Trampas de Higher — Higher Photo-card Pitfalls

❌ "Si tendría más tiempo, viajaría."

✅ "Si tuviera más tiempo, viajaría."

Por qué importa: NEVER use si + conditional. The rule is fixed: si + imperfect subjunctive (tuviera) → conditional (viajaría). Using tendría after si is the single most penalised Higher grammar error in AQA Spanish. Memorise one model sentence — Si tuviera más dinero, viajaría por todo el mundo — and adapt it on the day.

❌ Describing only what you literally see in the photo and then stopping.

✅ Higher photo-cards reward you for extending beyond the image and reading its theme or social message: "La imagen parece representar un problema social, ya que..." / "El mensaje que transmite la foto es..." Say what the photo is about, not just what you see. Examiners are looking for inference and interpretation at Higher.

❌ Using Foundation-level vocabulary throughout: me gusta, no me gusta, bueno, malo.

✅ Upgrade your register deliberately: me gusta → lo encuentro fascinante / me resulta estimulante; no me gusta → me resulta frustrante / lo considero perjudicial; bueno → positivo / beneficioso; malo → perjudicial / preocupante. The examiner is explicitly assessing vocabulary range under AO3 — every upgraded word earns marks.

❌ Self-correcting and then freezing or trailing off.

✅ Self-correction earns marks at Higher — correct yourself and carry on: "...fuimos... digo, íbamos... sí, íbamos a la playa cada verano." AQA examiners are trained to award credit for demonstrated awareness of error. Don't freeze after a correction — the correction itself shows grammatical knowledge.