Dictation: Higher Level
🎧 Dictation: Higher Level
Higher dictation passages are longer and grammatically richer than Foundation. Key features:
Earn the mark scheme marks
💡 Exam Tips & Common Errors
- Mark every subjunctive trigger on listen 1 — write 'SUBJ' in the margin beside that blank. On listen 3, check the form is correct. Do not try to determine the subjunctive form in real time on first listen.
- Distinguish conditional from future by the final vowel sound: [ʁa] = future (-ra); [ʁɛ] = conditional (-rait). In context, a si + imperfect clause before it confirms conditional.
- Passive past participle agreement is a consistent Grid B target. As soon as you hear 'a été / ont été / avait été', find the subject noun and check its gender and number. Adjust the past participle accordingly.
- Do not write accents on guess — if you cannot remember whether a word has a circumflex or acute, write the most common form you know. But for meaning-changing pairs (a/à, ou/où, du/dû), always check by grammar function: is it a verb or a preposition?
- Practise writing imperfect -aient endings at speed: étaient, estimaient, regardaient, voulaient. The four-letter -aient ending is the highest-frequency Grid B target in Higher dictation.
❌ Common error: Il faudrait que tout le monde fait un effort.
✓ Correct: Il faudrait que tout le monde fasse un effort.
Why it costs marks: 'Il faudrait que' is a subjunctive trigger — the verb that follows must be in the present subjunctive. Faire has an irregular subjunctive: fasse (not fait, which is the present indicative). In speech, 'il faudrait que' sounds like a clear warning: write down 'SUBJ' and check on listen 3 that you have the correct form. Fasse = f-a-s-s-e (double -ss). This is a Grid B mark every time it appears.
❌ Common error: Une nouvelle loi avait été proposé par le gouvernement.
✓ Correct: Une nouvelle loi avait été proposée par le gouvernement.
Why it costs marks: In a passive construction, the past participle must agree with the subject noun. Une loi is feminine singular — so proposé needs an extra -e: proposée. The -e is completely silent in speech, making it a predictable Grid B trap. Whenever you hear 'avait été / a été' in a dictation, immediately identify the subject's gender. Feminine subject → add -e. Plural → add -s. Feminine plural → add -es.