Spanish Language Proficiency - Phase One Written
What is tested
Spanish Phase One covers grammar, lexicon, and reading comprehension at a professional register. High-yield grammar: ser/estar, por/para, preterite versus imperfect aspect, the subjunctive (imperfect subjunctive in si clauses and after como si, ojalá, a menos que, no sea que), reflexive and impersonal se, and clitic placement. Orthography counts: accents that distinguish meaning (el/él, mas/más, aun/aún, que/qué), plus the standard written-accent rules.
Traps
- Anglicized calques: asumir for "assume," realizar for "realize," actualmente for "actually," el mismo used as a pronoun, orden de arresto where mandamiento is meant.
- False friends: embarazada, largo (long), asistir (attend), éxito (success), notorio.
- Regional legal lexicon: fiscal, defensor, carpeta, juez de paz vary by country; items rarely depend on regionalism, but distractors exploit it.
- Register: tú is wrong in court; the exam expects usted and su señoría.
Worked example
"Si yo ___ sabido, habría llegado antes." Options: hubiera / habría / había. Rule: a si clause takes the past subjunctive (hubiera sabido); the conditional belongs only to the result clause. A conditional inside the si clause is always an error in this construction.
Rule of thumb
Ask whether a Spanish speaker would actually say it, not whether it maps word-for-word onto the English. When two options are both defensible grammatically, prefer the idiomatic form and the higher register.