These three sentences represent the level of complexity found in AQA Higher dictation passages. Study each accent mark and know why it is there.
- Cuando era pequeño, mi madre siempre me llevaba al parque los fines de semana. — era and llevaba are both imperfect. llevaba has NO written accent — regular -AR imperfect, not nosotros.
- Si tuviera más tiempo, estudiaría más idiomas extranjeros. — si + tuviera (imperfect subjunctive) → estudiaría (conditional, accent on í).
- Me gustaría vivir en el extranjero, aunque sería difícil dejar a mi familia. — gustaría and sería: both conditional (accent on í). difícil: accent on first í (esdrújula word).
This introduction covers Set A — Dictation Practice Sentences within Dictation Higher sets for GCSE Spanish. Revise Dictation Higher sets in Dictation for GCSE Spanish with 13 exam-style questions and 10 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 4 of 4 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Practice questions for Dictation Higher sets
Listen to the sentence three times, then write exactly what you hear in Spanish.
Quick recall flashcards
In the word 'estudiaría', where is the accent and why?
The accent is on the í of the -ía ending.
estudia + ría → estudia·RÍ·a
Why: All conditional endings (-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían) carry this accent.
Key distinction:
• estudiaría (conditional) — accent on í
• estudiaba (imperfect -AR) — NO accent (only estudiábamos has one)
The accent on í in the conditional distinguishes it visually from -AR imperfect forms and confirms the word is not diphthongised (the í is a full stressed vowel, not gliding into the a).
In the word 'difícil', where is the accent and why?
The accent is on the first í: di-FÍ-cil.
Spanish stress rules:
• Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s → stress on second-to-last syllable (no accent needed)
• Words ending in any other consonant (including -l) → stress on the LAST syllable (no accent needed)
'difícil' ends in -l, so default stress = last syllable: difi-CIL.
But the actual stress is on the second syllable: di-FÍ-cil.
The written accent overrides the default rule to show the irregular stress.
Similar words: fácil (easy) · útil (useful) · ágil (agile) — all end in -l with accent overriding the default.