Write a Diary Entry/Note

Recurring Prompts and Ready-Made Sentence Frames

Exam prompts for the diary entry repeat specific functional tasks year after year. Memorising dependable opening frames allows you to answer the communicative target of any bullet point within seconds.

High-Frequency Prompt Map

• "Say it was amazing / you had a great time, and explain why": ¡Qué experiencia tan increíble! Lo pasé genial porque la gente era majísima y aprendí muchísimo. (What an incredible experience! I had a great time because the people were really nice and I learned a lot.)
• "Mention two things you like about...": Lo que más me gusta de vivir en España es el buen tiempo, y también me encanta la comida, sobre todo las tapas. (What I like most about living in Spain is the good weather, and I also love the food, especially the tapas.)
• "Describe where you are staying": Me alojo en un piso en el centro. Es moderno, muy luminoso y está a dos pasos de la playa. (I am staying in a flat in the centre. It is modern, very bright, and a stone's throw from the beach.)
• "Describe a person you met": Conocí a un chico que se llama Javier el primer día del curso. Es muy gracioso y tiene los ojos castaños. (I met a boy called Javier on the first day of the course. He is very funny and has brown eyes.)
• "Mention a problem you had": Ayer tuve un problema: perdí la cartera en el metro mientras compraba el billete. (Yesterday I had a problem: I lost my wallet on the underground while buying the ticket.)
• "Say what you are going to do / your plans": Mañana por la tarde voy a ir de excursión y después cenaremos en un restaurante típico. (Tomorrow afternoon I am going to go on a trip and afterwards we will have dinner in a traditional restaurant.)

Make It Up

Nobody is checking whether your story is true. Examiners mark your language, not your real life. If a bullet asks about an excursion with your brother and you do not have one, invent him. Always choose the version of events for which you know the exact verbs and vocabulary.

Reading the Prompt: Covering Every Part of Every Point

The most common deduction at Higher Level is answering only half of a split bullet point. An omitted element caps that point below full marks regardless of how polished the rest of the sentence is.

Always check whether the instructions specify answering "all of the following" (four points given) or "any four of the following" (five points given). If offered a choice, select the four points where your verbs are safest.

Deconstructing Typical Prompt Types

• "Say X and explain why": You must write the core statement followed by an explicit causal connector such as porque, ya que, or como placed at the start of a clause. Writing only El festival es genial leaves the reason unfulfilled; writing El festival es genial porque el ambiente es animadísimo y la música es fantástica (The festival is great because the atmosphere is very lively and the music is fantastic) achieves full marks.
• "Describe two things you did...": You must supply two distinct actions using past verbs: Por la mañana asistí a una clase de historia y por la tarde preparé una presentación con Lucía. (In the morning I attended a history class and in the afternoon I prepared a presentation with Lucía.)
• Superlative and comparative requirements: If a prompt asks for 'the best hotel' or 'an advantage of travelling alone', use set superlative structures: Es el mejor hotel en el que he estado. (It is the best hotel I have ever stayed in.) For advantages, use: Una ventaja de viajar solo es que puedes hacer lo que quieras. (One advantage of travelling alone is that you can do whatever you like; note the present subjunctive quieras after lo que meaning 'whatever').

Core Grammar: The Past Tenses, Conocer, and Duration

Verbs decide your grade. Most diary prompts require you to move smoothly between completed past actions, descriptive background contexts, and time expressions.

The Past Tense Triad

• Pretérito indefinido (Preterite): Used for completed, punctual actions tied to specific past time markers such as ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), or el año pasado (last year). Key irregular forms include fui (I went/was), hice (I did/made), tuve (I had), estuve (I was), pude (I could), and dije (I said).
• Pretérito imperfecto (Imperfect): Used for ongoing background states, descriptions, habitual actions, age, and weather in the past: Hacía mucho calor y la habitación era diminuta. (It was very hot and the room was tiny.) The key irregular stems are era (ser), iba (ir), and veía (ver).
• Pretérito perfecto (Present Perfect): Formed with haber + past participle (he comido, he visitado). In peninsular Spanish, use this for actions completed today or connected to the present, triggered by hoy (today) or esta mañana (this morning): Hoy he conocido a gente estupenda. (Today I met / have met great people.)

Saying How You Met Someone: Conocer

In the preterite, conocer means to meet for the first time. It always requires the personal a before a named person or friend:

• Conocí a Marta el primer día del curso. (I met Marta on the first day of the course.)
• Nos conocimos en el aeropuerto hace dos años. (We met at the airport two years ago.)
• La conocí en una fiesta y desde entonces somos inseparables. (I met her at a party and since then we are inseparable.)

Never use encontrar (which means to find a misplaced object) or saber (which means to know a fact) to say you met someone. Use the imperfect conocía only when stating you already knew someone beforehand: No conocía a nadie cuando llegué. (I didn't know anyone when I arrived.)

How Long You Have Been Somewhere: Llevar and Hace

Prompts regularly place you mid-trip. Spanish uses the present tense for actions that started in the past and continue now:

• Llevo dos semanas en Valencia y ya hablo mucho mejor. (I have been in Valencia for two weeks and I already speak much better.)
• Llevo un mes viajando solo por España. (I have been travelling alone through Spain for a month.)
• Hace tres días que llegué a Madrid. (I arrived in Madrid three days ago / I have been in Madrid for three days.)

Writing He sido aquí dos semanas is an English word-for-word calque and forfeits the verb mark.

Expressing Preferences, Feelings, and Secure Higher Level Structures

Diaries require natural reactions and personal evaluation. The marking scheme rewards accurate emotional range and secure idiomatic structures.

Verbs Like Gustar

Verbs of preference function backwards in Spanish: the object liked is the grammatical subject, and the verb agrees with that item:

• Singular noun: Me gusta el ambiente. (I like the atmosphere.)
• Plural noun: Me gustan las tapas. (I like tapas.)
• Intensity: Me encanta la ciudad. (I love the city.) / Me encantan los monumentos. (I love the monuments.)
• Dislike: No me gusta nada el ruido. (I don't like the noise at all.)
• Related verbs following the exact same agreement: me molesta (it bothers me), me interesa (it interests me), me apetece (I feel like / fancy).

Never write Yo gusto España; this literally means 'I am pleasing to Spain'.

Expressing Feelings and Exclamations

Adjectives describing personal emotional states must agree with your gender as the writer:

• Estoy agotado/a or Estoy hecho/a polvo (I am exhausted / wrecked).
• Estoy muy ilusionado/a (I am thrilled / excited about the future).
• Echo mucho de menos a mi familia (I miss my family very much; note the personal a).
• Exclamations: ¡Qué lástima! (What a pity!), ¡Qué pesadilla! (What a nightmare!), ¡No me lo puedo creer! (I can't believe it!).

One Higher Level Structure Per Entry — Chosen Because You Are Sure of It

Do not overload your piece with risky grammar. Include one secure, high-yield structure that you can produce with total accuracy:

• Hope with subjunctive: Espero que mañana no llueva. (I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow.)
• Conditional intention: Me gustaría quedarme una semana más, pero no puedo. (I would like to stay another week, but I can't.)
• Hypothetical conditional: Si tuviera más tiempo libre, visitaría más museos. (If I had more free time, I would visit more museums.)

Writing a Practical Note: Messages, Commands, and Urgency

A practical note (nota or mensaje) is addressed to a flatmate, friend, or host family member. It demands a direct, functional tone based on syllabus Section 1.11.

Conventions and Opening

Place a short time or day reference at the top (Martes, 18:00 h or Hoy por la tarde). Open with an informal greeting followed by a colon: Hola, Carlos: or Querida Marta:.

Relaying Messages (Estilo Indirecto)

Adjust pronouns and verb tenses when passing on telephone messages or instructions:

• Present reporting verb: Carlos te ha llamado. Dice que llegará tarde. (Carlos called you. He says he will arrive late.)
• Past reporting verb: Carlos me dijo que llegaría tarde. (Carlos told me he would arrive late; the future tense shifts to the conditional).
• Reporting a request: When relaying an instruction, use decir que + present subjunctive: Lucía ha llamado. Dice que compres pan de camino a casa. (Lucía called. She says you should buy bread on your way home.)

Giving Instructions (The Imperative Mood)

• Affirmative informal commands (tú): Use the third-person singular of the present indicative: Compra leche (Buy milk), Cierra la ventana (Close the window).
• The eight irregular affirmative commands: haz (hacer), pon (poner), sal (salir), ven (venir), ten (tener), di (decir), ve (ir), sé (ser).
• Negative informal commands (tú): Use no + the present subjunctive, which swaps the vowel — -ar verbs take -es (no hables, don't speak; no olvides, don't forget), -er/-ir verbs take -as (no comas, don't eat; no abras, don't open).
• Pronoun placement: Attach pronouns directly to the end of affirmative commands (Llámame, call me; Tráemelo, bring it to me), adding an accent to retain the spoken stress. Place pronouns before negative commands (No me llames, don't call me).

Communicating Urgency and Return Times

• Phrases of urgency: lo antes posible (as soon as possible), en cuanto puedas (as soon as you can; uses the subjunctive puedas), ¡Es urgentísimo! (It is extremely urgent!).
• Return times: Volveré al piso a eso de las ocho. (I will return to the flat around eight o'clock.)
• Sign-offs: Close with Hasta luego (See you later), Nos vemos (See you), or Un abrazo (Love / Best wishes — literally 'a hug'), followed by your name.

Essential Topic Vocabulary and the 3-Minute Proofread

A compact vocabulary reserve provides the exact nouns and verbs examiners expect in student travel and study scenarios.

Themed Core Vocabulary

• el curso / el intercambio (course / exchange)
• la familia de acogida (host family)
• el compañero / la compañera de clase (classmate)
• el monitor / la monitora (group leader / camp counsellor)
• el alojamiento (accommodation; el piso, flat; el hostal, hostel)
• el casero / la dueña (landlord / landlady)
• el barrio (neighbourhood; animado, lively; tranquilo, quiet; acogedor, cosy; cutre, grotty)
• la excursión (day trip / excursion)
• el recuerdo (souvenir; Quiero comprar una camiseta como recuerdo, I want to buy a t-shirt as a souvenir)
• el vuelo (flight; cancelar, to cancel)
• la fiesta de despedida (farewell party)
• hacer las paces (to make up after an argument)

The 3-Minute Proofreading Checklist

Spend your final three minutes reviewing these high-frequency exam slips:

• Accents on past and future verbs: Check that regular preterite endings have accents (visité, compré, salí) and future endings have accents (iré, volverás, llegará, cenarán). Remember the rule: the future nosotros ending takes no accent (volveremos, not volverémos), while vosotros does (volveréis).
• Contrasting accent pairs: está (verb: is) versus esta (this); tú (you) versus tu (your); llegó (preterite: he arrived) versus llego (present: I arrive).
• English calques: Ensure you wrote Lo pasé genial or Me divertí mucho (never Tuve un buen tiempo), and Tengo diecisiete años (never Soy diecisiete).
• Gender agreements: Adjectives describing yourself (cansado/a, contento/a) must match your chosen identity consistently throughout the piece.

Key terms

Entrada de diario

An informal, reflective first-person diary entry detailing recent occurrences, personal feelings, and upcoming intentions.

Nota / Mensaje

A concise, practical written note left for a flatmate, friend, or host family member to relay messages, give instructions, or state arrival times.

Intención comunicativa

What the bullet point actually asks you to get across. The examiner's first question is whether a reader of Spanish would understand that from your sentence.

Pretérito indefinido

The simple past tense used to narrate completed, punctual events at a specific past time (e.g. fui, compré, me perdí).

Pretérito imperfecto

The descriptive past tense used for ongoing background states, descriptions, continuous actions, age, and weather (e.g. era, hacía, estaba).

Pretérito perfecto

The compound past tense formed with haber + participle (e.g. he visitado) used for actions completed today or connected to the present.

Conocí a

The preterite first-person form of conocer, meaning 'I met (for the first time)', strictly requiring the personal 'a' before an individual.

Lo que más me gusta de

A high-scoring comparative frame meaning 'What I like most about...', followed by a singular noun or infinitive.

Imperativo

The verb mood used to deliver direct orders, instructions, and requests (e.g. affirmative 'compra', negative 'no olvides').

Estilo indirecto

Reported speech used to relay messages from third parties (e.g. 'Ha llamado Carlos. Dice que vendrá mañana').

Lo antes posible

A set idiomatic phrase meaning 'as soon as possible', used to express urgency in practical notes.

En cuanto puedas

An urgency expression meaning 'as soon as you can', combining 'en cuanto' with the present subjunctive 'puedas'.