Languages
GCSE Spanish
Speaking, listening, reading and writing across themes. On GCSE.es you can see what's in the course, log every result and get practice on the topics you find hardest.
Your exam board
Overview
Qualification
GCSE
Exam boards
AQA · Edexcel
Main topics
2 areas
For parents: AQA writes your child's Spanish course and exams. AQA writes the specifications and exams for most GCSE subjects taught in English state schools. If your school uses AQA, every topic, paper and mark scheme follows AQA's specification.
Topics
Spanish key terms
Original definitions for core course vocabulary, informed by the references below. Not an official or exhaustive board-specific glossary.
40 of 40 terms
- Grammatical gender
- Spanish nouns are usually masculine or feminine: el libro means the book; la casa means the house.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Adjective agreement
- Most Spanish adjectives match their noun's number and gender: casas blancas means white houses.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Definite article
- El, la, los and las identify particular nouns: los libros means the books.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Personal a
- A normally precedes a specific human direct object: veo a María means I see María.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Ser and estar
- Ser commonly identifies or classifies; estar locates or describes a state: soy estudiante; estoy cansado.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Gustar construction
- The thing liked is the grammatical subject: me gustan los libros means I like books.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Subject pronoun omission
- Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because verb endings identify the subject: hablo means I speak.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Double negative
- A negative word after the verb normally accompanies no: no veo nada means I see nothing.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Question punctuation
- A direct written question begins with ¿ and ends with ?: ¿Qué haces? means what are you doing?
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Possessive adjective
- A form such as mi or mis identifies possession and agrees in number with the noun: mis amigos means my friends.
- Nouns and sentence patterns
- Present tense
- A tense for current or habitual events: hablo means I speak or I am speaking.
- Verbs and time
- Preterite tense
- A past tense presenting events as completed: comí means I ate.
- Verbs and time
- Imperfect tense
- A past tense used for background or habits: jugaba means I was playing or used to play.
- Verbs and time
- Perfect tense
- Haber in the present plus a participle: he comido means I have eaten.
- Verbs and time
- Near future
- Ir a plus an infinitive expresses future intention: voy a estudiar means I am going to study.
- Verbs and time
- Simple future
- A future stem with endings expresses what will happen: estudiaré means I will study.
- Verbs and time
- Conditional
- A verb form commonly expressing would: viajaría means I would travel.
- Verbs and time
- Reflexive verb
- A verb with a pronoun referring back to the subject: me levanto means I get up.
- Verbs and time
- Stem-changing verb
- A verb whose stem changes in some forms: pensar becomes pienso, meaning I think.
- Verbs and time
- Present subjunctive
- A mood used after certain expressions of wish, doubt or evaluation: quiero que vengas means I want you to come.
- Verbs and time
- la familia
- The family.
- People, school and leisure
- los amigos
- Friends; los means the when referring to a particular group.
- People, school and leisure
- los deberes
- Homework; usually plural in this school-related meaning.
- People, school and leisure
- la asignatura
- A school subject.
- People, school and leisure
- el instituto
- A secondary school in the Spanish school context.
- People, school and leisure
- el trabajo
- Work or a job.
- People, school and leisure
- el tiempo libre
- Free time or leisure time.
- People, school and leisure
- hacer deporte
- To do sport or take part in sporting activities.
- People, school and leisure
- llevarse bien con
- To get on well with someone.
- People, school and leisure
- las redes sociales
- Social media or social networking platforms.
- People, school and leisure
- las vacaciones
- Holidays; normally plural in Spanish.
- Travel, health and environment
- la estación de tren
- The railway station.
- Travel, health and environment
- el billete
- A travel ticket in Spain; also a banknote in other contexts.
- Travel, health and environment
- el alojamiento
- Accommodation or lodging.
- Travel, health and environment
- la salud
- Health; a feminine noun. La salud física means physical health.
- Travel, health and environment
- me duele la cabeza
- I have a headache; literally my head hurts.
- Travel, health and environment
- el medio ambiente
- The environment.
- Travel, health and environment
- la basura
- Rubbish or waste.
- Travel, health and environment
- el transporte público
- Public transport.
- Travel, health and environment
- ahorrar energía
- To save energy.
- Travel, health and environment
Exams
AQA
The largest GCSE board in England, used by most state schools.
Pearson Edexcel
Widely used for GCSE Maths, Sciences and Humanities.
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Revision
Tell GCSE.es which Spanish topics feel weak. Your dashboard then picks a short, timed next step — learn the key idea, check yourself, review mistakes.
How revision worksPractice
- ✓ Key terms you tap to reveal
- ✓ Quick multiple-choice quizzes
- ✓ 3, 6, 9 and 12-mark exam-style questions
- ✓ Marking with feedback and a model answer
Available free inside your GCSE journey. Questions are written by GCSE.es, not taken from real past papers.
Resources
Short, focused tasks for the Spanish topics you find hardest — learn the key idea, check yourself, then try a marked exam-style question.
Try a 10-minute task