Trampas de sonido — Sound Traps

❌ Common error: Hearing vino and writing "wine" when the context is about travel

✅ Correct: vino here = he / she came (3rd person preterite of venir). Context: vino a visitarme = he came to visit me.

Why it costs marks: vino is both the noun (wine) and the preterite of venir (to come). The surrounding sentence always disambiguates — check the verb or preposition that follows.

❌ Common error: Writing ¿Porqué no vas?

✅ Correct: ¿Por qué no vas? (why: two words, accent on qué)

Why it costs marks: porque (one word, no accent) = because. por qué (two words, accent) = why? In a question, you need two words. Confusing these loses an accuracy mark on Paper 4 and the wrong meaning in a reading task.

❌ Common error: Confusing ahí with hay

✅ Correct: ahí (/aˈi/ — two syllables) = over there (location); hay (/aj/ — one syllable) = there is / there are (existential)

Why it costs marks: Está ahí describes where something is; Hay una farmacia states that something exists. Using the wrong one changes the meaning entirely.

❌ Common error: Mishearing sino (but rather) as si no (if not)

✅ Correct: sino replaces a negative: No soy inglés sino americano = I'm not English but rather American. si no introduces a conditional: si no vienes, me voy = if you don't come, I'll leave.

Why it costs marks: The sentence structure reveals which is intended — sino always follows a negative statement and contrasts it.