Vocabulary comprehension focuses on recognising high-frequency Spanish words and phrases in reading texts and audio recordings. In the Junior Cycle exam, you use these words to understand the overall topic and extract precise details like dates, prices, health issues, and directions.
Question Words and Getting the Main Idea
Before searching for specific details, identify the general topic of the text or announcement. You never need to translate every single word to understand the main message.
Essential Question Words
| Question Word | English Meaning | Information Expected |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Qué? | What? | An object, action, or event |
| ¿Quién? | Who? | A person, name, or relative |
| ¿Dónde? | Where? | A place, address, or landmark |
| ¿Cuándo? | When? | A day, date, month, or season |
| ¿A qué hora? | At what time? | A specific clock time |
| ¿Cuánto / Cuántos? | How much / How many? | A price, quantity, or age |
| ¿Cómo? | How? / What like? | A description, health state, or transport |
Look or listen for the reason when asked ¿Por qué?. Porque means 'because', but reasons can also appear without it.
Numbers, Dates, Time, and Weather
Numbers 0 to 31 are essential for ages, calendar dates, clock times, and weather reports.
Calendar and Clock Time
- Days: lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo.
- Months: enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre.
- Dates: el + number + de + month (e.g. el 23 de junio = 23rd of June).
- Clock time: Son las diez means 'It is ten o'clock'. A las diez answers ¿A qué hora? ('At ten o'clock').
- Time of day: de la mañana (morning), de la tarde (afternoon/evening), de la noche (night).
Weather Forecasts
- Common conditions: hace sol (it's sunny), hace frío (cold), hace calor (hot), hace viento (windy).
- Sky and precipitation: está nublado (cloudy), está despejado (clear), llueve (it rains), nieva (it snows).
- Temperature: la temperatura máxima / mínima (maximum / minimum temperature), grados (degrees).
Travel, Home, and Classroom Directions
Classroom Instructions and Notices
- Instructions: escucha (listen), lee (read), escribe (write), abre el libro (open the book).
- Signs: está prohibido / se prohíbe (it is prohibited), abierto (open), cerrado (closed).
Transport and Directions
- Transport: en autobús (by bus), en tren (by train), en coche (by car), en avión (by plane), a pie (on foot).
- Lateral positions: a la izquierda (on the left), a la derecha (on the right), enfrente de (opposite).
House and Shopping
- House matching items: la cama (bed), el frigorífico (fridge), la ducha (shower), el lavavajillas (dishwasher), las escaleras (stairs).
- Prices: Spanish uses commas for decimals (e.g. 14,50 € = €14.50). Cuesta is singular; cuestan is plural.
Activities, Health, and False Friends
Free-time and Physical Descriptions
- Learn sports with their verbs: jugar al fútbol / tenis; hacer natación / ciclismo; tocar el piano; ver la tele.
- Describing people: tiene los ojos azules / marrones; tiene el pelo rubio / moreno; es alto/a, bajo/a, joven.
Health Symptoms
- Pain: me duele la cabeza (my head hurts); me duelen las piernas (my legs hurt).
- Conditions: tener fiebre (to have a fever), una fractura (fracture), la ambulancia (ambulance), el enfermero / la enfermera (nurse).
Connectors and False Friends
- pero (but), sin embargo (however), también (also), tampoco (neither).
- No means “not”; nunca means “never”. Missing either word can change your answer.
- Falsos amigos: éxito means success (not exit); asignatura means school subject (not signature); la librería means bookshop (not library).
Key terms
- Cognado (Cognate)
- A word sharing an origin with a word in another language, often with similar spelling and meaning (e.g. el hospital, el concierto).
- Falso amigo (False friend)
- A word resembling one in another language but differing in meaning (e.g. éxito means success).
- Conector
- A linking word (such as pero, porque, or sin embargo) that joins clauses and shows relationships between ideas.
- Rebajas
- Sales or discount periods in Spanish shops and commercial centres.
Check yourself
What information does the question word '¿Cuándo?' ask for?
A time-related detail such as a day, date, month, or season.
What does está prohibido mean on a sign?
It is forbidden.
What does 'me duelen las piernas' mean in English?
My legs hurt.
What is the English meaning of the Spanish false friend 'éxito'?
Success (not exit).
How do you say 'at 8:00 p.m.' in Spanish when answering '¿A qué hora?'?
A las ocho de la tarde (or de la noche).