B1 Preliminary Writing Part 1 gives you a short email from a friend with notes written beside it, and asks for a reply of about 100 words. Every note has to be answered — the marks follow the content points before they follow the grammar. This lesson covers the phrases that do the work and the order to put them in.
There are usually four notes beside the email. Number them 1 to 4 in the margin. Those numbers become the content of your middle paragraphs and your checklist at the end.
One note asks a question, one asks you to suggest, one asks you to explain and one asks you to accept or refuse. Naming the function gives you the phrase before you start hunting for words.
‘Thanks for your email — it was great to hear from you.’ That is the whole opening. A long introduction eats twenty of your hundred words and earns nothing.
Keeping the order of the notes means you cannot lose one, and it gives you a structure without needing to invent one under pressure.
‘Yes, I’d love to come’ is a content point. ‘Yes, I’d love to come — I haven’t been to the coast since last summer’ is a content point plus the language range that earns marks.
‘Let me know what time suits you. See you soon, Ana.’ A closing question sounds natural and proves you can use question forms.
Learn what 100 words looks like in your handwriting or on screen — usually about eight to ten lines. Counting word by word in the exam wastes a minute you need for checking.
First tick each of the four notes. Then read once for your own repeat errors — third-person -s, articles, past forms. Two separate passes catch far more than one general read.
Not thisDear Sir or Madam, I am writing to inform you that I will attend.
ThisHi Marco, Thanks for the invitation — I’d love to come.
The email in Part 1 comes from a friend, so formal letter language is the wrong register and reads as copied from a template.
Not thisI will come to your party. I will bring a cake. I will see you at eight.
ThisI’ll come to your party and I can bring a cake. See you at eight!
Three identical structures show no range. Vary the forms and join the short sentences.
Not thisI am agree with your idea.
ThisI agree with your idea.
‘Agree’ is a full verb in English, not an adjective, so it never takes ‘am’, ‘is’ or ‘are’.
Not thisThanks for your email. I am fine. My family is fine. The weather here is good. Now I answer your questions.
ThisThanks for your email — good to hear from you. About Saturday…
Filler openings burn a fifth of the word limit before the task starts, which forces the content points to be rushed.
Not thisI answered three notes really well and ignored the last one.
ThisI answered all four notes, even if the last one got only one sentence.
Content points are marked separately. One sentence on the fourth note scores more than three brilliant sentences on the second.
Not thisSee you! (no name)
ThisSee you soon, Léa
An email without a sign-off looks unfinished and loses an easy communicative mark.
Not thisI’m looking forward to see you.
ThisI’m looking forward to seeing you.
‘Look forward to’ ends in a preposition, so the verb after it takes -ing.
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 opening line with one word.
3Complete with one adjective used in a polite refusal.
6Complete with one verb in its base form.
7A note next to the email says ‘Suggest something to do’. Write one sentence you could use in your reply.
One good answer
How about going to the new café near the park first, and then walking down to the river if the weather stays dry?
8Complete with one verb.
10Complete with the -ing form of one verb.
12Complete with one verb in the present simple.
14Complete with one noun.
16Complete with one word used to move towards the end of an email.
17A note says ‘Explain why you can’t come on Sunday’. Write one sentence that answers it naturally.
One good answer
I’m afraid Sunday is difficult because my cousins are visiting and I promised to take them to the market in the morning.
18Complete with one noun.
21Complete with one noun.
25Write a one-sentence opening for a reply to a friend who has invited you to a football match.
One good answer
Thanks for your email — a football match sounds brilliant, and I’ve been wanting to see that team play all season.
27Complete with the past participle of one verb.
28Complete with one adjective.
31Complete with one adjective.
33Complete with one word.
34Write a one-sentence closing for an email replying to a friend’s invitation, including a question.
One good answer
Let me know what time you want me there, and I’ll bring something for the table — see you on Saturday!
35Complete with one verb.
37Complete with one word.
39Complete with one verb in the present simple.
Note
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Around twenty minutes: one to two minutes planning, fifteen writing, and at least two checking. The checking minutes are the cheapest marks in the paper.
Yes, but not to the word. Something near 100 is fine; a 60-word reply cannot cover four notes, and a 180-word reply usually contains errors that a shorter one would not.
You should. Nobody checks whether your cousin exists. Invented detail is what turns a bare content point into the kind of sentence that shows range.
Say it another way. ‘A place where people go swimming’ costs you nothing, while stopping to search your memory for ‘swimming pool’ costs you a minute and your rhythm.
A short one. Numbering the four notes and writing two words beside each is enough, and it takes under a minute. A full plan for 100 words is not worth the time.