Madrid PAU English common mistakes
Madrid PAU English · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering reading-comprehension questions with general knowledge or personal opinion instead of quoting or paraphrasing the exact lines of the passage that answer the question.
Students are used to open discussion tasks and skim the text for a topic match, then write what they already believe; the PAU text often contains a specific detail that contradicts the intuitive answer, and examiners award marks for evidence located in the text.
What to do instead
Underline the sentence in the passage that contains the answer, then write an answer that reuses its key words in your own words and, where the question says so, add the line number. Practise by covering the questions, reading once for gist, then locating each answer physically before writing anything.
Giving a one-word or fragment answer (e.g. 'Yes' or 'Because money') to a true/false-with-justification or short-answer item, without a full clause.
Candidates transfer habits from quick classroom quizzes and underestimate how strictly the justification is marked; they also run short of time and cut the answer down.
What to do instead
Use a fixed template: 'True/False. The text says that + [paraphrase] (lines X–Y).' For short answers, repeat the subject and verb of the question in the reply so it stands as a complete sentence.
Choosing a word from the four options in a multiple-choice vocabulary item because it looks similar to a Spanish word or because it is the most formal-sounding, rather than because it fits the sentence's meaning and grammar.
False friends (actual, assist, sensible, realize) and the instinct that longer words score better lead students astray; they also ignore the part of speech required by the gap.
What to do instead
Before looking at the options, decide what part of speech and what meaning the gap needs, and predict a word. Then test each option by substituting it into the whole sentence and checking collocation. Keep a personal list of false friends with an English definition, not a translation.
Filling a grammar gap with the tense that matches the Spanish translation (e.g. present simple for 'llevo dos años viviendo aquí', or 'will' for a plan) instead of the tense the English context requires.
Spanish and English map time differently (present perfect continuous vs. present simple, 'going to' vs. 'will', past simple vs. present perfect with 'today/this week'), and translation feels safer than analysing the time markers in the sentence.
What to do instead
Circle time expressions and connectors in the sentence (since, for, already, yet, last week, at the moment, by the time) and match them to a tense rule. Drill the specific contrasts with paired sentences so the difference is visible, not translated.
Producing a composition that answers the prompt only loosely - writing a general essay on the topic while ignoring the specific points, format or register the task requires (e.g. a letter that never addresses the reader, or an opinion essay with no stated opinion).
Under time pressure students write what they have memorised or rehearsed, and they do not spend two minutes decoding the prompt's exact requirements and word limit.
What to do instead
Spend the first three minutes underlining the task's key elements: genre, audience, register, the specific questions to cover, and the word limit. Write a three-line plan (one line per paragraph) and check each paragraph against the prompt before finishing.
Writing an opinion essay with no clear thesis and no paragraph structure - one long block where arguments, examples and the conclusion are mixed together.
Candidates draft directly onto the answer sheet without planning, and they confuse 'expressing ideas' with 'organising an argument'; paragraphing is rarely taught as a scored skill.
What to do instead
Use a fixed four-paragraph frame: introduction with a clear thesis, two body paragraphs each with one argument plus one concrete example, and a conclusion that restates the position without new arguments. Practise writing the plan first and the essay from the plan in 25 minutes.
Linking sentences only with 'and', 'but', 'also' and 'because', or overusing formal connectors ('furthermore', 'nevertheless') in the wrong place, producing choppy or unnatural prose.
Textbook connector lists are memorised without their function or register, and students lack practice in showing contrast, cause, result and addition within and across sentences.
What to do instead
Learn connectors in functional pairs with example sentences (however/although/despite; therefore/as a result; in addition/moreover) and practise rewriting a short paragraph using one connector per sentence boundary. Read your draft aloud to hear where a link is missing or redundant.
Mixing register within one piece - contractions and slang in a formal letter, or stiff Latinate phrasing and 'Dear Sir/Madam' in an informal email to a friend.
Students focus on grammar accuracy and treat register as decoration; they are not used to identifying the reader and adjusting tone consistently.
What to do instead
Before writing, state the audience and the register in one line at the top of your plan. Build two short phrase banks (formal: 'I am writing to…', 'I would be grateful if…'; informal: 'Just a quick note…', 'Let me know…') and keep to one bank per task.
Losing marks on spelling of high-frequency but irregular words and on punctuation - missing apostrophes in possessives and contractions, comma splices, no capital after a full stop, and no comma after introductory phrases.
These errors are treated as trivial and never revised; students proofread for 'big' mistakes only, and Spanish punctuation habits (long sentences, comma where English needs a full stop or semicolon) carry over.
What to do instead
Keep a personal error log of the ten words you misspell most and test yourself weekly. In the last five minutes, proofread specifically for apostrophes, capital letters after full stops, and sentences over 25 words that should be split; read the text backwards to spot punctuation faults.
Transferring Spanish syntax into English - subject-verb order in questions, double negatives, missing subject pronouns, 'people is', adjective after noun, and 'I have 18 years'.
Direct translation from the first language is fast and feels correct, and these structures are rarely contrasted explicitly in class.
What to do instead
Keep a contrast sheet of the ten most frequent L1-transfer errors with the correct English version, and do a targeted self-edit pass checking only those structures after drafting. Have a peer or teacher mark which transfer errors recur so you know what to hunt for.