This introduction covers Técnica de traducción EN→ES — Technique within Translation into Spanish (Foundation 35 words / Higher 50 words) for GCSE Spanish. Revise Translation into Spanish (Foundation 35 words / Higher 50 words) in Writing + Translation (EN→ES) 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 4 of 4 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🎯 Técnica de traducción EN→ES — Technique
Your English instincts will fight you. Train yourself to check every "to be", "to like", and "there is/are" — these are the 3 areas where English and Spanish think most differently.
- Read the whole English passage before starting — understand what you're translating
- Identify all verbs first — what tense is needed for each?
- Flag "to be" — is this ser (permanent) or estar (temporary/location)?
- Flag "to like" — apply gustar reversal: I like books = me gustan los libros
- Flag weather / physical states — use hacer / tener, not ser
- Write your attempt even if unsure — partial credit is available
Practice questions for Translation into Spanish (Foundation 35 words / Higher 50 words)
Translate this sentence into Spanish: **I like football because it is exciting and I play every weekend.**
Quick recall flashcards
Translate: "I have a dog and a cat."
Tengo un perro y un gato. (tener = to have; un = masculine article; y = and)
"There is / there are" in Spanish
hay (invariable — same for singular and plural). "There is a park" = Hay un parque. "There are many parks" = Hay muchos parques.