Worked example: Building Longer Sentences in Spanish

What this is

A secure Year 10 response, annotated so you can see which success criterion each part meets. It is also the answer key. Step 1: 13 different connectives, 16 uses in all; y appears 3 times and pero twice. Step 4: sentences 1, 2, 3 and 5 are agreement, 4 and 6 are word order, 7 and 8 are tense. The key idea: Iker’s Spanish is correct but flat; marks come from joining ideas, giving reasons and moving between time frames, while keeping the grammar accurate. It practises WJEC GCSE Spanish Unit 4 Reading and Writing (writing to a stimulus, expressing and justifying opinions, page 18) and AO3 grammar and vocabulary (Section 3.1, page 20), on the topic of free time.

Step 1: find and sort the connectives

Job	Connectives in Lucía’s post (and how many times)
Adding	y (3) · también (1) · además (1)
Contrasting	pero (2) · sin embargo (1) · aunque (1)
Giving reasons	porque (1) · ya que (1)
Time	cuando (1) · después de (1)
Consequence	lo que (1) · por eso (1)

Time frames: present juego (I play), past empecé (I started) or era (I was), future voy a aprender (I am going to learn). Other correct verbs: present toco, voy, prefiero; past hacía, ganamos, fue; future va a ser, voy a ahorrar.

All 13 connectives are found and each is in the right row. The pupil notices that después de marks time and that lo que points back to a whole idea (playing in a group), so it shows a consequence. Accept después de missed if everything else is right: it is the hardest to spot. Evidences criteria 1 and 4.

Step 2: join Iker’s sentences

Me gusta el fútbol, por eso juego en un equipo.
Nado en la piscina y también juego al tenis.
Veo la tele, aunque es aburrida.
Toco el piano, pero no me gusta.
Cuando salgo con mis amigos, vamos al parque.
Leo cómics porque son divertidos.

Each sentence uses the connective asked for and drops the repeated noun: aburrida and divertidos still agree with la tele and los cómics even though those words have gone. Sentence 5 puts a comma after the cuando clause. Also correct: 3 Aunque la tele es aburrida, la veo. 6 Leo cómics porque los cómics son divertidos. Evidences criterion 2.

Step 3: add a reason and a second time frame

1. Me gusta el fútbol porque es emocionante, por eso juego en un equipo. El año pasado marqué diez goles.

4. Toco el piano, pero no me gusta ya que es muy difícil. El año que viene voy a aprender a tocar la guitarra.

5. Cuando salgo con mis amigos, vamos al parque porque es tranquilo. El sábado pasado jugamos al baloncesto allí.

Every sentence now has a reason (porque, ya que). Two new sentences are in the past, each signalled by a time phrase and a preterite verb (el año pasado marqué, I scored; el sábado pasado jugamos, we played), and one is in the future (el año que viene voy a aprender, I am going to learn). English: 1 “I like football because it is exciting, that is why I play in a team. Last year I scored ten goals.” 4 “I play the piano, but I do not like it since it is very difficult. Next year I am going to learn to play the guitar.” 5 “When I go out with my friends, we go to the park because it is quiet. Last Saturday we played basketball there.” Evidences criteria 3 and 4.

Step 4: fix the errors

Sentence	Correct sentence	Kind of mistake
1. Mi hermana es muy deportivo.	Mi hermana es muy deportiva.	Agreement: hermana is feminine.
2. Los partidos son aburrido.	Los partidos son aburridos.	Agreement: partidos is plural.
3. Me gustan el tenis.	Me gusta el tenis.	Agreement: the verb matches el tenis, one thing.
4. Tengo una roja bicicleta.	Tengo una bicicleta roja.	Word order: colours go after the noun.
5. Mis amigos es simpáticos.	Mis amigos son simpáticos.	Agreement: plural subject, plural verb.
6. Nunca no veo la tele.	Nunca veo la tele. (or: No veo nunca la tele.)	Word order: nunca first, or no ... nunca.
7. Ayer juego al fútbol.	Ayer jugué al fútbol.	Tense: ayer (yesterday) needs the past.
8. El verano que viene voy a visité Madrid.	El verano que viene voy a visitar Madrid.	Tense: voy a is followed by the infinitive.

All 8 corrections are right and each mistake is named. The pupil explains the rule, not just the fix, so they can check their own writing in Step 5. Accept “agreement” or “verb” for sentence 3 and “verb form” for sentence 8. Evidences criterion 5.

Step 5: the redraft (model answer, 90 words)

Me encanta jugar al baloncesto porque es rápido y emocionante. Juego los sábados y también voy al gimnasio. Me gusta leer, pero no leo mucho ya que no tengo tiempo. Cuando era pequeño, tocaba el violín. Sin embargo, el año pasado empecé a tocar la batería y me encanta, porque es más divertida. Practico todos los días, lo que no les gusta a mis vecinos. El verano que viene voy a ir a un campamento de música. Aunque es caro, va a ser genial. Por eso, voy a ahorrar dinero.

English: I love playing basketball because it is fast and exciting. I play on Saturdays and I also go to the gym. I like reading, but I do not read much since I do not have time. When I was little, I used to play the violin. However, last year I started to play the drums and I love it, because it is more fun. I practise every day, which my neighbours do not like. Next summer I am going to go to a music camp. Although it is expensive, it is going to be great. That is why I am going to save money.

90 words. 10 different connectives from all 5 jobs: adding y, también; contrasting pero, sin embargo, aunque; reasons porque, ya que; time cuando; consequence lo que, por eso. Three opinions with reasons (basketball, reading, the drums), plus a fourth about the camp. Present (juego, practico), past (era, tocaba, empecé) and future (voy a ir, va a ser, voy a ahorrar). Agreement is checked: la batería ... divertida, el baloncesto ... rápido. Evidences criteria 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Step 6: partner check

All 6 boxes ticked. Next step: “Start one sentence with Aunque and use así que or en cambio, which you have not used yet.”

A useful next step names one connective or structure the writer has not used. “Write more” or “good work” is not a next step.

Why this response is secure

Short sentences are joined with a range of connectives, each doing the right job, instead of the same y over and over.
Every opinion is justified, which is what “expressing and justifying opinions” in the Unit 4 content asks for.
Three time frames are used and each is signalled by a time phrase, so a reader always knows when things happen.
Agreement and word order stay correct even in long sentences, which protects the AO3 accuracy marks.

If you finish early: sample answers

Longest sentence (21 words): Aunque no tengo mucho tiempo durante la semana, el verano que viene voy a aprender a hacer surf con mi prima. “Although I do not have much time during the week, next summer I am going to learn to surf with my cousin.” It joins 2 ideas: little free time now, and a plan for the summer.

Voy al gimnasio con mi padre, lo que es muy divertido.

Cuando tengo tiempo, leo cómics. / Aunque no tengo mucho tiempo, leo cómics.

When the sentence starts with Cuando or Aunque, the comma goes at the end of that first part, before the main idea.