Town + environment

SpanishAQAGCSEUnit: Theme 3 — Communication & World
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The basics

Lugares en la ciudad — Buildings and Places in Town

📚 Lugares en la ciudad — Buildings and Places in Town

AQA listening and reading tasks often present a town map and ask you to identify buildings from spoken or written directions. You need to recognise both the Spanish word and what it refers to in English — either can be tested.
Spanish English
el ayuntamiento town hall
la biblioteca library
la farmacia chemist / pharmacy
el supermercado supermarket
el polideportivo sports centre
el mercado market
la estación (de tren) (train) station
la panadería bakery
el banco bank
el parque park
la iglesia church
la plaza square

In AQA listening and reading, you need to identify these buildings on maps or in directions. Learn both the Spanish word AND the English meaning.

Spotlight
Cómo dar direcciones — Giving Directions

Direction phrases let you tell someone how to get somewhere or describe where a building is. AQA Paper 1 (listening) and Paper 2 (reading) test these phrases — you may hear a sequence of instructions and have to follow them on a printed map.

Exam tip

Earn the mark scheme marks

💡 Errores frecuentes — Common Errors

❌ Error 1: "El banco está en enfrente de la iglesia."

✅ Correcto: "El banco está enfrente de la iglesia."

Por qué: Enfrente de does NOT take the preposition en before it. Enfrente de alone means "opposite" — it is already a complete preposition phrase. The same rule applies to all position phrases: al lado de (not en al lado de), cerca de (not en cerca de), lejos de (not en lejos de). Adding en before them is a direct translation trap from English "it's in front of" — resist it.

❌ Error 2: "En mi barrio no hay actividades, es muy aburrida."

✅ Correcto: "En mi barrio no hay actividades, es muy aburrido."

Por qué: Mi barrio (neighbourhood) is masculine. The adjective must agree in gender: aburrido, not aburrida. This error is very common — students unconsciously assign feminine gender, possibly by association with the word zona or ciudad. Remember the rule: el barrio → aburrido; la ciudad → aburrida. Always trace the adjective back to its noun before writing.

Now try it yourself

Quiz · Question 1 of 13

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