Spanish placement test · A2

«El sofá está en el salón.» Where is the sofa?

In the living room — «El salón» is the living room. The others are «la cocina», «el dormitorio» and «el cuarto de baño». Careful with «salón»: it is not a salon or a hall.

«Hace mucho frío. Me pongo el ___.»

abrigo — «El abrigo» is the coat, which is what you put on when it is cold. «Bañador» is a swimming costume, «vestido de verano» a summer dress and «sombrero de paja» a straw hat. Note the verb: clothes go on with «ponerse», a reflexive — me pongo, te pones.

«Hace viento y llueve.» What is the weather like?

It is windy and raining — «Hace viento» is windy and «llueve» is it rains or it is raining. Spanish uses «hacer» for most weather — hace frío, hace sol, hace calor — but rain and snow have their own verbs: llueve, nieva.

Somebody stops you and says: «Perdone, ¿para ir a la estación?» What do they want?

Directions to the station — «¿Para ir a…?» is the short, everyday way of asking how to get somewhere — no verb needed after it. And «perdone» is the «usted» form, which is what you use with a stranger in the street.

«Trabajo de camarera en un restaurante.» What is her job?

Waitress — «Camarera» is a waitress; the cook would be «cocinera», the cleaner «limpiadora» and the shop assistant «dependienta». The pattern «trabajar DE + job» is the usual one, and the job goes without an article.

«¿Cuánto cuesta?» — «Son doce euros con cincuenta.» How much is it?

12.50 € — «Doce euros con cincuenta» is 12.50: the cents come after «con». Watch «doce» (12) against «dos» (2), and note that the answer is «son» in the plural, because it agrees with the euros.

Ayer ___ al cine con Marta.

fui — «Ayer» closes the time, so it takes the preterite: fui. «Voy» is present, «iré» future, and «iba» is the imperfect, which would be for a habit — «de niño iba al cine todos los domingos».

Hoy ___ muy tarde. (comer, yo)

he comido — In Spain, anything inside today takes «he comido»: haber plus the participle, and nothing goes between the two halves. In most of Latin America the same sentence is «hoy comí», and both are correct Spanish — this test follows the Spain convention, which is what the site teaches.

«¿Compraste el pan?» — «Sí, ___ compré esta mañana.»

lo — «El pan» is masculine and singular, and it is the thing bought, so it becomes «lo». «Le» is for the person who receives something, «la» would need a feminine noun and «los» a plural one. And it goes in FRONT of the conjugated verb: lo compré.

Yo ___ a las siete todos los días.

me levanto — «Levantarse» carries a pronoun that changes with the person: me levanto, te levantas, se levanta. «Levanto» on its own means you lift something else, and the other two belong to «tú» and «él».

Mañana ___ a viajar a Sevilla. (yo, ir)

voy — «Voy a viajar» is the ordinary way of talking about a plan — «ir a» plus the infinitive. The simple future, «viajaré», is correct but far less common in speech; it is for predictions and promises.

Este regalo es ___ ti.

para — «Para» points at the destination or the recipient: this present is FOR you. «Por» would be the reason or the exchange — «gracias por el regalo». And note the pronoun: after «para» it is «ti», not «tú».

Madrid es ___ grande que Salamanca.

más — The comparison is «más … que». «Muy» is just «very» and never takes «que»; «tan … como» is for saying two things are equal; and «mucho» modifies a verb or a noun, not an adjective.

No quiero la sopa: ___ fría.

está — How something IS right now takes «estar»: la sopa está fría, it has gone cold. «La sopa es fría» would classify it as a cold soup by nature, like gazpacho — a good example of why «permanent versus temporary» is a poor rule and «what it is versus how it is» is a better one.

Este regalo es para ___, no para su hermana.

él — After a preposition you need the pronoun «él», with its accent — «para él». «El» without an accent could only introduce a noun («para el niño»), and «le» and «lo» never go after a preposition.

What is good about the new flat?

It has a balcony and plenty of light — «Es más pequeño que el otro, PERO tiene un balcón y mucha luz.» The flat is smaller, not bigger — «pero» is what turns the sentence round — and the lift is the problem at the end, not a selling point.

Who came to help last week?

Her parents — «La semana pasada vinieron mis padres a ayudarnos.» Note the word order: the subject comes after the verb, which is ordinary Spanish, and «vinieron» is the preterite because last week is closed.

Why have they not hung the pictures yet?

She cannot find the toolbox — «Porque no encuentro la caja de las herramientas»: the reason comes after «porque». And «todavía no hemos colgado» is the perfect with «todavía no» — still not done, and still expected.

What happens in the neighbourhood on Tuesdays?

There is a market — «Hay un mercado los martes.» «Los martes» with the plural article means every Tuesday. Careful with «martes»: it looks like March but it is Tuesday — March is «marzo».

What is the drawback of the flat?

The lift does not work and they live on the fourth floor — «Lo único malo es que el ascensor no funciona y vivimos en un cuarto piso.» That «lo» plus an adjective — lo único, lo malo, lo mejor — is a very Spanish way of saying «the only bad thing», and it has no direct English equivalent.