This deep dive covers Tiempo verbal y detalles — Tense and Detail Clues within Short passage comprehension for GCSE Spanish. Revise Short passage comprehension 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 2 of 4 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🔍 Tiempo verbal y detalles — Tense and Detail Clues
AQA passages signal their tense through key time words. Identifying the tense correctly is essential — if you misread a past event as present, your answer will be wrong even if your Spanish comprehension was otherwise sound.
| Signal word | Tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ayer, el año pasado, la semana pasada | Preterite | Ayer fui... |
| cuando era niño/a, siempre, de niño | Imperfect | Siempre comía... |
| mañana, el próximo año, en el futuro | Future | Mañana iré... |
| me gustaría, si pudiera | Conditional | Me gustaría... |
| nunca, nadie, nada, tampoco | Negative | Nunca salgo... |
⭐ P/N/P+N: the pero rule
A sentence containing pero or sin embargo often creates a P+N answer. Example: "Me gusta el colegio, pero los deberes son aburridos." → P+N (likes school, but homework is boring).
Practice questions for Short passage comprehension
Read the passage and answer the questions in English. **Mi familia vive en una casa grande en el norte de España. Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana. Mi madre trabaja en un hospital como médica. Cada mañana, voy al colegio en autobús con mis hermanos. Me gustan las matemáticas y el inglés.** (a) Where does the family live? (b) What is the writer's mother's job? (c) How does the writer travel to school?