Improve your Writing (Junior Cert Spanish): Revision Notes
Improve your writing
This guide provides essential vocabulary and structures to help you enhance your Spanish writing skills. These tools will make your written work more sophisticated, expressive, and natural. The phrases and grammar structures here are suitable for various writing tasks including informal letters, descriptions, opinions pieces, and narratives.
Guidelines for writing
When writing in Spanish, using varied vocabulary and structures demonstrates stronger language skills. Instead of repeating basic words like "bueno" (good) or "muy" (very), you can use more impressive alternatives. Connecting your ideas with appropriate linking words creates better flow between sentences. Additionally, expressing opinions, giving reasons, and showing likes and dislikes makes your writing more engaging and personal.
Remember to match your tone to the writing task - some expressions are more suitable for informal contexts while others work better in formal situations.
Essential phrase bank
Expressing opinions
The following phrases will help you present your viewpoints more effectively and show personal engagement with your topic.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| En mi opinión | In my opinion |
| A mi juicio | In my opinion |
| Creo que | I think that |
| Pienso que | I think that |
| Me parece que | It seems to me that |
| Yo diría que | I would say that |
| Personalmente | Personally |
| Prefiero | I prefer |
Giving reasons
These structures help you justify your opinions and create more convincing arguments in your writing.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Porque es | Because it is |
| Porque son | Because they are |
| Porque era | Because it was |
| Porque eran | Because they were |
| Porque será | Because it will be |
| Porque serán | Because they will be |
Likes and dislikes
Expressing preferences adds personal voice to your writing and demonstrates emotional engagement with topics.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Me gusta(n) | I like it (them) |
| Me gusta(n) mucho | I really like it (them) |
| Me encanta(n) | I love it (them) |
| Me chifla(n) | I love it (them) |
| No me gusta(n) | I don't like it (them) |
| No me gusta(n) nada | I don't like it (them) at all |
| No aguanto | I can't stand |
| No soporto | I can't stand |
| Odio | I hate |
| Detesto | I hate |
Connecting ideas
Effective use of linking words transforms choppy sentences into flowing, coherent paragraphs.
To join short sentences:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Y | And |
| Pero | But |
| También | Also / as well / too |
| Porque | Because |
| Que | Which / that / who |
| Cuando | When |
| Donde | Where |
To link sentences within paragraphs:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Luego | Next / then |
| Más tarde | Later |
| Después | Afterwards |
| Entonces | Then / therefore |
| Por eso | Therefore |
| Por esta razón | For this reason |
| Sin embargo | However |
Using a variety of connectives shows advanced language skills and prevents repetitive writing. Try to alternate between different linking words rather than relying on just one or two.
Making writing more impressive
Replace basic vocabulary with these more sophisticated alternatives to elevate your writing style.
Quantifiers and intensifiers:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Un poco | A little |
| Bastante | Quite |
| Muy | Very |
| Demasiado | Too |
| Mucho(s) + noun | Lots of + noun |
Impressive adjectives:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Guay | Boss / cool |
| Genial | Brilliant |
| Impresionante | Impressive |
| Fenomenal | Great |
| Increíble | Unbelievable |
Useful adverbs:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Rápidamente | Quickly |
| Lentamente | Slowly |
| Fácilmente | Easily |
| Con cuidado | Carefully |
| Generalmente | Generally |
| Normalmente | Normally |
| A menudo | Often |
| Siempre | Always |
| Nunca | Never |
| A veces | Sometimes |
| De vez en cuando | From time to time |
| Una vez | Once |
| Dos veces por semana | Twice a week |
| Todos los días | Every day |
Advanced structures for better writing
Making comparisons
Comparisons add analytical depth to your writing and demonstrate sophisticated grammar usage.
More than: es más + adjective + que
Worked Example: Making Comparisons
Step 1: Choose your comparison structure
- Torres es más rápido que Gerrard (Torres is faster than Gerrard)
- Beyoncé es más guapa que Shakira (Beyoncé is prettier than Shakira)
As...as: es tan + adjective + como
Worked Example: Equal Comparisons
- Torres es tan rápido como Gerrard (Torres is as fast as Gerrard)
- Beyoncé es tan guapa como Shakira (Beyoncé is as pretty as Shakira)
Superlatives
Use superlatives to express the highest degree of a quality.
- Torres es el más rápido (Torres is the fastest)
- Beyoncé es la más guapa (Beyoncé is the prettiest)
You can add -ísimo(a) to most adjectives for intensive emphasis:
- Grande → grandísimo (very big)
- Pequeño(a) → pequeñísimo(a) (very small)
- Interesante → interesantísimo(a) (very interesting)
Exclamations
Exclamations add emotional expression and make your writing more engaging.
Use ¡Qué! + adjective or ¡Qué! + noun:
- ¡Qué bueno(a)! (How good!)
- ¡Qué interesante! (How interesting!)
- ¡Qué feo(a)! (How ugly!)
- ¡Qué guay! (How cool!)
- ¡Qué lástima! (What a pity!)
Complex time expressions
These structures show sophisticated temporal relationships in your narrative writing.
Before doing something: antes de + infinitive
- Antes de salir (before going out)
After doing something: después de + infinitive
- Después de comer (after eating)
After having done something: después de haber + past participle
- Después de haber jugado al fútbol (after having played football)
Useful expressions with tener
These idiomatic expressions with tener make your Spanish sound more natural and fluent.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Tener calor | To be hot |
| Tener sed | To be thirsty |
| Tener celos | To be jealous |
| Tener éxito | To be successful |
| Tener razón | To be right |
| Tener frío | To be cold |
| Tener suerte | To be lucky |
| Tener hambre | To be hungry |
| Tener miedo de | To be frightened of |
Time indicators for different tenses
Using appropriate time indicators demonstrates control over tense usage and temporal accuracy.
Present tense:
- Ahora (now)
- Hoy (today)
- Esta mañana (this morning)
- Esta tarde (this afternoon)
- Esta noche (tonight)
Past tense:
- Ayer (yesterday)
- Anteayer (the day before yesterday)
- Hace dos días (two days ago)
- El año pasado (last year)
- La semana pasada (last week)
Future tense:
- Mañana (tomorrow)
- Mañana por la mañana (tomorrow morning)
- Mañana por la tarde (tomorrow afternoon)
- Mañana por la noche (tomorrow night)
Common mistakes and tips
Register awareness: Be careful with informal expressions like guay - these work well in letters to friends but not in formal writing tasks.
Accent marks: Don't forget written accents on words like opinión, razón, and más. Missing accents change meaning and lose marks.
Verb agreements: When using me gusta , remember it changes to me gustan with plural nouns. For example: "me gusta el chocolate" but "me gustan los chocolates".
Negative formation: Simply place no before the verb: "voy" becomes "no voy". With other negative words like nadie (nobody) or nunca (never), you still need "no": "no viene nadie" (nobody is coming).
Word order: Keep adjectives after nouns in most cases: "una casa grande" (a big house), not "una grande casa".
Linking words: Don't overuse the same connectives. Vary between pero, sin embargo and aunque for "but/however".
Key Points to Remember:
- Use opinion phrases like "en mi opinión" and "me parece que" to make your writing more personal and sophisticated
- Connect your ideas with linking words such as "luego", "después", and "sin embargo" to create better flow
- Replace basic adjectives with more impressive alternatives like "fenomenal" instead of "bueno"
- Include reasons for your opinions using "porque" followed by clear explanations
- Practice using different tenses with appropriate time indicators to show variety in your language skills