Catalonia PAU Foreign Language - English flashcards

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

True/false justification

A reading item format in which you mark a statement true or false and then quote or paraphrase the exact passage line that proves it. The justification carries most of the marks.

Reference word item

A question asking what a pronoun such as it, they or this refers to. Test each candidate noun phrase by substituting it into the sentence and checking number and logic.

Vocabulary in context

A task requiring the meaning a word carries in the passage, not its most frequent dictionary sense. Confirm by re-reading the whole sentence with your chosen synonym.

Absolute quantifiers

Words like all, never, always, only and completely. Options containing them are usually false in reading items, because passages more often support hedged claims.

Sequential answering

Working through reading items in text order because questions normally follow the passage sequence. This reduces re-reading and keeps evidence location efficient.

Inference item

A question whose answer is not stated word for word but follows logically from the passage. The correct option must be supported by evidence, not by general knowledge.

Guided composition

The PAU writing task of about 120–150 words with two or three prompt points. Every point must be covered explicitly, as omission counts as content loss.

Register control

Matching language to the task: formal or neutral for opinion essays, with no contractions or slang; informal only for tasks such as emails to friends.

Word count constraint

Writing far below the minimum loses content marks, while writing far above it adds error risk without extra credit. Aim just above the minimum.

Structural range

Deliberately including varied grammar in the composition, such as a conditional, a relative clause, a passive and a comparative, spread across the text.

Opinion paragraph pattern

State your position, give one reason, then one example or consequence. Purely descriptive answers to argument prompts lose task-achievement marks.

Final accuracy check

Reserving three to four minutes to verify subject–verb agreement, third-person -s, plurals, articles and tense consistency, the most frequent PAU error types.

Word family slotting

Deciding whether a gap needs a noun, verb, adjective or adverb before deriving the form, as in success, successful, successfully, succeed.

Noun suffixes

Endings that form nouns: -tion and -sion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -ance and -ence, as in development, happiness, responsibility and difference.

Adjective suffixes

Endings that form adjectives: -ful, -less, -ive, -able and -ous, as in useful, careless, effective, readable and dangerous.

Negative prefixes

Prefixes forming opposites: un-, in- with its assimilated forms im-, ir- and il-, and dis-, as in unfair, impossible, irregular, illegal and dishonest.

Verb collocations

Fixed verb-plus-noun pairs such as make a decision, do research, take part in, pay attention to and have an impact on. Wrong partners lose marks.

Common phrasal verbs

Frequent PAU items: give up, carry out, put off, turn down, look after, come up with, break down, find out, set up and take up.

English false friends

Words that mislead Catalan and Spanish speakers: actually means in fact, assist means help, library means biblioteca, sensible means reasonable, eventually means finally.

Present perfect restriction

Present perfect cannot combine with finished past time markers. Say I saw him yesterday, never I have seen him yesterday.

For versus since

For introduces a duration such as for three years; since introduces a starting point such as since 2019 or since Monday.

Second conditional

If plus past simple in the condition, would plus bare infinitive in the result, used for unreal or unlikely present situations.

Third conditional

If plus past perfect in the condition, would have plus past participle in the result, used for unreal past situations.

Reported speech shifts

Tense moves back one step and time words change: now becomes then, today becomes that day, tomorrow becomes the next day, here becomes there.

Relative pronoun choice

Who for people, which for things, where for places, whose for possession. Non-defining clauses take commas and never use that.

Uncountable nouns

Nouns taking singular verbs and much or little rather than many or few: information, advice, news, furniture, research and knowledge.

Adjective versus adverb

Adjectives modify nouns and follow linking verbs like be and seem; adverbs modify verbs and other modifiers. Good is an adjective, well an adverb.

Contrastive connectors

However, nevertheless, although, whereas and despite signal opposition. They usually introduce the sentence that decides a true/false reading item.

Causal connectors

Because, since, therefore and as a result express reasons and consequences. They link evidence to conclusions in argumentative writing.

Cohesion scoring

A separate PAU criterion rewarding linking devices, clear pronoun reference and lexical repetition. Accurate sentences without connectors still lose marks here.

Pronoun antecedent clarity

Each pronoun or determiner such as this idea or these measures must refer to exactly one identifiable phrase, normally in the preceding sentence.

Lexical cohesion

Repeating key nouns or using synonyms and category words instead of pronouns throughout a text, which prevents vague reference and keeps the topic visible.