VCE Spanish flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

VCE Spanish Units 1–2 assessment

School-based tasks covering listening, speaking, reading and writing plus cultural study, reported as Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory against each outcome rather than as letter grades.

Register: tú versus usted

Tú and vosotros address friends, family and peers; usted and ustedes address adults, officials and strangers. Choosing the wrong form counts as an appropriateness error in assessed writing and speaking.

Reflexive verbs for daily routine

Verbs like levantarse, ducharse, vestirse and acostarse describe one's own actions. The reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: me levanto, te duchas, se acuesta, nos vestimos.

Stem-changing verbs present tense

E to ie (pensar, querer), o to ue (poder, dormir) and e to i (pedir, servir) change the stem in all forms except nosotros and vosotros: pienso, piensas, pensamos.

Ser versus estar

Ser expresses identity, origin, profession and inherent traits; estar expresses location, temporary states and conditions. Compare es alegre (naturally cheerful) with está alegre (cheerful right now).

Gender and number agreement

Articles, nouns and adjectives must match in gender and number. Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and -a feminine; adjectives add -a for feminine and -s or -es for plural: unas casas nuevas.

Preterite of regular verbs

Hablar becomes hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron; comer and vivir take -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Used for completed past events.

Ir a plus infinitive

The construction ir a + infinitive expresses future plans: voy a viajar, vamos a estudiar. The verb ir is conjugated and the second verb stays in the infinitive.

Estar plus gerundio

Estar with the gerund (-ando for -ar verbs, -iendo for -er/-ir verbs) describes an action in progress: estoy leyendo, están comiendo. Irregular gerunds include leyendo and durmiendo.

Written task marking criteria

School-assessed writing is judged on relevance to the task, range of vocabulary and structures, accuracy, and correct conventions of the required text type such as greeting, closing and paragraphing.

Accents that change meaning

Accent marks distinguish pairs such as el/él, si/sí, mas/más, que/qué and esta/está. Interrogative and exclamatory words always carry accents: ¿Dónde vives? ¡Qué interesante!

Spanish question formation

Yes/no questions invert subject and verb or simply use rising intonation: ¿Hablas inglés? Information questions begin with an accented interrogative: ¿Cuándo llegas? ¿Por qué estudias español?

Gustar-type verbs

Gustar, encantar and interesar take an indirect object pronoun and a thing as subject: me gustan los deportes, le encanta viajar. The verb agrees with the thing liked, not the person.

Telling time in Spanish

Use es la una for one o'clock and son las for other hours: son las tres y media, son las ocho menos cuarto. Add de la mañana, de la tarde or de la noche for part of day.

Numbers and prices

Cien becomes ciento in compounds (ciento veinte); veintiuno drops the -o before masculine nouns (veintiún euros). Prices use coma for decimals: 12,50 euros.

Describing family and relationships

Key vocabulary includes padre, madre, hermano, abuelos, cuñado and pareja. Possessives agree with the noun: mi hermano, mis primos, nuestro abuelo, su hermana.

VCE Spanish Units 3–4 assessment

School-assessed graded coursework such as an oral presentation with conversation, extended written responses and comprehension tasks, each judged Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory against unit outcomes.

Present subjunctive triggers

Wishes, doubt, emotion and impersonal expressions take the subjunctive: espero que vengas, dudo que sea verdad, es importante que estudies, ojalá llueva. Use que to link clauses.

Present subjunctive formation

Start from the yo form of the present indicative, drop -o, and add opposite endings: hablar gives hable; tener gives tenga; hacer gives haga. Irregulars include ser, ir, haber and saber.

Preterite versus imperfect

Preterite narrates completed events (ayer fui al mercado); imperfect describes background, habits and ongoing states (cuando era niño, vivía en Madrid). They often combine in one narrative.

Por versus para

Por marks cause, exchange, duration and movement through (gracias por, por dos horas); para marks purpose, destination, deadline and recipient (para estudiar, para ti, para el lunes).

Personal a

A preposition a precedes a direct object that is a specific person or pet: Veo a mi hermana; Busco al profesor. It is omitted for things and for unspecified people.

Impersonal se

Se plus third-person verb states general practice without naming an agent: se habla español, se venden entradas. In English this corresponds to passive or impersonal statements.

Discourse connectors

Connectors organise extended writing: además and asimismo add; sin embargo and no obstante contrast; por lo tanto and en consecuencia conclude; en cambio signals contrast with a previous point.

Relative clauses with que

Que links a clause to a noun: el libro que leí, la ciudad donde nací. Quien refers to people after a preposition, and cuyo agrees with the possessed noun: cuya obra.

Conditional sentences with si

Si plus present indicative takes a future or imperative result: si estudias, aprobarás; si tienes tiempo, ven. Hypothetical si clauses with imperfect subjunctive describe unreal situations.

Oral presentation structure

A strong assessed talk states the topic and thesis, develops two or three supported points, uses signposting language, and closes with a conclusion before inviting questions from the examiner.

Persuasive language devices

Use rhetorical questions, inclusive nosotros, emotive vocabulary, statistics, and contrast structures such as no solo... sino también to argue a position clearly in an assessed oral or written piece.

Text type: article conventions

An article needs a headline, a short lead sentence summarising the angle, body paragraphs each with one idea, and a concluding comment; formal register with third person is typical.

Text type: formal letter

A formal letter opens with Estimado señor or Estimada señora, states its purpose in the first paragraph, develops points politely, closes with Atentamente, and includes a signature line.

Migration and identity vocabulary

Terms such as inmigrante, frontera, ciudadanía, raíces, integración and prejuicio support discussion of multicultural Spanish-speaking societies, including Latino communities in the United States.

Environment vocabulary

Key terms include medio ambiente, cambio climático, contaminación, energías renovables, reciclar and sostenible; useful verbs are reducir, fomentar and concienciar about ecological issues.