This exam tips covers Trampas de inferencia — Inference Traps within Long passage + inference for GCSE Spanish. Revise Long passage + inference in Reading + Translation (ES→EN) for GCSE Spanish with 16 exam-style questions and 12 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 3 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
⚠️ Trampas de inferencia — Inference Traps
❌ Choosing the option that uses the most words from the passage
✅ AQA distractors often use words directly from the text but reverse the meaning. Match the SENSE, not the vocabulary. Re-read the exact sentence before selecting.
Why: Examiners deliberately recycle passage vocabulary in wrong answer options. Students who scan for matching words rather than reading for meaning consistently pick these traps.
❌ Missing a pronoun reference: "Lo hice por ella" → thinking "lo" is a person
✅ "lo" is neuter — it refers to a thing or action from the previous sentence, not a person. "ella" = she/her.
Why: In Spanish, "lo" as a direct object pronoun refers to masculine nouns or neuter concepts (actions, ideas, situations). When you see "lo hice" (I did it), look at the previous sentence to find the action it refers to — not a person.
❌ "Puede que sea verdad" interpreted as certainty
✅ "puede que" + subjunctive = it's POSSIBLE that / perhaps. This is uncertainty, not certainty.
Why: "puede que" always triggers the subjunctive and always expresses possibility, not fact. An AQA statement saying "the author is certain" is WRONG if the passage uses "puede que" — that expresses doubt, not conviction.
Practice questions for Long passage + inference
Lee este texto y contesta las preguntas. **Mi vida en el pueblo** Vivo en un pueblo pequeño en el norte de España. Hay pocas tiendas y el autobús solo pasa dos veces al día. Los fines de semana no hay nada que hacer para los jóvenes. Mis padres trabajan mucho y llegan a casa muy tarde. Yo preparo la cena casi todos los días. A veces me siento muy solo. Mi mejor amigo se mudó a Madrid el año pasado y no lo veo mucho. Using the passage above, identify **three things we can infer** (not directly stated) about the writer's life. Answer in English.