Catalonia PAU Foreign Language - English cheat sheet

PAU English reading tasks are typically 500–700 words with 4–8 items; question order usually follows text order, so locate answers sequentially rather than scanning randomly.

Item types recur: true/false with justification, short answer, synonym/antonym in context, reference words (it, this, they, their), and inference. Each type has a different evidence standard.

True/false with justification requires quoting or paraphrasing the exact line that proves the choice; a correct T/F letter without textual evidence normally earns no credit for the justification.

Answer in your own words when the prompt says so; copying a full sentence verbatim may be penalised, while copying a short key phrase inside a paraphrase is acceptable.

Signals of contrast (however, although, despite, whereas, on the other hand) usually mark the sentence that decides a true/false item; wrong options often restate the first half of such a sentence.

Absolute quantifiers (all, never, always, only, completely) in an option are a warning sign; the passage more often supports hedged claims (some, often, tends to, in most cases).

For reference items, test substitution: replace the pronoun with the candidate noun phrase and check that number (singular/plural) and logic still fit the sentence.

For vocabulary-in-context items, the passage meaning governs, not the most common dictionary sense; verify by re-reading the sentence with your chosen synonym.

Typical PAU output is 120–150 words on a prompt with 2–3 guided points; every guided point must be explicitly covered, since omission is scored as content loss.

Standard layout: short opening stating position or situation, one paragraph per guided point, closing sentence; no title needed unless the prompt asks for one.

Register follows the prompt: opinion/argument pieces take a neutral-to-formal register, so contractions, slang and direct address are avoided unless the task is informal (email to a friend).

Word count is a scored constraint: going far below the minimum loses content marks, and going far above adds error risk without extra credit.

Use a range of structures deliberately: at least one conditional, one relative clause, one passive or impersonal construction, and one comparative, spread across the text.

Connectors must be varied and accurate: choose from however, moreover, in addition, therefore, as a result, on the one hand/on the other hand, in conclusion; avoid stacking two connectors in one sentence.

Argument prompts need a stated opinion plus one reason and one example or consequence; a purely descriptive answer loses points on task achievement.

Reserve 3–4 minutes at the end to check subject–verb agreement, third-person -s, plural -s, articles and tense consistency, which are the highest-frequency PAU errors.

Common PAU lexical sets: education, technology and social media, environment, health and lifestyle, work and unemployment, tourism, sport, family and relationships.

Word-family control matters: decide the slot first (noun, verb, adjective, adverb), then derive the form, e.g. success → successful → successfully → succeed.

Common derivations tested: -tion/-sion, -ment, -ness, -ity (nouns); -ful, -less, -ive, -able, -ous (adjectives); -ise/-ize, -en (verbs); un-, in-/im-/ir-/il-, dis- (negation).

Spelling traps in derived forms: happiness, argument, environment, government, responsibility, development, knowledge, beginning, occurred, necessary.

Collocation pairs to know: make a decision, do research, take part in, pay attention to, keep in touch, have an impact on, be aware of, depend on, be responsible for.

Phrasal verbs frequent in PAU texts: give up, carry out, put off, turn down, look after, come up with, break down, find out, set up, take up.

False friends from Catalan/Spanish: actually = in fact (not currently), assist = help (not attend), library = biblioteca (not llibreria/bookshop), sensible = reasonable, eventually = finally.

In gap-fill tasks, check the word fits grammatically (countability, preposition, verb pattern) as well as semantically; a synonym that breaks the grammar is wrong.

Verb tenses: present simple for habits and facts, present continuous for actions now or temporary situations, present perfect for past actions with present relevance, past simple for finished past time with a stated or implied date.

Present perfect rejects finished-time markers: say I saw him yesterday, not I have seen him yesterday; use for/since correctly (for + duration, since + starting point).

Conditionals: zero (if + present, present), first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + past perfect, would have + past participle).

Reported speech shifts tense back one step and adjusts pronouns and time words (now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there).

Passive formation: correct form of be + past participle; keep the agent with by only when it adds information.

Relative clauses: who for people, which for things, where for places, whose for possession; non-defining clauses take commas and never take that.

Countability and quantifiers: much/a little/little with uncountables, many/a few/few with countables, information, advice, news, furniture and research are uncountable.

High-frequency error targets: third-person -s, adjective vs adverb (good/well), comparatives (more better is wrong), gerund vs infinitive after verbs (enjoy doing, want to do, avoid doing).

Cohesion is scored separately from grammar: a text with accurate sentences but no linking devices still loses marks under this criterion.

Additive connectors (in addition, moreover, furthermore, also) introduce supporting ideas; adversative ones (however, nevertheless, although, whereas) introduce contrast; causal ones (because, since, therefore, as a result) introduce reasons and consequences.

Sentence-initial however and therefore take a comma; although and because are subordinators and never take a comma immediately after them in the same way.

Pronoun and determiner chains (this idea, these measures, such behaviour, the former/the latter) create cohesion; each pronoun must have exactly one clear antecedent in the preceding sentence.

Paragraphing rule: one central idea per paragraph, with the topic sentence first and supporting detail after; a 120–150-word text normally has 2–4 paragraphs.

Lexical cohesion means repeating key nouns or using synonyms/hyponyms instead of pronouns throughout; total pronoun substitution makes a text vague.

Time and sequence markers (first, then, after that, finally, meanwhile) organise narrative and process texts; without them a sequence reads as a list.

Avoid mechanical cohesion: a connector in every sentence, or the same connector repeated three times, is penalised as limited range.