The Spanish word that quietly costs IB students marks.

The word is cosa. Its cousin is algo. Neither is a mistake, which is exactly why they survive. No teacher circles them in red, so students use them for years.

Why a correct word can still cost marks

In Paper 1, in the oral and in literary or visual analysis, examiners reward precise language. “Cosa” is a placeholder: it tells the reader you have not yet decided what you mean. Compare:

• “El autor usa muchas cosas para criticar la sociedad.” → “El autor emplea la ironía, la hipérbole y el humor para criticar la sociedad.”
• “El color transmite algo.” → “El rojo transmite urgencia y peligro.”
• “Hay cosas que no funcionan.” → “Hay varios factores que no funcionan.”

Same ideas. The second version shows range, control and a point of view. That is what the language criterion is looking for.

The replacement toolkit

• Nouns: un elemento, un recurso, un factor, un aspecto, un rasgo, una estrategia, una idea.
• Verbs that do the work: transmite, evoca, refuerza, sugiere, denuncia, contrasta.
• Or simply name it: the colour, the headline, the metaphor, the law, the problem.

If you can delete the sentence and lose nothing, it was never analysis. If you can swap “cosa” for the real name of the thing, you have just upgraded it.

A note for whoever is reading over a teenager’s shoulder

You do not need to speak Spanish to check this. Open any recent piece of writing, press Ctrl+F and search for “cosa” and “algo”. More than two or three in a page is a habit, not an accident, and it is one of the cheapest habits to fix.

The five-minute drill

1. Highlight every “cosa”, “algo” and “esto” in a finished text.
2. Ask: what exactly is it? Name it.
3. Rewrite the sentence and read it aloud.
4. Repeat on the next text. After three rounds, the habit starts to disappear.

Vague words are a habit, and habits can be changed quickly once someone shows you where they are. If you want that done properly, for you or for your child, book an assessment lesson below.