Writing about a photo
A few short sentences in characters about what a photo shows (Foundation).
Learn
Writing about a photo, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know AQA's photo message
With AQA this is Question 1 of the Foundation writing paper, which lasts an hour and is worth 50 marks. You write four sentences in Chinese about a photo, for 8 marks: each sentence earns 2 if its message is clear and fits the photo, or 1 if part of it is unclear. There is no length to reach. Four clear, accurate sentences are the whole task.
Know Pearson Edexcel's photo task
With Pearson Edexcel it is Question 1 of the Foundation writing paper, which lasts 1 hour 20 minutes and is worth 60 marks. You write about 20 to 30 characters about a photo, saying what is in it and what you think, for 12 marks: 6 for communication and content and 6 for the accuracy of your Chinese. The count is a guide, so writing a little more or less loses nothing. You can write in simplified or traditional characters.
Say what is in the photo
Use 有 for there is or there are, with the place first: 照片里有一个女孩和一只狗。 桌子上有很多水果。 A number needs a measure word before the noun: 两个人, 一本书.
Say what people are doing
Put 在 before a verb for something going on: 他们在踢足球。 妈妈在做饭。 那个男孩在看书。
Describe the place and the weather
An adjective takes 很, not 是: 公园很漂亮。 天气很好。 他们很高兴。 To say where people are, use 在 with a place: 他们在公园里。
Give an opinion and link two ideas
Edexcel's top marks want simple sentences with some linking, and an opinion: 我觉得他们很高兴。 我也喜欢踢足球，因为很有意思。 Join nouns with 和, and ideas with 也, 可是 or 因为.
Write characters you are sure of
Choose words whose characters you can write well. A slightly misshapen stroke rarely matters, but a different character that sounds the same, such as 再 for 在, or 他 (he) for 她 (she), changes the message. Pinyin isn't credited in our practice. In the exam, AQA's examiners have said pinyin can still get a message across but earns nothing for your language, so write characters, and use pinyin only where you would otherwise leave a gap.
Count your characters roughly
Every character counts as one, and we don't count the punctuation, so 20 to 30 characters is three or four short sentences: 公园里有很多人。 is seven. AQA asks for four sentences rather than a count, so make each one complete.
Writing about a photo key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Character
- One written unit of Chinese, such as 人 or 好. Edexcel gives its writing lengths in characters.
- Character count
- The suggested length of an answer: 20 to 30 characters for Edexcel's photo task. It is a guide, not a rule.
- 有
- There is or there are, after the place: 公园里有很多人.
- 在 before a verb
- Is doing, for an action going on in the photo: 他们在跑步.
- 很 with an adjective
- Links an adjective to the thing it describes, with no 是 needed: 天气很好.
- Opinion
- What you think about the photo, such as 我觉得很有意思.
- Homophone
- A character that sounds like another but means something else, such as 在 and 再.
- Pinyin
- Chinese written in the Roman alphabet with tone marks. It helps you say words but doesn't count as writing them.
Common mistakes in Writing about a photo
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Using 是 before an adjective, as in 公园是漂亮.
A Chinese adjective needs no 是. Write 公园很漂亮。, with 很 linking the two.
Writing 二 before a measure word, as in 二个人.
Before a measure word, two is 两: 两个人, 两本书. 二 is for counting and inside numbers like 十二.
Writing pinyin for a character you can't remember.
Pinyin loses the language marks. Choose another word you can write, or describe the photo a different way.
Writing 再 for 在, or 他 for 她.
These pairs sound the same but mean different things. 在 is at or is doing, and 再 is again. 他 is he and 她 is she.
Describing the photo but giving no opinion.
Edexcel's task asks what you think as well. Add one opinion, such as 我觉得他们很开心。, to finish.