SACE Stage 2 Spanish cheat sheet
SACE Stage 2 Spanish · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Spanish (beginners): Core Structures and Exam Rules
Definite articles: el (masc. sing.), la (fem. sing.), los (masc. pl.), las (fem. pl.); gender is lexical, so learn each noun with its article.
Regular present tense endings: -ar verbs hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan; -er verbs como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen; -ir verbs vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven.
Ser vs estar: ser marks identity, origin, profession and inherent traits; estar marks location, temporary states and progressive constructions (estoy estudiando).
Hay is invariable and means both 'there is' and 'there are'; it never agrees with the following noun.
Near future: ir (conjugated) + a + infinitive, e.g. voy a viajar, meaning 'I am going to travel'.
Question and exclamation marks open in Spanish: ¿...? and ¡...!; the inverted marks are required in written SACE responses.
Numbers: 16-19 and 21-29 are written as one word (dieciséis, veintiuno); 31 and above use y (treinta y uno).
Personal a precedes a specific human direct object: Veo a María, but Veo la casa.
Spanish (continuers): Advanced Grammar and Text Production
Preterite vs imperfect: preterite for completed, bounded events (ayer fui); imperfect for background, habit and ongoing description (cuando era niño, iba).
Subjunctive trigger rule: after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion or impersonal evaluation (espero que, dudo que, es importante que), use the subjunctive, not the indicative.
Present subjunctive of regular verbs: -ar → hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen; -er/-ir → coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis, coman.
Conditional sentences: si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional (si tuviera tiempo, viajaría); a real condition uses si + present indicative + future or present.
Reported speech shifts tenses back: present → imperfect, preterite → pluperfect, future → conditional; questions introduced by si keep no question mark.
Passive and impersonal se: se venden pisos (passive se) and se dice que... (impersonal se); the verb agrees with the plural subject in the passive se.
Por vs para: por for cause, exchange, duration and movement through; para for purpose, destination, deadline and recipient.
Accent rules for written production: words stressed on the last syllable take an accent if ending in a vowel, -n or -s; on the penultimate syllable if ending in any other consonant; all proparoxytones are accented.