Approaching the writing paper for GCSE German, AQA, Edexcel and IGCSE.

1. Avoid starting with a pronoun

E.g., no 'ich' at the start.

Link sentences with a time/adverbial phrase. It shows which BP you're answering - it signposts what you're writing about.

Forces a word-order change (which is good) - inversion.

Ab und zu spiele ich Tennis.

Time phrases/adverbial phrases

ab und zu - now and then.

manchmal - sometimes.

meiner Meinung nach - in my opinion.

laut mir - according to me.

meines Erachtens - in my opinion.

meiner Ansicht nach - in my opinion.

jeden Tag - every day.

am liebsten - best of all (needs a verb added).

neulich - recently.

gestern - yesterday.

morgen - tomorrow.

hoffentlich - hopefully.

eigentlich - actually.

im Großen und Ganzen - on the whole.

im Allgemeinen - in general.

einerseits/andererseits - on the one hand/on the other hand.

gegenwärtig - currently.

zusätzlich - in addition.

2. Intensifiers/Adverbs in Front of an Adjective

Varies the sentence. Uses more detail/complexity. Gives more intensity to what you're saying.

völlig - fully

ein wenig - a little

ganz

wirklich

gelegentlich - occasionally

absolut/total/extrem

besonders - especially

nie - never

3.

Be negative!

Varies the sentence. Can help avoid repetition. If you can only think of positive adjectives, use them with nicht or nie.

Negative adjectives

Negative words - nicht (not)/nie (never)/niemals (never ever)/niemand (nobody)/noch nicht (not yet)

4.

Talk about other people

Adds description.

Different verb endings - shows you can conjugate.

Meine Mutter sagt - my mother says.

Laut meiner Mutter - according to my mother.

5.   

Aim for at least 2 clauses (3 if possible). This one is especially important.

Introduces conjunctions.

Word-order-changing and non-word-order-changing.

Shows you can handle word order (especially if you use both coordinating and subordinating). Bringing in justification = a developed answer.

Coordinating conjunctions

aber/denn/oder/und

Subordinating conjunctions

wenn/weil/obwohl/da (because/as)/dass (that)/wo (where)/nachdem (after)

• Put a comma in front of them.

6.        Range of tenses

Gives more detail, complex language, and brings in different tenses and verb formations.

Make sure it's connected (be careful to fully answer the BP before changing tenses).

Perfect, imperfect, pluperfect, future, conditional.