Theme 2.1/2.3: Where I live and the environment - Writing
Writing for Theme 2.1/2.3 combines describing a home town or region, including location, amenities, advantages and disadvantages, with environmental issues affecting it, such as pollution, traffic or a lack of recycling, and what should be done about them.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the bullets and split description (ser for permanent characteristics, estar for location - mi pueblo está en el norte) from problem-and-solution content, which usually needs an impersonal structure.
- Plan the description first: two or three adjectives for the town or area, plus one comparative (más tranquilo que la ciudad, menos contaminado que antes).
- Plan the environmental problem and its cause separately from the solution, so the response does not just list problems without addressing what should change.
- Build the description using ser/estar correctly, then the problem using hay plus a noun (hay mucha contaminación) or an impersonal se construction (se tira mucha basura en la calle).
- Add range: a connective (por eso, aunque), an opinion justified with porque, a subordinate clause with que, and, for the top-mark bullet, a subjunctive after es necesario que (es necesario que reciclemos más).
- Check ser and estar are not confused (mi barrio es tranquilo = permanent trait; mi barrio está cerca del centro = location) and that comparative agreement is correct (más limpio, menos ruidosa).
- Check accents on environment vocabulary: contaminación, energía, más, and on the subjunctive endings used for advice.
Worked example
Write a short paragraph in Spanish for a community newsletter. Mention: where you live and what it is like; an environmental problem in your area; what you think local people should do about it.
- PLAN the description: location (está en el sur de Inglaterra) plus character (es bastante tranquilo pero un poco aburrido).
- PLAN the problem and a linking cause: hay mucho tráfico, lo cual causa contaminación.
- BUILD the description contrasting ser and estar: Vivo en un pueblo pequeño que está en el sur de Inglaterra; es tranquilo, pero a veces un poco aburrido. Está marks location, es marks a lasting quality, and the subordinate clause que está... adds detail in one sentence.
- BUILD the problem sentence with a connective: Sin embargo, hay mucho tráfico en el centro, lo cual causa bastante contaminación del aire.
- BUILD the solution using an impersonal/subjunctive structure: En mi opinión, es necesario que el ayuntamiento construya más carriles para bicicletas y que la gente use menos el coche.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Choose ser or estar: Mi ciudad ___ muy grande y ___ en el norte de España.Show answer
Answer: es (permanent characteristic) ... está (location).
Q2Fill the gap with the present subjunctive: Es importante que todos ___ (reciclar) más.Show answer
Answer: reciclen - present subjunctive, third person plural, after the impersonal expression es importante que.
Q3Correct the error: 'Hay mucho trafico y esto causan contaminacion.'Show answer
Answer: Hay mucho tráfico y esto causa contaminación - the subject esto (this) is singular, so the verb must be causa, not causan.
Q4Translate into Spanish: 'There is a lot of pollution in my city because of the traffic.'Show answer
Answer: Hay mucha contaminación en mi ciudad a causa del tráfico.
Q5Translate into English: 'Se debería reciclar más para proteger el medio ambiente.'Show answer
Answer: More should be recycled in order to protect the environment.
Q6Give the Spanish for 'to recycle' and 'renewable energy'.Show answer
Answer: reciclar and la energía renovable.
Q7Which is the higher-level structure for giving advice: hay que or es necesario que plus the subjunctive?Show answer
Answer: es necesario que plus the subjunctive is the higher-level structure (e.g. es necesario que reciclemos); hay que plus infinitive is simpler and works for any subject without a subjunctive (hay que reciclar).
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about where you live in Spanish. Answer all four bullet points in Spanish. Write approximately 40 words in Spanish. - where you live and what it is like - what there is to do in your town - an environmental problem where you live - your opinion on living in a city compared to the countryside
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 10 available
Write for a community magazine about where you live and the environment. You must mention: - describe the town or area where you live, including advantages and disadvantages - describe an environmental problem affecting your area and its cause - say what you personally do to help protect the environment - say what you think local government should do to solve environmental problems
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 16 available
See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the theme 2.1/2.3: where i live and the environment - writing worksheet pack - 8 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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