Written Expression and Grammar
Written Expression and Grammar
This domain assesses grammatical control in context and your ability to produce connected written Spanish: an email, a narrative, or a short argumentative essay. Accuracy matters, but so do range (varied tenses, connectors) and register.
Core rules
- Subjunctive triggers: querer que, es importante que, a menos que, para que, and aunque when the outcome is uncertain. Use present subjunctive for present/future reference and imperfect subjunctive for past or hypothetical.
- Ser vs. estar: ser for identity, origin, profession, inherent characteristic; estar for location, state, condition, and progressive.
- Preterite vs. imperfect: preterite for completed events and boundaries; imperfect for background, habits, and ongoing states.
- Por vs. para: por for cause, exchange, duration, and movement through; para for purpose, destination, deadline, and recipient.
- Agreement: adjective-noun and subject-verb; watch collective nouns and usted/ustedes.
Worked example
Complete: Si yo ___ (tener) más tiempo, ___ (viajar) por Sudamérica. Reasoning: The si clause describes an unreal present hypothesis, so Spanish requires imperfect subjunctive tuviera (or tuviese) plus conditional viajaría. Present indicative tengo is the trap because English uses “if I had” with a past-looking form but present meaning. For a past counterfactual, use Si hubiera tenido…, habría viajado….
Traps
- Overusing subjunctive after que when the subject is the same: Quiero ir, not Quiero que vaya yo.
- Translating “to be” automatically as ser: Estoy cansado, not soy cansado.
- Missing accents that change meaning: él (he) vs. el (the); sí (yes) vs. si (if); más (more) vs. mas (but).
- Literal idioms: tomar una decisión (make a decision), not hacer una decisión.
- Run-on sentences without connectors; examiners reward controlled subordination.