Roleplay formula (formal vs informal)

SpanishAQAGCSEUnit: Questions & Roleplay
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The basics

Frases de supervivencia — Roleplay Survival Phrases

🗣️ Frases de supervivencia — Roleplay Survival Phrases

These phrases appear across restaurant, hotel, transport, and shopping scenarios. Learn them in Spanish — don't translate on the spot. The examiner is awarding marks for natural, accurate output under timed conditions.
Frase española Meaning
Quisiera... / Me gustaría... I would like...
¿Tiene...? Do you have...?
¿Cuánto cuesta / cuestan? How much does it / do they cost?
Para mí, ... For me, ...
La cuenta, por favor. The bill, please.
¿A qué hora...? At what time...?
Un billete de ida y vuelta a... A return ticket to...
¿Puede repetir, por favor? Can you repeat, please?
¿Puede hablar más despacio? Can you speak more slowly?
Tengo una reserva a nombre de... I have a reservation in the name of...
Spotlight
Tres escenarios clave — Three Roleplay Scenarios

AQA Foundation roleplay tasks rotate around four real-world settings. These three cover the most frequently tested scenarios. Practise deploying survival phrases fluently in each context.

Exam tip

Earn the mark scheme marks

❌ Errores de juego de rol — Roleplay Mistakes

❌ Error 1: Quiero una mesa para dos. (restaurant)

✅ Correcto: Quisiera una mesa para dos.

Por qué importa: Quisiera is the conditional form of querer — it means "I would like" and is the natural, polite register for formal scenarios (restaurant, hotel, shop). Quiero (I want) sounds blunt and overly direct in these settings. AQA Paper 2 assesses communicative effectiveness: using the right register in a formal context earns higher marks under AO2.

❌ Error 2: Translating "I'll have the chicken" as Tendré el pollo. (future tense)

✅ Correcto: Para mí, el pollo. or Voy a tomar el pollo.

Por qué importa: English "I'll have" is not future tense in meaning — it is an order/request idiom. Translating it literally as tendré (I will have — possession future) is a false friend. The natural Spanish equivalents in ordering contexts are para mí... (for me...) or voy a tomar... (I'm going to have...). Using tendré sounds unnatural and may confuse the examiner about your intended meaning.

Now try it yourself

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