One A2 Key writing option gives you pictures and asks for a short story of about thirty-five words. Everything happens in the past, the pictures give you the order, and the marks come from telling the whole story clearly rather than from unusual vocabulary. This page trains the past simple, the time linkers and the habit of finishing the story.
Three pictures, three sentences. Do this in your head before you write a word; the story is then already planned.
Start with ‘Last Saturday, Tom and his sister…’. A name and a time in the first six words tell the examiner who and when.
Decide at the start that every main verb will be past simple. Mixed tenses are the biggest language problem in this task.
First, then and finally are enough. They show organisation, which is marked, and they cost three words.
Most picture stories have something go wrong in the middle. Say what it was: it rained, he missed the bus, the shop was closed.
The last sentence must say how it finished: ‘In the end they got home safely.’ An unfinished story loses organisation marks.
Happy, worried, tired or surprised makes the story sound like a story rather than a list, and it is one easy word.
In the last minute, read only the verbs. Each one should be past simple, and irregular ones should be the real form, not a -ed form.
Not thisYesterday they go to the park and play football.
ThisYesterday they went to the park and played football.
The time word yesterday forces the past. Candidates plan in the past and then slip into the present by the second sentence.
Not thisHe buyed a ticket and catched the train.
ThisHe bought a ticket and caught the train.
Common irregular verbs must be learned as whole words. These four appear in picture stories constantly.
Not thisDescribing only the first picture in detail.
ThisGiving each picture roughly the same space.
The story must be complete. A beautiful first sentence and no ending scores badly on organisation.
Not thisIn the picture there is a boy. In the second picture there is a bus.
ThisA boy ran to the bus stop, but the bus left without him.
You are writing a story, not describing pictures. Describing loses the narrative marks.
Not thisThey was very happy.
ThisThey were very happy.
Was goes with I, he, she and it; were goes with you, we and they. This is the most common past error at A2.
Not thisStopping because time ran out.
ThisWriting a one-line ending even if it is simple.
A short, complete story beats a long, unfinished one, so leave thirty seconds for the last sentence.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
1Complete the sentence.
3Complete the sentence.
4Complete the sentence.
7Complete the sentence.
8Complete the sentence.
9Write a short story (about 35 words) about three pictures: a girl misses her bus, she walks in the rain, a friend stops in a car.
One good answer
Last Monday Ella missed her bus to school. Then it started to rain and she had no umbrella. Luckily her neighbour saw her and drove her to school. She arrived just in time.
11Complete the sentence.
13Complete the sentence.
15Complete the sentence.
17Complete the sentence.
18Explain in one or two sentences why you should plan one sentence per picture.
One good answer
Three pictures give me three sentences, which is about the right length, and planning them first means I never run out of time before the ending.
19Complete the sentence.
21Complete the sentence.
22Complete the sentence.
24Complete the sentence.
26Complete the sentence.
28Complete the sentence.
29Complete the sentence.
30Write a short story (about 35 words) about three pictures: a boy bakes a cake, the cake burns, the family laughs and eats ice cream.
One good answer
Last Sunday Ravi decided to bake a cake for his mother. Unfortunately he forgot it in the oven and it burned. Everyone laughed, and in the end the family ate ice cream instead.
32Complete the sentence.
33Complete the sentence.
35Complete the sentence.
37Complete the sentence.
39Complete the sentence.
40Explain in one or two sentences what you check in the last minute of the story task.
One good answer
I read only the verbs and make sure every one is past simple, with was for singular people and were for plural ones, and that the last sentence really ends the story.
Note
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Yes, and it helps. A name lets you avoid repeating ‘the boy’ and makes the story easier to follow.
Write something sensible that connects the picture before it to the picture after it. A consistent story matters more than exact interpretation.
No. A simple line such as ‘She said thank you’ is fine, but reported speech is not required at this level and often causes errors.
Usually three or four. That is about thirty-five words and gives each picture its place.
Use ‘there was’ if you need it at all, but prefer action verbs. Stories are made of things people did, not of things that existed.