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B1 Writing Part 1: Instructions: English Section - UTC

This document provides instructions and examples for writing short messages as part of the Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) exam. It explains that messages must be 35-45 words and address specific prompts. An example prompt asks candidates to write an email accepting an invitation to a party from a friend. The document then shows a sample response that properly addresses each element of the prompt. Finally, the document provides a list of language functions and expressions for candidates to use in their responses, such as greeting, thanking, suggesting, apologizing, and saying farewell.

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236 views

B1 Writing Part 1: Instructions: English Section - UTC

This document provides instructions and examples for writing short messages as part of the Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) exam. It explains that messages must be 35-45 words and address specific prompts. An example prompt asks candidates to write an email accepting an invitation to a party from a friend. The document then shows a sample response that properly addresses each element of the prompt. Finally, the document provides a list of language functions and expressions for candidates to use in their responses, such as greeting, thanking, suggesting, apologizing, and saying farewell.

Uploaded by

Tuấn Tú
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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English Section – UTC

B1 Writing Part 1: Instructions


In this part you have to answer a task by writing a short message to a friend or relative.
The message must be 35-45 words and has to answer a specific set of writing prompts.
Here’s an example:

As you can see in the task above, you are given:

 a situation: Your friend, Chris, has invited you to a special party…


 a task: Write an email to Chris.
 prompts or subtasks: accept the invitation, suggest how…, ask Chris…
 number of words: Write 35-45 words…
And all of the above are essential when writing your answer.
English Section – UTC

B1 Writing Part 2: Sample Answer

Below you can see a sample answer to the task in the previous section:

As you can see in the sample answer, we:

 greet our friend: Hi Chris!


 thank him: Thanks a lot for…
 suggest how to help him: Shall I give you a hand…?
 ask him for ideas: …what could I get for the teacher as a present?
 say goodbye: Write back soon,…
And all of the above is what you have to do in virtually any short message you may have
to write for Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET), except that the writing prompts will
change.

Language to use in your Writing

1. Greeting expressions

In order to start a short message of this type, it’s important to bear in mind that we are
writing to a friend or relative, so we have to adapt our language. In this case, it is a good
idea to say:

 Hi … , or Hi … !
 Hello … , or Hello … !
 Hey … !
 Dear … ,
While Hi and Hello are appropriate for every kind of addressee in this task, Hey is kind of
informal, so it should only be used with friends. On the other hand, Dear could be okay to
English Section – UTC

use with friends, but it sounds a little stiff and stilted. Therefore, I recommend using it
when we write to a relative older than us, such as our aunt/uncle or grandparents.
2. Language functions
In this section I have gathered plenty of expressions to use when answering the different
writing prompts. For this reason, they are divided into what you could be asked to say in
your short message:

Inviting Reminding
 Remember that…
 Don’t forget about/that…
 Would you like to come over…?
 It’s important to remember
 Do you want to…?
sth./that…
 I’d like you to come…
 It’s essential that you do/bring…
 Why don’t you come…
Congratulations Apologizing
 Congratulations on…!  I’m really sorry about…
 Congratulations! It’s great that  I’m sorry that I…
you…  Forgive me for…
 Well done!  Please, forgive me!
 Well done with…!
 Way to go!
Suggesting Arranging meetings
 Why don’t we…?  Let’s meet at…
 How about…?  I’ll see you … at …, okay?
 What about…?  Is it okay if we meet at…?
 Shall we…?
 Let’s…,
 Let’s…, shall we?
 It could be a good idea to…
Offering Saying «yes» / accepting
 Shall I…?  Of course I’ll go (to…).
 Can I help you with…?  I’m more than happy to…
 I can give you a hand with…, if you  I’m glad to…
want.  Great! I’d really like to…
 I’ll …. , if you want.
 Let me know if you need any help
with…
Saying «no» / refusing Explaining
 I’m sorry, but I can’t…  What happened was that…
 (Thanks, but ) I’m afraid I can’t…  The thing is that…
 Sorry, but it’s impossible for me
to…
 I’d like to, but I can’t…
English Section – UTC

Warning Wish good things


 Be careful with…  Good luck (with…)!
 Be careful not to…  All the best (with…)!
 Remember (not) to…  Hope you enjoy …!
 It’s not a good idea to…  Enjoy yourself!
 I wouldn’t… if I were you.  Have fun (at/in…)!
 Have a good time (at/in…)!
 You’ll have no problems with…!
 You can do it!

Asking for advice Saying what you liked/disliked


 What could/can I do  What I really
(about/with…)? enjoyed/liked/loved/hated was…
 Do you think I should…?  I really enjoyed/liked/loved/hated…
 Should I…?  What I liked/enjoyed/… most
 What would you do? was…
 My favourite (part of the…) was…
 The best thing (about…) was…

Asking for information Expressing preference


 Could you tell me…?  I would prefer to… (if that’s okay).
 Can you tell me…?  I’d rather…
 Is it true that…?  I like …. better.
 Do you know (if…) …?  What I’d like/love is to…
 Please, let me know (if…) …?
Farewell expressions
 Bye!
 Bye for now!
 Best,
 All the best,
 Best wishes,
 Regards,
 See you soon!
English Section – UTC

Another example
Just so you see another example, here’s another task:

And here’s a sample answer:

Again, we are answering the task in the following way:

 greeting our friend: Hi James!


 thank him: Thank you very much for the party!
 saying what we liked best: What I enjoyed most was the music.
 suggest meeting again and when: How about meeting again next Saturday?
 saying goodbye: Best, …

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