Tech nouns and their fixed verb phrases
Learn each technology noun with its article so gender is never a guess: el ordenador, la pantalla, el móvil, la contraseña, el archivo, el correo electrónico, la videollamada, la aplicación, el teletrabajo. Pair them with the fixed phrases: mandar/enviar un correo, adjuntar un archivo, hacer una videollamada, trabajar desde casa, navegar por internet, descargar una aplicación. Full list in the note.
Opinion phrases with a reason every time
Technology tasks almost always ask for ventajas y desventajas. Structure with fixed phrases, not a flat list: en mi opinión..., pienso que..., por un lado... por otro lado..., la ventaja es que..., el inconveniente es que..., sin embargo, además. Follow every opinion with a reason (porque / ya que): la ventaja es que puedo trabajar desde casa, porque ahorro tiempo.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
gustar malformed (yo gusto...)
Opinion phrases often use gustar-type verbs (gustar, molestar, encantar, parecer), a top Writing error every sitting. Wrong: Yo gusto las videollamadas / Mi gusta el teletrabajo / Se gustan las redes sociales. Right: Me gustan las videollamadas — the verb agrees with the thing liked, and the person is marked only by me/te/le/nos/os/les.
gustar/encantar malformations (me gusto, mi gusta, se gustan) on the Writing common-errors list, every sitting.
me gusta vs me gustan
The gustar verb ending follows the thing that comes after it, not the person: me gusta el ordenador (singular) but me gustan las aplicaciones (plural). For emphasis add a mí / a ti: A mí me molesta recibir tantos correos. Forgetting the plural for a plural subject, or dropping the a, are common slips.
gustar/encantar: omission of the preceding a (a mí me gusta), Writing common-errors list, every sitting.
Guessing tech-noun gender
Endings mislead: el ordenador is masculine (not from -or); el problema, el programa are masculine despite -a; but la aplicación, la conexión are feminine — nouns in -ción/-sión almost always are. Learn each with its article. A plural adjective must agree too: las aplicaciones son gratuitas, not gratuito.
Gender & number agreement, a top Writing error every sitting.
Short sentences cap the Range mark
Listing pros and cons as disconnected short sentences (El teletrabajo es bueno. Ahorro tiempo. Hay problemas.) caps the Range mark at 3–5. Link them: Aunque el teletrabajo ahorra tiempo, también tiene inconvenientes, ya que la conexión falla a veces. Subordinate clauses (aunque, ya que, cuando) and connectors (sin embargo, además) reach the top band.
Q3 Range is the ceiling; no subordinate clauses / all short sentences capped at 3–5 for Range (Paper 4 Writing).
por un lado, not en el otro lado
The fixed contrast phrase is por un lado... por otro lado.... Translating "on the other hand" word-for-word as en el otro lado (which means a physical location) is wrong. Keep the set phrase intact — it is what signals a balanced answer to the examiner.
(general FL trap)
mensaje vs mensual
el mensaje (a message) and mensual (monthly) look alike but are unrelated — one is the noun you send, the other an adjective for something that happens each month. Check which the sentence needs: te mando un mensaje (I send you a message), not mensual; una reunión mensual is a monthly meeting.
gustar and gender: two false rules
Two false beliefs recur. (1) Gustar is not conjugated to agree with the person — it agrees with the thing liked, the person marked only by me/te/le/nos/os/les: me gustan las redes sociales, never yo gusto. (2) Gender is not from the ending alone: el problema is masculine despite -a; la aplicación, la conexión (-ción/-sión) are feminine.
gustar/encantar and Gender & number agreement, both named recurring Writing errors every sitting.
Pair each advantage with a disadvantage
For a ventajas/desventajas technology task, open with an opinion phrase (en mi opinión...), then use por un lado... por otro lado... to pair an advantage with a disadvantage. A balanced, contrasted answer scores higher than a one-sided list.
Justify every point, then connect it
A bare list of advantages loses Task Completion marks — follow each with porque or ya que. Then link sentences with subordinate clauses and connectors (aunque, sin embargo, además, cuando) to avoid the short-sentence Range ceiling.
Check gustar before you write it
When you give a personal reaction (me parece práctico, me molesta que...), check the pronoun marks the person and the verb agrees with the thing: me gustan las redes sociales, not yo gusto. This is examiner-flagged every sitting, so it is worth a deliberate check.
This topic covers technology and communication vocabulary used at work and in daily life (computers, phones, email, video calls, working from home) and the opinion phrases needed to discuss advantages and disadvantages — an area tested in Speaking topic conversations and Writing opinion tasks.
Technology and communication:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el ordenador | the computer |
| la pantalla | the screen |
| el móvil | the mobile phone |
| la contraseña | the password |
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