Theme 1: Identity and culture - Translation into English
Translation into English for Theme 1, identity and culture, teaches the core translation-into-English technique using material on self-description, family, personality and likes and dislikes. Every task here goes from Spanish into English only, so the examiner is testing recognition and natural reproduction - can the student correctly identify the tense and idiom in the Spanish, and then write the meaning as a native English speaker would say it, rather than a literal word-for-word gloss such as 'I have fifteen years' for tengo quince años.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the whole Spanish sentence, or every sentence of a passage, before writing any English, since a detail later in the sentence can change how an earlier clause should be translated.
- Identify the tense and person of every verb by its ending before translating: soy/tengo (present, yo), es/tiene (present, el/ella), era/tenía (imperfect), fue/tuvo (preterite).
- Translate idioms by their real meaning, not word for word: tengo quince años means I am fifteen, not 'I have fifteen years'; me llevo bien con means I get on well with, not 'I carry myself well with'.
- With gustar-type verbs, remember the grammatical subject in Spanish is the thing liked, not the person, so me gusta el fútbol means I like football, not 'football likes to me'.
- Notice reflexive verbs (me llamo, se llevan, nos parecemos) and translate the reflexive pronoun as part of the verb's English meaning, rather than as a separate word.
- Note negatives placed before the verb (no me gusta, nunca salgo) and reverse the sense of the whole sentence accordingly, rather than translating no as an isolated word.
- Write a full first draft, then read it back purely as English: does it sound like something a native English speaker would actually say, or does it still sound like Spanish with English words substituted in.
Worked example
Translate into English: Me llamo Carlos y tengo dieciséis años. Soy bastante alto y tengo el pelo rizado. Me llevo mal con mi hermanastro porque es muy mandón, pero me gusta pasar tiempo con mi madre.
- Me llamo Carlos is the reflexive llamarse in the present: My name is Carlos, not 'I call myself Carlos'.
- Tengo dieciséis años uses the idiom tener + años: I am sixteen years old, not 'I have sixteen years'.
- Soy bastante alto y tengo el pelo rizado becomes I am quite tall and I have curly hair.
- Me llevo mal con mi hermanastro porque es muy mandón: the reflexive llevarse mal con becomes I don't get on well with my stepbrother, and mandón becomes bossy.
- Pero me gusta pasar tiempo con mi madre: gustar takes pasar tiempo as its subject, so this becomes but I like spending time with my mother, not 'spending time pleases me'.
- Full translation: My name is Carlos and I am sixteen years old. I am quite tall and I have curly hair. I don't get on well with my stepbrother because he is very bossy, but I like spending time with my mother.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Translate into English: Tengo trece años.Show answer
Answer: I am thirteen years old.
Q2Translate into English: Mi hermana se llama Inés.Show answer
Answer: My sister is called Inés.
Q3Translate into English: No me llevo bien con mi padrastro.Show answer
Answer: I don't get on well with my stepfather.
Q4Translate into English: Nos parecemos mucho.Show answer
Answer: We look a lot alike / we resemble each other a lot.
Q5Translate into English: Me gustan los animales.Show answer
Answer: I like animals.
Q6Translate into English: Era muy tímida de pequeña.Show answer
Answer: She was very shy as a little girl (the imperfect era shows this is a memory).
Q7Translate into English: Nunca discuto con mis padres.Show answer
Answer: I never argue with my parents.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate this passage into English: Me llamo Paula y tengo quince años. Soy pelirroja y tengo los ojos verdes. Mis padres dicen que soy muy testaruda, pero yo creo que soy simplemente decidida. Me llevo genial con mi hermano gemelo porque nos entendemos sin hablar.
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Translate this passage into English: Antes era muy tímido, pero ahora tengo mucha confianza. Me llevaba mal con mi hermana mayor cuando éramos niños, pero ahora somos muy unidos. Mi mejor amigo dice que soy generoso y que siempre le ayudo cuando lo necesita.
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See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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