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A2-Spanish-essay-practice
A2-Spanish-essay-practice
Essay practice
How should I structure an A level Spanish essay to achieve a top
grade?
A clear structure is highly important if you are looking to get a top grade in A Level Spanish.
If you follow the same structure for every essay you write you will get into a routine so that
by exam time it will come naturally!
To begin, a short introduction is necessary to outline what you are going to talk about within
the essay. It may be useful to briefly contextualise the question here before stating the
different themes you will be looking at throughout your essay.
You should be aiming for 3 main themes which will in effect transform into 3 paragraphs.
Within each paragraph you should then be looking to make 3 valid and detailed points all
related to your main theme. Each point should be backed up by specific examples relating
to the book/film/play/author/region…
To neatly finish the essay, you should then write a conclusion which aims to answer the
initial question. Be careful not to repeat your previous points and instead summarise them
with slightly different wording. If you have clearly stated your opinion and answered the
original question the reader will be left feeling content as the conclusion ties all of the loose
ends together.
If you follow this structure with every A Level Spanish essay you write, coupled with a good
vocabulary and knowledge of your topic you should be able to achieve a top grade in A
Level Spanish.
Tips
Accumulate and learn a variety of opening and closing phrases, and connectors. Try to vary
your language – don’t repeat the same word if you can come up with a good alternative.
For example don’t always say “en mi opinion” when you could choose from:
• a mi juicio
• a mi parecer
• a mi modo de ver
• según mi parecer
• para mí
And don’t always say “sin embargo” when you could choose from:
• no obstante
• realmente
• en cambio
• empero (very formal)
Obstáculos Obstacles
Sin embargo however
Desgraciadamente unfortunately
Por desgracia unfortunately
No obstante nevertheless
A pesar de esto in spite of this
Sea como sea be that as it may, that’s as may be
La situación va empeorando the situation is getting worse
Teniendo en cuenta el hecho de que bearing in mind the fact that
Dado que given that
Yo creo… I think….
A mi parecer
A mi modo de ver
A mí me parece que….
(yo) opino que… in my opinion
Por mi parte for my part
Desde mi punto de vista
(no) estoy de acuerdo con lo que… I don’t agree with those who…
Estoy convencido/a de que (+indic) I’m convinced that
No estoy convencido/a de que (+subj)
Esto me lleva a pensar que… this leads me to think that…
Que yo sepa as far as I know
Yo que tú/usted/ellos If I were you/ them
No estoy totalmente a favor de (+n or inf) I’m not entirely in favour of
No estoy ni a favor ni en contra de (+n or inf) I’m neither for nor against
Tengo que confesarme en contra de (+n or inf) I have to admit I’m against
No es una opinión que yo comparta it’s not an opinion which I share
Aunque quisiera pensar de otra manera although I would like to think
otherwise
Me da la impresión de que I have the impression that
Pensándolo bien, creo que On further consideration I think
that
Pensándolo bien, no creo que + subj On further consideration, I do not
think that...
¿Cómo? How?
¿Hasta qué punto? To what extent?
Hasta cierto punto to a certain extent
Extremadamente extremely
Totalmente
Principalmente
Tanto más all the more so
De cierto modo in a certain way
De cierta manera/forma =
De ningún modo in no way
De ninguna manera/forma =
De un modo u otro in one way or another
De una manera u otra =
Apenas hardly
En ninguna circunstancia in no circumstances
Simplemente
Sencillamente
Puramente
Prácticamente
Parcialmente
Igualmente
Efectivamente actually, in fact
Parecido a…. like…, similar to
Similar a…. =
Por la mayor parte for the most part, mostly
A cambio de… in exchange for
Sin más ni más without further ado
Se trata de saber cómo…. It’s a question of knowing how
¿Cuándo? When?
Durante estos últimos años/meses in the last few years/ months
Hace poco a shor time/while ago
Anteriormente formerly
Recientemente
En el momento que… at the momento when
En aquel mismo momento at that very moment
En un momento dado at a given moment
Hoy (en) día
En la actualidad
La situación actual the present/current situation
Mientras tanto meanwhile
Con posterioridad afterwards
Cuanto antes as son as possible
Lo más pronto posible =
Dentro de unos pocos días in a few days’ time
Dentro de poco soon, in a short time
Sin demora without delay
Algún día some day
Desde ahora from now (on)
A partir de este/ese momento from this/that momento (on)
A continuación then, next
Desde….hasta… from…until…
Nunca más never again
En la época la conquista musulmana in the muslim era
Tardar (mucho) tiempo en (+inf) to take a (very) long time in (doing)
Cada cuando every so often
Cada pocos días every few days
A cualquier hora at any time
Cada vez (que)… every time (that…), whenever
A mi juicio…. In my judgement…
When the phrase makes a judgement or indicates a purpose, the verb wich follows que is the
subjunctive. (Rememeber, phrases containing sería would requiere the imperfect
subjunctive)
Although it depends what your research essay is on (i.e. you can't use the same idioms if
you are writing an essay on a novel character and on a historical event), there you have a
few good that can be used to show off your knowledge of Spanish in the majority of essays:
1. Ver las orejas al lobo - To see the danger signs (good for discussing a character's
relationship with another character.)
2. Al fin y al cabo - Finally / At the end of the day / When all is said and done (Good for
conclusions.)
4. Idioms with tener- Tener en mente, tener razón, tener miedo, tener orgullo, tener
suerte… - To keep in mind, to be right, to be scared, to be proud, to be lucky….
5. Ir de mal en peor - To go from bad to worse (for a character's progression, or even about
a negative event in history)
10. Como el día y la noche – like chalk and cheese – they don’t have anything in similar
14. Darle la vuelta a la tortilla - to turn the tide, to turn things around (to change situations)
15. La gota que colma/colmó el vaso – the cumulitive effect of small actions
17. Hacer una montaña de un grano de arena – to make a big deal out of something small
21. Más vale tarde que nunca – now is better that never
Mark scheme