Theme 3: Education and work - Translation
Translation for Theme 3 covers both directions on education and work: school subjects, exam pressure, future study plans and part-time jobs. The examiner is testing ir a + infinitive and the simple future for plans, the conditional (me gustaría) for ambitions, comparatives and superlatives (más...que, el/la mejor) for subjects, and tener que/hay que for school obligations, since English will and going to can each map onto more than one Spanish structure.
Before you start
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Method
- Identify whether a sentence describes a present routine, an immediate plan (ir a + infinitive) or a more distant intention (simple future), since English will and going to can both translate to either depending on how certain the plan is.
- Translate wishes and ambitions with the conditional (me gustaría + infinitive means I would like to), not with the present of gustar, since a career ambition is hypothetical, not a current fact.
- Recognise comparative and superlative structures: más...que (more...than), menos...que (less...than), tan...como (as...as), el/la mejor/peor (the best/worst), keeping the noun's gender in the article.
- Translate school-obligation idioms by meaning: tener que + infinitive, hay que + infinitive, and estar obligado/a a + infinitive (to be obliged to).
- When translating into Spanish, remember that que introduces both a comparison (más difícil que) and a linking word after opinion verbs (creo que, espero que), and never translates as 'what' in either case.
- Watch out for false friends in this theme: éxito means success, not exit; asignatura means school subject, not assignment in the everyday English sense; carrera can mean degree course, career or race, so context decides.
- Check tense and agreement last: future and conditional endings attach to the whole infinitive and stay the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs, so one set of endings covers every regular verb.
Worked example
Translate into Spanish: Next year I am going to choose my options, and I think I will study science because I find it easier than languages. I would like to become a doctor, although it's a very demanding career.
- Split into chunks: 'Next year I am going to choose my options' / 'I think I will study science' / 'because I find it easier than languages' / 'I would like to become a doctor' / 'although it's a very demanding career'.
- 'I am going to choose' is an immediate plan, so ir a + infinitive: el año que viene voy a elegir mis asignaturas.
- 'I think I will study science' combines creo que with a future action, best rendered with the simple future: creo que estudiaré ciencias.
- 'because I find it easier than languages' is a comparative: porque me parece más fácil que los idiomas.
- 'I would like to become a doctor' is the conditional me gustaría + infinitive: me gustaría ser médico.
- Full translation: El año que viene voy a elegir mis asignaturas, y creo que estudiaré ciencias porque me parece más fácil que los idiomas. Me gustaría ser médico, aunque es una carrera muy exigente.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Translate into Spanish: I am going to study French next year.Show answer
Answer: Voy a estudiar francés el año que viene.
Q2Translate into English: Me gustaría trabajar en el extranjero.Show answer
Answer: I would like to work abroad.
Q3Translate into Spanish: Maths is more difficult than history for me.Show answer
Answer: Las matemáticas son más difíciles que la historia para mi.
Q4Translate into English: Tengo que entregar los deberes mañana.Show answer
Answer: I have to hand in my homework tomorrow.
Q5Translate into Spanish: I will look for a part-time job this summer.Show answer
Answer: Buscaré un trabajo a tiempo parcial este verano.
Q6Translate into English: Espero sacar buenas notas en los exámenes.Show answer
Answer: I hope to get good grades in the exams.
Q7Translate into Spanish: Science is the best subject in my opinion.Show answer
Answer: Las ciencias son la mejor asignatura en mi opinión.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate this passage into English: El año que viene voy a elegir mis asignaturas para el bachillerato. Creo que estudiaré ciencias porque se me dan mejor que las letras. Me gustaría ser ingeniera, aunque mis padres piensan que la medicina es una carrera más segura. Tengo que trabajar mucho este año para conseguir las notas que necesito.
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Translate this passage into Spanish: I am going to look for a part-time job next month because I would like to save some money. My teachers say that I am more organised than my classmates. I hope to study business at university, although it's a very competitive career.
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