4.2 Writing Tarea 2: Option A (Personal Life) or Option B (Photos/Data)
Key Takeaways
Tarea 2 offers two options and you write one: Option A, an everyday topic from your personal life, or Option B, a biographical or narrative text from photos or data.
Write 70–80 words and cover every point of the option you choose, as the instructions require.
Past narratives combine the indefinido for events with the imperfecto for background and past habits; present-tense habits often close the text.
Linked sentences with connectors score better than a numbered list of answers.
Quick Focus: Writing Tarea 2 is expresión escrita. You choose one of two options and write a short composition of 70–80 words that combines description, narration and likes. The official specification defines the options: Option A, a text about an everyday topic from your personal life, and Option B, a biographical or narrative text based on photos or data. You must cover all the points listed for the option you choose. Plan about 25 minutes.
What the Official Specification Says
| Parameter | Official detail |
|---|---|
| Task | Write a short composition that includes description, narration and likes |
| Choice | Two options; you write only one |
| Option A | Text on an everyday topic of your personal life |
| Option B | Biographical or narrative text from photos and/or data |
| Input | Instructions with guidelines, plus a picture and/or written prompt that helps define the text (for example, for a biography) |
| Your text | 70–80 words |
| Domain | Personal or public |
| Skill | Write linked sentences about your surroundings (people, places, study or work experiences) and very brief descriptions of events, past activities and personal experiences |
In the Modelo 0 paper the options are labelled Opción 1 and Opción 2, and the instruction says: Elija solo una de las dos opciones. En cada opción tiene que tratar todos los puntos.
The Two Official Model Prompts
Opción 1 – a birthday party you went to. Talk about:
- whose birthday it was, when and where, and who was there;
- what you did at the party (food, music, etc.);
- what present you took and what other presents there were;
- why you liked that party;
- what you normally do on your birthday, and whether you remember one.
Opción 2 – two friends, Lucía and Olga. You see photos of them in 1980, in 1995 and now. Write about:
- how they met;
- what their life was like before;
- what their lives are like now, and why you think they no longer see each other.
The two options require different grammar:
| Option A (personal life) | Option B (photos/data) | |
|---|---|---|
| Person | Mostly yo | Mostly third person (ellas, Lucía) |
| Key tenses | indefinido for the event (fui, comimos), imperfecto for description (había, era), present for habits (normalmente celebro…) | indefinido for events (se conocieron), imperfecto for past life (vivían, eran, trabajaban), present for now (viven, tienen) |
| Extra skill | Opinions and reasons (me gustó porque…) | Describing people from pictures (tenía el pelo largo, llevaba gafas) and guessing (creo que…, porque…) |
Choose the option whose points you can answer with vocabulary you control. Don't choose by topic alone.
Covering Every Point in 70–80 Words
With five points and about 75 words, you have roughly 15 words per point. Plan one or two linked sentences for each and join them with connectors.
A model answer for Option 1 (about 73 words)
El mes pasado fui al cumpleaños de mi amiga Sara. La fiesta fue en su casa y estaban sus primos y compañeros de trabajo. Comimos tortilla y una tarta de chocolate, y bailamos con música latina. Le llevé un libro de cocina; otros le regalaron flores y un perfume. Me gustó porque había muy buen ambiente. Normalmente yo celebro mi cumpleaños con una cena familiar, y recuerdo mi fiesta de los veinte años.
Point by point:
- Whose, when, where, who: mi amiga Sara, el mes pasado, en su casa, sus primos y compañeros.
- What you did: comimos…, bailamos….
- Presents: Le llevé un libro…; otros le regalaron….
- Why you liked it: porque había muy buen ambiente.
- Your habits + a memory: Normalmente celebro…, recuerdo….
Building Option B from photos
For a photo-based text, use the pictures as data:
- Then: En 1980 Lucía y Olga eran compañeras de colegio. Tenían el pelo largo y siempre iban juntas.
- Change: En 1995 trabajaban en la misma empresa, pero luego Olga se fue a vivir a otra ciudad.
- Now: Ahora Lucía tiene dos hijos y vive en el campo; Olga es médica en Barcelona. Creo que no se ven porque viven lejos y trabajan mucho.
Describe people with ser (character, build), tener (hair, eyes, age) and llevar (clothes, glasses). Use creo que or seguramente for guesses.
Tense Control: The Heart of Tarea 2
The official scale's band-2 descriptor mentions "regular and irregular pasts" among the basic structures where errors are expected but must not block understanding. Band 3 mentions "combination of pasts". So the contrast between past tenses matters:
| Use | Tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Completed events in the story | Pretérito indefinido | Fuimos a un restaurante y después bailamos. |
| Background, description, habits in the past | Pretérito imperfecto | Hacía calor. Había mucha gente. Antes vivían en Madrid. |
| Past events in a period that includes now | Pretérito perfecto | Este año he ido a tres bodas. |
| Current habits | Presente | Normalmente celebro mi cumpleaños en casa. |
A text that uses only the present tense cannot answer the past-tense points correctly, so it risks both categories.
Organizing the Text
- Paragraphs: two or three short paragraphs make the structure visible: situation, events, opinion or habits.
- Connectors: primero, después, luego, al final for sequence; porque, como for cause; por eso, así que for result; pero, aunque for contrast; además for adding.
- Don't write a list. The scale rewards linked sentences. Numbered answers to each point read like a questionnaire, not a composition.
The 25-Minute Routine
- Choose (2 min): read both options' points and pick the one you can cover completely.
- Plan (5 min): note one idea and the tense for each point.
- Write (13–15 min): write in the space for Tarea 2.
- Check (3–5 min): tick each point, count the words roughly (70–80), and check past-tense endings and accents (fui, comí, bailó, conocieron).
According to the official specification, what are the two options in Writing Tarea 2?
Option A: a formal complaint letter; Option B: a job application.
Option A: an article for a student blog; Option B: a personal letter.
Option A: an opinion essay; Option B: a summary of a news item.
Option A: a text about an everyday topic from your personal life; Option B: a biographical or narrative text based on photos or data.
Which sentence correctly combines the pretérito imperfecto (background) and the pretérito indefinido (event)?
Hacía mucho calor cuando llegamos a la fiesta.
Hizo mucho calor cuando llegábamos a la fiesta.
Hace mucho calor cuando llegamos ayer a la fiesta.
Hacía mucho calor cuando llegaremos a la fiesta.
A candidate chooses the photo-based option about two friends and writes 78 accurate words about how they met and their life before, but says nothing about their lives now. What is the main problem?
The text is too long.
One required point is missing, which limits the task-fulfilment score; the instructions say every point of the chosen option must be covered.
Photo-based options are marked only for grammar.
The candidate should have written about both options.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.