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Galicia PAU English - First Foreign Language study materials
Galicia PAU English - First Foreign Language study resources

Galicia PAU English - First Foreign Language: Orthography, punctuation and textual cohesion

Galicia PAU English - First Foreign Language · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Orthography, punctuation and textual cohesion

Domain 5 - Orthography, punctuation and textual cohesion. This domain is not usually a separate question in the Galicia PAU; it is assessed in your composition and in the transformed sentences. Spelling mistakes, missing apostrophes, comma splices and unclear referencing reduce your mark even when the grammar is ambitious. Spanish and Galician interference causes predictable errors, so learn your own list.

Spelling and capitalisation

  • common misspellings: receive, environment, because, definitely, technology, government, accommodation, necessary
  • double consonants: recommend, beginning, occurred; but 'develop' → 'development' with one 'p'
  • capitalise proper nouns, days, months, nationalities, languages and the pronoun 'I'; do not capitalise seasons or general school subjects
  • apostrophes: it's = it is; its = possessive; don't; students' vs student's
  • check plural and third-person -s: people work, she works

Punctuation

  • use a full stop or semicolon between independent sentences; a comma alone creates a comma splice
  • comma after an introductory phrase, before a non-defining relative clause, and in lists
  • question mark only for direct questions; 'He asked if I was ready' takes no question mark
  • no Spanish opening ¿ or ¡; no space before a comma or full stop

Cohesion

  • make pronouns refer clearly: 'this policy' rather than a bare 'this'
  • use linkers for addition, contrast, cause, result, example and sequence
  • build lexical chains: repeat the key noun or use an accurate synonym
  • start paragraphs with a topic sentence that connects to the previous one

Worked example

Draft: 'Nowadays many people works from home. They can save time and money, however they often feel isolated. Also they miss their colleagues. In conclusion, telework have advantages and disadvantages.' Corrections: 'people work' (agreement); 'money. However, they' or 'money; however, they' (comma splice); 'They also miss' (linker position); 'telework has' (agreement); the conclusion is vague, so name one advantage and one disadvantage. Reasoning: each correction restores a rule without changing the ideas.

Traps

  • comma splice
  • 'people is', 'informations', 'advices'
  • 'I am agree'
  • missing apostrophe in possessives
  • inconsistent tense between paragraphs
  • starting every sentence with 'Also' or 'Moreover'