Study guide
4.3 The Official Writing Scale, Cohesion & Common Errors
DELE A2 — Spanish Language Diploma Elementary
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1 Chapter 1: Exam Overview, Format & Scoring Structure
1.1 DELE A2 Identity, Purpose & Nationality Requirements 1.2 Four Pruebas & Official Test Administration 1.3 Scoring System: The 30/50 Group Rules & Pass Criteria
2 Chapter 2: Prueba 1 — Reading Comprehension Tasks & Strategies
2.1 Reading Tarea 1: Personal Correspondence & Informational Texts 2.2 Reading Tarea 2: Notices, Bulletins & Short Announcements 2.3 Reading Tarea 3: Matching Statements to Thematic Texts 2.4 Reading Tarea 4: Long Narrative Text & Changes of Topic
3 Chapter 3: Prueba 2 — Listening Comprehension Tasks & Auditory Techniques
3.1 Listening Tarea 1: Six Short Conversations with Picture Options 3.2 Listening Tarea 2: Radio News, Ads & Programme Extracts 3.3 Listening Tarea 3: One Conversation – Man, Woman or Neither 3.4 Listening Tarea 4: Seven Messages Matched to Ten Statements
4 Chapter 4: Prueba 3 — Written Expression & Interaction
4.1 Writing Tarea 1: Replying to a Personal Message (60–70 Words) 4.2 Writing Tarea 2: Option A (Personal Life) or Option B (Photos/Data) 4.3 The Official Writing Scale, Cohesion & Common Errors
5 Chapter 5: Prueba 4 — Oral Expression & Interaction
5.1 Oral Test Structure, 12-Minute Preparation & Official Scales 5.2 Oral Tarea 1: Prepared Presentation on a Personal Topic 5.3 Oral Tarea 2: Describing a Photograph (Monologue) 5.4 Oral Tarea 3: Simulated Conversation Linked to the Photo
6 Chapter 6: Essential A2 Grammar — Verb Systems & Tenses
6.1 Present Indicative Regulars, Stem-Changers & Irregulars 6.2 Reflexive Verbs & Verbs of Preference (Gustar, Encantar, Doler) 6.3 The Past Tenses: Pretérito Perfecto vs. Pretérito Indefinido 6.4 Pretérito Imperfecto & The Three-Way Past Tense Contrast
7 Chapter 7: Essential A2 Grammar — Syntax, Periphrases & Operators
7.1 Expressing the Future: Ir a + Inf, Present & Simple Future 7.2 Verbal Periphrases of Obligation, Ability & Desire 7.3 Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns and Position Rules 7.4 Affirmative Imperative: Tú & Usted Commands
8 Chapter 8: Foundational Contrasts & Sentence Building
8.1 Ser vs. Estar: Attributes, Locations, States & Gerunds 8.2 Por vs. Para: Causes, Destinations, Deadlines & Exchanges 8.3 Comparatives, Superlatives, Quantifiers & Negatives 8.4 The Noun Phrase: Gender, Articles, Demonstratives, Possessives & Relatives
9 Chapter 9: Thematic Vocabulary — Daily Life, Housing & Surroundings
9.1 Personal Identity, Physical Description & Family Relations 9.2 Home, Housing Types, Furniture & Household Tasks 9.3 City Navigation, Places in Town & Giving Directions
10 Chapter 10: Thematic Vocabulary — Services, Transactions & Health
10.1 Food, Dining Out, Supermarket Shopping & Ordering 10.2 Shopping for Clothes, Sizes, Prices & Commercial Transactions 10.3 Health, Body Parts, Illnesses & Pharmacy Visits 10.4 Work, Professions, Workplace Routines & Job Applications 10.5 Studies, Courses, Phones & Everyday Services
11 Chapter 11: Thematic Vocabulary — Leisure, Travel & Environment
11.1 Free Time, Hobbies, Sports & Entertainment 11.2 Travel, Accommodations, Transport Modes & Bookings 11.3 Weather, Climate, Seasons & Natural Environment
12 Chapter 12: Exam Day Strategy, Time Management & Final Review
12.1 Timing, Answer Sheets & Pacing on Exam Day 12.2 Identifying Distractors, False Friends & Traps 12.3 6-Week Structured Study Plan & High-Yield Checklist
4.3 The Official Writing Scale, Cohesion & Common Errors
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Writing is rated on one scale with two categories: Uso de la lengua (66%) and Cumplimiento de la tarea (34%), each in bands 0–3.
Two independent raters score both tasks; their marks are averaged and converted to 25 points.
Band 2 accepts basic, even systematic errors that don't block understanding; band 1 is reached when errors and very basic structures make the message hard to follow.
Organizers, connectors and relative clauses (primero, después, porque, por eso, aunque, que, donde) move a text toward band 3.
Accents on past forms, opening ¿ and ¡ marks, and ser for where events take place are frequent, fixable errors.
Last updated: September 2026
Quick Focus: Prueba 3 is rated with one official scale that has two categories : Uso de la lengua (66% of each task's value) and Cumplimiento de la tarea (34%). Each category runs from band 0 to band 3 , and band 2 is the A2 standard . Two independent raters score both tasks, and the final mark is their average, converted to 25 points. This section explains the descriptors, then the cohesion, spelling and interference problems that most often move a text from band 2 down to band 1.
The Official Scale
The Instituto Cervantes' exam guide describes the writing scale in four ordinal bands. Here is what each band says about use of language :
Band Use of language: official descriptor (summary)
3 Fairly precise; reasonable control of relatively simple elements (present subjunctive, future, periphrases, combination of pasts), though some errors remain. Cohesive texts with relative or noun clauses, frequent connectors ( además, sin embargo, aunque, como ) and organizers ( por otro lado, en primer lugar )
2 Limited repertoire (present and past indicative, pronouns, possessives, frequent periphrases such as tener que and ir a ) that transmits the messages in short sentences linked with organizers ( primero, después ), simple connectors ( por eso ) and/or relatives. Basic, systematic errors (ser/estar/haber, agreement, regular and irregular pasts, punctuation) that do not block understanding
1 Very basic vocabulary and structures (present, basic ser/estar) that are not enough to convey the information. Many basic errors, spelling mistakes, imprecise words and interference from other languages make the message hard to understand. Isolated sentences or very basic connectors ( y, pero, porque )
0 Hard or impossible to understand even on rereading: loose words, disconnected phrases, words from other languages
Task fulfilment (Cumplimiento de la tarea) is covered in 4.1. In short: band 3 adds a relevant detail, comment, opinion or reason; band 2 allows one point to be omitted or unclear; band 1 means two or more points are omitted or unclear.
Weights and raters
- Rater Task Uso de la lengua Cumplimiento
- Rater 1 (50%) Tarea 1 16.50% 8.50%
- Tarea 2 16.50% 8.50%
- Rater 2 (50%) Tarea 1 16.50% 8.50%
- Tarea 2 16.50% 8.50%
Because use of language carries two thirds of the weight, accuracy and linking matter more than content alone . Content is still essential, though: a fluent text that ignores the points loses the other third and usually looks off-task.
What the official samples show
The exam guide publishes band-1 and band-2 texts:
A band-2 Tarea 1 contained errors such as más mejor and por las diez , but they did not block understanding, and the candidate linked ideas with porque and pero bueno .
A band-2 Tarea 2 used almost no connectors except y . It still passed because the message was clear and all the required content was there, but it missed band 3 because of weak cohesion and hesitation between past tenses.
A band-1 text mixed forms such as quiero que ir and me limpiar , and invented words. The errors made parts of the message hard to understand.
The dividing line between bands 1 and 2 is therefore comprehensibility , not perfection.
Cohesion: From Band 2 to Band 3
A list of short, disconnected sentences stays at band 1 or 2:
Ayer fui a Madrid. Visité a mi hermano. Comimos juntos. Fuimos al cine.
Adding organizers, connectors and a relative clause gives a clearly band-2-plus text:
Ayer fui a Madrid porque quería ver a mi hermano. Primero comimos en un restaurante que está cerca de su casa y después fuimos al cine. Aunque estaba cansado, lo pasé muy bien.
- Function Connectors
- Sequence primero, después, luego, más tarde, al final
- Cause porque, como (at the start of a sentence), es que
- Result por eso, así que
- Contrast pero, aunque, sin embargo
- Addition y (e before i-/hi-), también, además
- Relatives que, donde ( la ciudad donde vivo, el amigo que te presenté )
Porque / por qué / por eso: porque gives a reason ( No fui porque estaba enfermo ); ¿por qué? asks why; por eso introduces a result ( Estaba enfermo; por eso no fui ).
Spelling and Punctuation That Raters Notice
The band descriptors mention punctuation and spelling, and A2 candidates lose marks on a few predictable points:
Accents on past forms: viajé, comí, llegó, visitó (regular indefinido); no accent on irregular stems ( tuve, hizo, fue, dijo ). Viajo (I travel) and viajó (he travelled) are different words.
Imperfect -er/-ir: comía, vivía, tenía always carry an accent.
Question and exclamation words: ¿Cuándo…? ¿Dónde…? ¡Qué bien! , and in indirect questions too ( no sé dónde está ).
Opening marks: every question needs ¿ and every exclamation ¡ .
Está vs esta: ¿Dónde está? (verb) vs esta casa (this).
Capitals: days, months and nationalities are lowercase in Spanish ( el lunes, en mayo, soy francés ).
Greeting punctuation: Querido Luis: (colon) or ¡Hola, Luis! (comma before the name).
Interference Errors to Eliminate
- Wrong Right Why
- Soy 25 años Tengo 25 años Age uses tener
- La fiesta está en casa de Ana La fiesta es en casa de Ana Where an event takes place uses ser
- Estoy buscando para un piso Estoy buscando un piso buscar takes a direct object
- Pienso de ti Pienso en ti pensar en ; ¿qué piensas de…? asks for an opinion
- Asistí a mi amigo con la mudanza Ayudé a mi amigo con la mudanza asistir a = attend
- Actualmente fui a… (meaning "actually") En realidad fui a… actualmente = currently
- más mejor mejor mejor is already comparative
- Me gustan bailar Me gusta bailar Infinitive subjects take singular gusta
- A Three-Minute Final Check
Keep the last few minutes of the 45 for this checklist:
Points: tick every point in both tasks. Is anything missing?
Agreement: article + noun + adjective ( las calles estrechas, una experiencia inolvidable ).
Verbs: subject–verb agreement; past-tense endings and accents; ser/estar/haber .
Punctuation: ¿…? , ¡…! , accents on question words.
Register: tú or usted kept consistently.