Paper 4: Writing in Portuguese — Edexcel GCSE Portuguese
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Paper 4: Writing in Portuguese explained
In Paper 4 Writing, you must show you can use a range of Portuguese vocabulary and grammar accurately, including some more complex forms, to describe and narrate events set in the past, present and future.
Read the full explanation
This means choosing precise words and structures that fit the task, not just listing simple sentences. For example, to describe a past holiday you might write 'No ano passado, visitei o Porto e fiquei num hotel pequeno.' To narrate present routines: 'Normalmente, acordo às sete e tomo o pequeno-almoço.' To refer to future plans: 'No próximo verão, vou viajar para o Brasil com a minha família.' More complex forms could include the preterite and imperfect together, the future tense, conditional, subjunctive after expressions like 'espero que', object pronouns, comparatives and connectives such as 'embora', 'enquanto' and 'portanto'.
Your focus
- Select and use a range of Portuguese vocabulary accurately to describe and narrate.
- Apply a variety of grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, with accuracy.
- Refer to past, present and future events using appropriate tenses and time markers.
Paper 4: Writing in Portuguese exam tips
Marking Points
- Uses a variety of vocabulary appropriate to the task, avoiding repetition and English loan words where a Portuguese equivalent exists.
- Employs a range of grammatical structures, including some more complex forms such as compound tenses, subjunctive after 'espero que', or conditional sentences.
- Refers accurately to past events using appropriate past tenses (preterite and/or imperfect) with correct verb endings and time markers.
- Refers accurately to present events using present tense forms and appropriate time markers.
- Refers accurately to future events using future constructions such as 'ir + infinitive' or the simple future, with correct forms.
- Maintains accuracy in agreement (gender, number), verb conjugation and accents so that meaning is clear.
- Describes and narrates coherently, linking ideas with connectives and sequencing events logically.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Before writing, spend two minutes planning which past, present and future events you will include and which tenses and complex structures you will use for each.
- 💡After writing, proofread specifically for verb endings, gender/number agreement and accents; these are common accuracy errors that reduce your mark.
- 💡Build a personal bank of complex phrases (e.g. 'espero que', 'se eu pudesse', 'embora seja') and practise inserting them naturally into your writing.
Common Mistakes
- Mixing up preterite and imperfect: learners often use the imperfect for completed actions, e.g. writing 'Eu ia à praia ontem' when they mean 'Eu fui à praia ontem'. Correction: use the preterite for completed past actions and the imperfect for descriptions or habitual past actions.
- Forgetting accents that change meaning or tense, such as 'esta' (this) versus 'está' (is), or 'e' (and) versus 'é' (is). Correction: learn accent rules and proofread for missing accents.
- Using English word order or literal translations, e.g. 'Eu tenho 15 anos' is correct but 'Eu sou 15 anos' is wrong. Correction: learn Portuguese expressions as chunks, such as 'ter ... anos' for age.
- Failing to mark future time reference clearly or using an unconjugated infinitive without an auxiliary: e.g. writing No próximo ano eu viajar instead of No próximo ano vou viajar or viajarei. Correction: use valid future structures such as ir + infinitive (vou viajar), the present tense with an explicit future time marker (viajo no próximo ano), or the synthetic future (viajarei).