta está abierta, los problemas están resueltos. Distinguish that from the compound tense, where it never agrees. Second, the imperfecto is the tense of indirect speech in the past and of politeness - quería preguntarle algo is softer than quiero - and it is also the tense in which Spanish narrates the setting of a story. In a Paper 1 translation into English, an imperfect is frequently best rendered by used to or would, and rendering it as a simple past can lose exactly the habitual sense the examiner is testing.

Worked example

Choosing tenses in a translation into Spanish

Translate into Spanish, justifying every tense: While we were living in Madrid, my brother worked in a bar. One night he met the woman who is now his wife. They had known each other for barely a month when they decided to move in together.

Set the background
While we were living in Madrid is the frame of the story: mientras vivíamos en Madrid, imperfecto. Note the accent-free vivíamos ending and that mientras with a past reference takes the indicative, not the subjunctive.
Decide the second background verb
My brother worked in a bar describes what he was doing throughout that period, not a single act: mi hermano trabajaba en un bar. If the English had said worked there for two years and then left, a bounded period, the indefinido trabajó would be right.
Mark the event
One night he met the woman is the event that advances the story: una noche conoció a la mujer. Conocer in the indefinido means met, which is exactly the sense required, and the personal a is obligatory before a human object.
Handle the relative and the present
The woman who is now his wife: que ahora es su mujer, present indicative, because the relative clause describes a present fact. No subjunctive here - the antecedent is definite and real.
Build had known each other for barely a month
Spanish prefers llevar to the pluperfect for duration: apenas llevaban un mes conociéndose, or hacía apenas un mes que se conocían. Then the main event returns to the indefinido: cuando decidieron irse a vivir juntos. AQA lists time expressions with hacía explicitly, so knowing both patterns is required.

Result: Mientras vivíamos en Madrid, mi hermano trabajaba en un bar. Una noche conoció a la mujer que ahora es su esposa. Hacía apenas un mes que se conocían cuando decidieron irse a vivir juntos.

Typical mistakes

Agreeing the participle in compound tenses: las he visto, never las he vistas - agreement belongs only to estar plus participle and to adjectival uses.
Using the imperfecto for the events of a narrative, which produces a text with a background but no story.

Active revision

Escribe un relato en español de 150 palabras sobre un día que cambió algo en tu vida, subrayando cada indefinido y cada imperfecto y justificando en una frase la elección de cinco de ellos.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar (AQA)

Future, conditional and the verbal periphrases AQA names#

StandardAQA 7692 3.3.1.8 - Use of tenses: future, conditional; verbal paraphrasesAQA 7692 3.3.1.15 - Other constructions: conditional sentences

The future and the conditional share a single set of endings added to the infinitive, which makes them the easiest tenses in Spanish to form and the most frequently under-used. Future: hablaré, hablarás, hablará, hablaremos, hablaréis, hablarán. Conditional: hablaría, hablarías, hablaría, hablaríamos, hablaríais, hablarían. A dozen verbs modify the stem for both tenses in the same way, so they are learnt once: tener gives tendré and tendría, poner pondré, salir saldré, venir vendré, poder podré, saber sabré, querer querré, hacer haré, decir diré, haber habré. Note also that Spanish frequently prefers ir a plus infinitive for the near future in speech - mañana voy a estudiar - while the synthetic future is more usual in writing.

Both tenses have a second, non-temporal use that examiners like because few candidates know it: they express supposition. The future expresses conjecture about the present - serán las tres, it must be about three o'clock; estará durmiendo, he is probably asleep. The conditional expresses conjecture about the past - serían las tres cuando llegó, it must have been about three when he arrived; tendría entonces veinte años, he would have been twenty at the time. Recognising this in a listening passage prevents a serious misreading, since serán las tres is not a prediction, and using it in your own speech is a genuine mark of command.

Conditional sentences are listed explicitly in the annex and come in three patterns that must not be mixed. Real: si plus present indicative, main clause in present, future or imperative - si estudias, aprobarás. Unreal in the present or future: si plus imperfect subjunctive, main clause in the conditional - si estudiaras, aprobarías. Unreal in the past: si plus pluperfect subjunctive, main clause in the conditional perfect - si hubieras estudiado, habrías aprobado. The absolute rule, and the one that costs marks every year, is that si is never followed by the present subjunctive or by the conditional in standard Spanish: never si estudiarías, never si estudies.

AQA also names the verbal periphrases, and they are worth learning as a block because each replaces a clumsy paraphrase. Ir a plus infinitive: near future. Estar plus gerund: an action in progress - estoy estudiando; note that Spanish uses it far less than English, and the plain present often suffices. Acabar de plus infinitive: to have just done something - acabo de llegar. Estar para plus infinitive: to be about to. Llevar plus gerund: to have been doing something for a period - llevo tres años estudiando español, the construction that replaces the English perfect continuous. Ir plus gerund and venir plus gerund, which the list marks as receptive, express gradual development: la situación va mejorando, viene diciéndolo desde hace años. Add volver a plus infinitive, to do something again, and acabar por plus infinitive, to end up doing something.

Worked example

Building the three conditionals from one situation

From the situation Un joven no encuentra piso porque el alquiler es muy caro, write the three conditional patterns and a supposition, explaining each choice.

Real condition: present plus future
Si los alquileres bajan, muchos jóvenes podrán independizarse. Si plus present indicative, main clause in the future. This presents the condition as a genuine possibility, which is the right register for policy discussion.
Unreal present: imperfect subjunctive plus conditional
Si los alquileres fueran más baratos, muchos jóvenes podrían independizarse. The imperfect subjunctive has two equivalent forms, fuera and fuese; either is correct, and consistency within a text is what matters.
Unreal past: pluperfect subjunctive plus conditional perfect
Si el Estado hubiera construido más vivienda pública, los precios no habrían subido tanto. This is the pattern that distinguishes the top candidates, and it is worth rehearsing until it is automatic.
Add a supposition
Ese piso costará unos mil euros al mes: the future of conjecture, meaning it probably costs. Compare the past version: en 2010 costaría la mitad, it would have cost half.
Add the compact alternative
De haber construido más vivienda pública, los precios no habrían subido tanto. De plus infinitive replaces the si clause and is markedly more formal - one of the highest-value structures available in a written answer.

Result: Si los alquileres bajan, muchos jóvenes podrán independizarse. Si los alquileres fueran más baratos, muchos jóvenes podrían independizarse. Si el Estado hubiera construido más vivienda pública, los precios no habrían subido tanto; de haberlo hecho, la emancipación sería hoy más temprana. Ese piso costará unos mil euros al mes; en 2010 costaría la mitad.

Typical mistakes

Writing si tendría tiempo, iría; the correct form is si tuviera tiempo, iría.
Overusing estar plus gerund on the English model; vivo en Madrid, not estoy viviendo en Madrid, unless the stay is explicitly temporary.

Active revision

Escribe doce frases: tres condicionales reales, tres irreales de presente, tres irreales de pasado y tres de suposición (dos con futuro, una con condicional).

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar (AQA)

The subjunctive: the A-level discriminator#

AdvancedAQA 7692 3.3.1.8 - Use of the subjunctive: commands, conditional sentences, after conjunctions of time, after para que and sin queAQA 7692 3.3.2.2 - A-level: subjunctive in relative clauses, after other subordinating conjunctions, and with verbs of wishing, commanding, influencing, emotional reaction, doubt, denial, possibility, probability

Los disparadores del subjuntivo

Fig. 3The four branches cover almost every subjunctive you will need. Under exam pressure, identify which branch you are on and the mood follows automatically.

The subjunctive is where the A-level list adds most to the AS list, and it is therefore where the grade is decided. Form first. The present subjunctive is built from the yo form of the present indicative with the opposite vowel: hablo gives hable, como gives coma, vivo gives viva, tengo gives tenga, conozco gives conozca. Six verbs are irregular and must simply be known: sea, esté, vaya, sepa, dé, haya. The imperfect subjunctive is built from the third person plural of the preterite: hablaron gives hablara or hablase, tuvieron gives tuviera or tuviese, fueron gives fuera or fuese. The perfect forms are haya hablado and hubiera hablado.

Now the triggers, which AQA lists in two groups. From the AS list: commands - negative commands are always subjunctive, no vayas, no lo hagas, and polite affirmative ones use it too, hable más despacio; conditional sentences of the unreal type; after conjunctions of time referring to the future - cuando termine, en cuanto llegue, hasta que vuelva, mientras estudie, antes de que salga; and after para que and sin que, which take the subjunctive always. From the A-level list, four further groups become active knowledge: relative clauses with an indefinite or unrealised antecedent - busco un piso que tenga ascensor; other subordinating conjunctions, such as con tal de que, a no ser que, siempre que, a fin de que; the use of que to introduce a clause; and the great family of verbs of influence and reaction.

That family repays being organised, because it covers most subjunctives in real Spanish. Wishing and wanting: quiero que, espero que, ojalá. Commanding and influencing: pedir que, exigir que, aconsejar que, prohibir que, permitir que, conseguir que, lograr que. Emotional reaction: me alegra que, me molesta que, temo que, es una lástima que, me sorprende que. Doubt and denial: dudo que, no creo que, niego que, no es que. Possibility and probability: es posible que, puede que, quizá and tal vez when the speaker is genuinely uncertain. The unifying idea, if you want one, is that the subjunctive appears when the subordinate clause is not being asserted as a fact - but the safest route in an exam is to know the list.

Three refinements separate the good from the excellent. First, the two-subject rule: with the same subject Spanish uses an infinitive, not que plus subjunctive - quiero estudiar, but quiero que estudies. Second, the indicative-subjunctive alternation that changes meaning: creo que viene, indicative, against no creo que venga, subjunctive; cuando llego, habitual, against cuando llegue, future; aunque es caro, a conceded fact, against aunque sea caro, a hypothesis. Third, the sequence of tenses, which AQA names explicitly: a present-tense main verb takes the present subjunctive, and a past-tense main verb takes the imperfect subjunctive - quiero que vengas becomes quería que vinieras.

Worked example

Justifying every mood choice in a translation

Translate into Spanish and justify each mood: I want the government to invest more in housing so that young people can leave home. I do not think the situation will improve until rents fall. It is a pity that so many have to emigrate.

Two subjects, so que plus subjunctive
I want the government to invest becomes quiero que el gobierno invierta. English uses an infinitive with a different subject; Spanish cannot. Invertir is an e-to-ie verb, hence invierta.
Purpose clause, subjunctive always
So that young people can leave home = para que los jóvenes puedan independizarse. Para que is on AQA's AS list and takes the subjunctive without exception. Note independizarse or irse de casa for to leave home.
Negated belief, subjunctive
I do not think the situation will improve = no creo que la situación mejore. Creo que would take the indicative; no creo que takes the subjunctive. The Spanish present subjunctive covers the English future here.
Time clause referring to the future, subjunctive
Until rents fall = hasta que bajen los alquileres. Hasta que with a future reference requires the subjunctive; with a past habitual reference it would take the indicative - hasta que bajaban.
Impersonal value judgement, subjunctive
It is a pity that so many have to emigrate = es una lástima que tantos tengan que emigrar. Es una lástima que is an emotional reaction, one of the A-level groups, and tantos agrees as a pronoun with an understood jóvenes.

Result: Quiero que el gobierno invierta más en vivienda para que los jóvenes puedan independizarse. No creo que la situación mejore hasta que bajen los alquileres. Es una lástima que tantos tengan que emigrar.

Typical mistakes

Writing cuando tendré tiempo; a future reference after cuando requires the present subjunctive - cuando tenga tiempo.
Using the present subjunctive after a past main verb; the sequence requires the imperfect subjunctive - me pidió que fuera, not que vaya.

Active revision

Escribe quince frases, una por cada disparador del subjuntivo listado por AQA, y subraya en cada una el elemento que exige el subjuntivo.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar (AQA)

Ser and estar, the passive, and the many uses of se#

AdvancedAQA 7692 3.3.1.8 - Uses of ser and estar; voice: reflexive as passive, impersonal reflexive, ser and estar plus past participleAQA 7692 3.3 Grammar

Ser y estar

Fig. 4The last row is the point of the table: with certain adjectives the two verbs do not differ in register but in meaning, and a translation that picks the wrong one says something else.

Ser and estar are not a matter of permanence, whatever a first textbook may have said. Ser identifies, defines and classifies: identity and profession (es profesora), origin and nationality (es de Bogotá), material and possession (es de madera, es mío), time and quantity (son las tres, somos cinco), and, crucially, the location of an event (la boda es en Sevilla). Estar locates in space and in state: the position of a thing or person (el museo está en el centro), a condition understood as the result of a change (está cansada, está abierta), and the progressive with the gerund (está estudiando). The event-versus-thing distinction for location is the one that catches candidates: a concert is with ser, the hall it happens in is with estar.

A group of adjectives changes meaning with the two verbs, and these are quick, visible marks. Es aburrido means he is boring; está aburrido means he is bored. Es listo, clever; está listo, ready. Es rico, wealthy; está rico, tasty. Es verde, green in colour; está verde, unripe. Es malo, wicked; está malo, ill or off. Es orgulloso, arrogant; está orgulloso, proud of something. Learn them as pairs, because a Paper 1 translation into English will very often turn on exactly one of them, and choosing the wrong reading loses the sense of a whole sentence.

The passive in Spanish is a subtler matter than in English, and AQA lists four routes. The ser passive - la ley fue aprobada por el Parlamento - is correct but is used far less than the English passive, and it is most natural in formal registers and when the agent is stated. La pasiva refleja with se is the ordinary Spanish solution when there is no agent: se aprobó la ley, se venden pisos, se recogieron los datos; note that the verb agrees with the grammatical subject, so se venden pisos but se vende un piso. The impersonal se with a singular verb and a personal a is used with human objects: se ayudó a los damnificados. And estar plus participle expresses the resulting state rather than the action: la ley está aprobada means it is now in force.

Se has yet more uses, and confusing them is a common source of error. It is the reflexive pronoun proper (se lava). It is the reciprocal (se conocen). It replaces le or les before lo, la, los or las - se lo dije, never le lo dije - which AQA lists explicitly. It marks the nuance reflexives the list also names, where the pronoun changes the sense: ir and irse (to go, to leave), dormir and dormirse (to sleep, to fall asleep), caer and caerse, parar and pararse, quedar and quedarse. And it appears in the involuntary construction that Spanish uses to avoid blame: se me olvidó, se me cayó, se nos ha estropeado - literally it forgot itself to me, which is idiomatic Spanish and a structure worth deploying deliberately.

Worked example

Choosing between the four passive routes

Render these four English sentences in Spanish, choosing the most natural route each time: The law was passed by Parliament. Flats are sold here. The victims were helped immediately. The shop is closed.

Stated agent, so the ser passive is legitimate
La ley fue aprobada por el Parlamento. The agent is named, the register is formal and institutional, and this is exactly the case where Spanish does use ser plus participle - which agrees: aprobada.
No agent, inanimate subject, so the reflexive passive
Se venden pisos. The verb agrees with pisos, hence the plural venden. Aquí se vende ropa would be singular. This is the form on every shop window in Spain.
Human object, so the impersonal se with the personal a
Se ayudó a las víctimas de inmediato. Because the a-phrase is not the grammatical subject, the verb stays singular: se ayudó, not se ayudaron. This is precisely the construction that separates careful writers from careless ones.
Resulting state, so estar plus participle
La tienda está cerrada. This describes the state, not the act of closing. Fue cerrada por la policía would describe the act, and se cerró la tienda would report it without an agent.
Check the pattern that generated all four
Ask two questions: is there an agent, and is the object human? Agent stated, use ser. No agent and inanimate, use the reflexive passive. No agent and human, use impersonal se with a. State rather than act, use estar.

Result: La ley fue aprobada por el Parlamento. Se venden pisos. Se ayudó a las víctimas de inmediato. La tienda está cerrada.

Typical mistakes

Writing le lo dije; the indirect pronoun becomes se before a third-person direct object - se lo dije.
Using estar for a defining characteristic or ser for a temporary state; the meaning changes rather than the register.

Active revision

Escribe diez pares de frases que contrasten ser y estar con el mismo adjetivo, y cinco frases con «se» que ilustren cinco usos distintos (reflexivo, recíproco, pasiva refleja, impersonal, involuntario).

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar (AQA)

Pronouns, prepositions and sentence patterns#

AdvancedAQA 7692 3.3.1.7 - Pronouns; 3.3.1.9 - Prepositions, personal a, por and paraAQA 7692 3.3.1.14 - Word order; 3.3.1.15 - Other constructions; 3.3.1.16 - Discourse markers

Por y para

Fig. 5The division is not arbitrary: para looks forward, to a purpose, a destination or a deadline, while por looks back, to a cause, an exchange or a route.

Object pronouns are where accuracy is most visible. Direct: me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las. Indirect: me, te, le, nos, os, les. Position: before a conjugated verb (lo veo), attached to an infinitive, gerund or affirmative command (verlo, viéndolo, dilo), and either way with a periphrasis (lo voy a hacer or voy a hacerlo, both correct). Order: indirect always before direct, and le or les becomes se before lo, la, los, las. AQA also lists the redundant indirect object, which is standard Spanish and not an error: a mi padre le gusta el fútbol, dale un beso a tu papá. And it lists possession expressed with the indirect object, where English uses a possessive: le rompió el brazo, se me olvidó el nombre.

Relatives and prepositions come next. Que is the general relative; quien and quienes refer only to people and appear chiefly after a preposition (la mujer con quien hablé); el que, la que, los que, las que and el cual and its forms are used after prepositions or for clarity; and lo que is the neuter for a whole idea (lo que más me preocupa). Cuyo, listed as A-level content, agrees with the thing possessed, not the possessor: un país cuya historia es compleja, una ciudad cuyos barrios han cambiado. Do not use de quien where cuyo is needed, and never write que su as an English-influenced substitute.

Two prepositional decisions dominate the annex. The personal a is required before a specific human direct object: veo a mi hermana, busco a un médico concreto - but busco un médico if any doctor will do. It appears with alguien, nadie and quién as objects: no veo a nadie. And por and para must be separated: para expresses purpose (estudio para aprender), destination (salgo para Madrid), deadline (para el lunes), recipient (es para ti) and opinion (para mí, es un error); por expresses cause and motive (lo hizo por miedo), exchange (te lo cambio por este), duration and approximate place (por la mañana, por aquí), means (por correo), agent in a passive (por el Parlamento), and the idea of on behalf of (habló por todos).

Finally the sentence patterns AQA lists under other constructions, all of which are cheap and impressive. Time with hace: hace tres años que estudio español, or estudio español desde hace tres años; in the past, hacía tres años que estudiaba. Cleft sentences: fue en Madrid donde nos conocimos, es a ti a quien busco - and note the double a. Comparatives: tan alto como, más caro que, and the A-level construction with a clause, tiene más dinero del que creía, gasta más de lo que gana - de lo que before a clause, que before a noun. Indirect speech with its sequence of tenses: dijo que vendría, me preguntó si había terminado. Word order, where Spanish freely puts the subject after the verb (ha llegado el profesor, me gustan las patatas). And the discourse markers and fillers the list names: es que, ahora bien, por ejemplo, pues, bueno, o sea.

Worked example

Rewriting for range: pronouns, clefts and comparatives

Rewrite this flat but correct paragraph to demonstrate the structures on the A-level list: «Conocí a mi mejor amiga en Granada en 2019. Ella estudia medicina. Su padre es médico también. Yo pensaba que la carrera era más fácil.»

Add a cleft sentence
Fue en Granada donde conocí a mi mejor amiga, en 2019. The cleft foregrounds the place and is listed explicitly by AQA under other constructions. Note the personal a before mi mejor amiga.
Use cuyo to join the second and third sentences
Estudia medicina, carrera que también ejerce su padre becomes better as: Estudia medicina, una carrera cuya exigencia conoce bien, porque su padre es médico. Cuyo agrees with exigencia, not with carrera's owner.
Add the clausal comparative
Yo pensaba que la carrera era más fácil becomes Resultó ser mucho más dura de lo que yo pensaba. De lo que is required because a clause follows; más dura que would need a noun.
Add a double pronoun
Cuando le pedí apuntes, me los prestó sin dudarlo. Two pronouns in the right order - indirect me before direct los - and an attached pronoun on the infinitive dudarlo.
Close with a discourse marker and a subjunctive
Ahora bien, no creo que yo hubiera aguantado ese ritmo. Ahora bien is on AQA's discourse-marker list, and no creo que triggers the subjunctive, here in its pluperfect form for a past hypothesis.

Result: Fue en Granada donde conocí, en 2019, a mi mejor amiga. Estudia medicina, una carrera cuya exigencia conoce bien, porque su padre es médico. Resultó ser mucho más dura de lo que yo pensaba. Cuando le pedí apuntes, me los prestó sin dudarlo. Ahora bien, no creo que yo hubiera aguantado ese ritmo.

Typical mistakes

Omitting the personal a before a specific human object: veo a mi hermana, never veo mi hermana.
Using para for cause: lo hizo por miedo, not lo hizo para miedo - purpose takes para, motive takes por.

Active revision

Escribe ocho frases con pronombres dobles (se lo, me la, nos los...), cuatro con «cuyo» y cuatro oraciones enfáticas del tipo «fue... donde/cuando/quien».

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar (AQA)

References & sources

Sources

AQA

AQA A-level Spanish (7692) specification - grammar

Department for Education

GCE AS and A level subject content for modern foreign languages

Grammar

6 sections~30 min reading time3 competenciesLevel Standard 2 · Advanced 4

The subjunctive: the A-level discriminator#

Advanced

AQA 7692 3.3.1.8 - Use of the subjunctive: commands, conditional sentences, after conjunctions of time, after para que and sin que

AQA 7692 3.3.2.2 - A-level: subjunctive in relative clauses, after other subordinating conjunctions, and with verbs of wishing, commanding, influencing, emotional reaction, doubt, denial, possibility, probability

Grammar

Key points

Diagnosing verb errors in a candidate paragraph

Key points

Choosing tenses in a translation into Spanish

Key points

Building the three conditionals from one situation

Key points

Justifying every mood choice in a translation

Key points

Choosing between the four passive routes

Key points

Rewriting for range: pronouns, clefts and comparatives

Sources

Grammar

Key points

Diagnosing verb errors in a candidate paragraph

Key points

Choosing tenses in a translation into Spanish

Key points

Building the three conditionals from one situation

Key points

Justifying every mood choice in a translation

Key points

Choosing between the four passive routes

Key points

Rewriting for range: pronouns, clefts and comparatives

Sources