Hillside Espanol — lengua, cultura, curiosidad
End-of-Year Exam · 2026 · Pregunta 3

The extended writing question.

This is the big written question on your end-of-year paper. Below are the six bullet points you must include, each linked to the exact section on this page that covers it. Then there's a writing pad to draft your answer, with a built-in word counter and a checklist that ticks itself off as you cover each bullet. Aim for 60–80 words in Spanish.

The question

Write an essay about yourself and your family.

You must include all six bullet points below. Write approximately 60–80 words in Spanish.

  1. 1

    Name, age & where you live

    Tu nombre, tu edad y dónde vives.

    Sentence starters
    House adjectives grande pequeña / pequeño bonita / bonito fea / feo moderno / antiguo
  2. 2

    A description of your personality

    ¿Cómo eres? Use Soy + adjective(s).

    Sentence starters
    Personality (from Topic 01) simpático/a divertido/a generoso/a bueno/a malo/a aburrido/a antipático/a terco/a fuerte
    Watch out: the adjective ending must match your gender — a boy says simpático, a girl says simpática. Adjectives ending in -e (like fuerte) don't change.
  3. 3

    Describe a family member & talk about pets

    Pick one family member to describe in detail, then your pet (or invent one!).

    Sentence starters
    Hair (from Topic 02) corto · largo liso · rizado · ondulado en punta · rapado a media melena castaño · moreno · negro · pelirrojo · rubio
    Eyes (always plural!) azules marrones verdes negros
  4. 4

    Who you get on with / don't get on with

    Use Me llevo bien con … or Me llevo mal con … + porque es …

    Sentence starters
    Key phrase to memorise: Me llevo bien con … (I get on well with …) and Me llevo mal con … (I don't get on with …). Then pair it with porque es … and an adjective from bullet 2 — e.g. Me llevo bien con mi hermana porque es simpática · Me llevo mal con mi hermano porque es terco.
  5. 5

    Jobs family members do

    Use es + job (no un / una!) + trabaja en + opinion.

    Sentence starters
    Jobs (from Topic 06) profesor / profesora médico / médica enfermero / enfermera mecánico / mecánica cocinero / cocinera abogado / abogada ingeniero / ingeniera contable
    Workplaces un colegio un hospital una oficina un hotel un restaurante una empresa un garaje una granja un teatro
    Job adjectives gratificante interesante divertido estimulante estresante aburrido difícil
    Watch out: In Spanish you say es profesor, never es un profesor. Don't add un / una after es.
  6. 6

    Include a question

    Easy marks — end with ¿Y tú? or a longer question.

    Sentence starters
    Don't forget the upside-down ¿ at the start and the normal ? at the end. Both are required for the mark.

Top tips for the 60–80 words

Connectives.

Use y (and) and porque (because) to glue sentences together — both taught in your Year 7 sentence builders.

Opinion + reason.

Me gusta porque es divertido → one short sentence gets you a tick for opinion and reason.

Adjective agreement.

Mi hermana es simpática (not simpático). If she's an "a" person, the adjective ends in "a".

Don't go over 90.

You won't gain extra marks for writing more than 80 — but you can make extra mistakes. Be tight.

Draft your answer.

Type or paste your essay below. The word counter updates live, and each bullet point ticks itself off when you've covered it.

0 words
Aim: 60–80
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