B1 Preliminary KSE Academy
B1 Preliminary (PET)
Writing Part 2: Short Messages
1. What do you have to do?
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.
Below you can see a sample answer to the previous task:
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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,…
2. Language to use in your writing
What follows is a list of expressions you should use when writing these short messages. For
your convenience, they are divided into greeting expressions (saying hello), language functions
(thanking, suggesting, asking, reminding, etc.) and farewell expressions.
• 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 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.
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• 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: Let's..., shall we?
Would you like to come over...?
It could be a good idea to…
Do you want to...?
I'd like to you come...
- Arranging meetings:
Why don't you come… Let's meet at...
I'll see you ... at ..., okay?
- Reminding: Is it okay if we meet at…?
Remember that...
Don't forget about/that...
- Offering:
It's important to remember sth./that...
Shall I...?
It's essential that you do/bring… Can I help you with...?
I can give you a hand with..., if you want.
- Congratulations: I'll .... , if you want.
Congratulations on...!
Let me know if you need any help with…
Congratulations! It's great that you...
Well done!
- Saying "yes" / accepting:
Well done with...!
Of course I'll go (to...).
Way to go! I'm more than happy to...
I'm glad to...
- Apologising: Great! I'd really like to…
I'm really sorry about...
I'm sorry that I… - Saying "no" / refusing:
I’m sorry but I…
I'm sorry, but I can't...
Forgive me for...
(Thanks, but ) I'm afraid I can't...
Please, forgive me! Sorry, but it's impossible for me to...
I'd like to, but I can’t...
- Suggesting:
Why don't we...?
How about...?
- Explaining:
What about...?
What happened was that...
Shall we...?
The thing is that…
Let's...,
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- Asking for information: You can do it!
Could you tell me...?
Can you tell me...?
- Asking for advice:
Is it true that...?
What could/can I do (about/with...)?
Do you know (if...) ...?
Do you think I should...?
Please, let me know (if...) …? Should I...?
What would you do?
- Expressing preference:
I would prefer to... (if that's okay).
- Saying what you liked/disliked:
I'd rather...
What I really enjoyed/liked/loved/hated was...
I like .... better.
I really enjoyed/liked/loved/hated...
What I'd like/love is to… What I liked/enjoyed/... most was...
My favourite (part of the...) was...
- Wish good things: The best thing (about...) was…
Good luck (with...)!
All the best (with...)!
- Warning:
Hope you enjoy ...! Be careful with...
Enjoy yourself! Be careful not to...
Have fun (at/in...)! Remember (not) to...
Have a good time (at/in...)! It's not a good idea to...
You'll have no problems with...! I wouldn't... if I were you.
• Farewell expressions
There are many ways to say goodbye in an email or a letter. However, given the word limit we
have in these short messages, we must keep it short and simple, so try to avoid long
sentences like I'm looking forward to... unless you have some leeway. Some expressions you
could use are the following:
- Bye!
- Bye for now!
- Best,
- All the best,
- Best wishes,
- Regards,
- See you soon!
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3. Another sample
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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4. Important considerations
In this part of the Preliminary (PET) exam, it is important to take the following ideas into
account:
- Your message is supposed to be understood without difficulty.
- You are not expected to be 100% accurate in your grammar, spelling, etc. It's okay to
make some minor mistakes, as long as your message is clear.
- It's important to stick to the word limit, although Cambridge English says you wouldn't be
penalised for exceeding it. The problem is that if you exceed it too much (or not reach it)
you're probably using information that is irrelevant to the task, so you might be penalised
for that. On the other hand, if you don't reach the word limit, it's likely that you're missing
some essential information.
- Read everything several times in order to spot silly mistakes and improve your task.
- Risk it in class, not in the exam. Before the test, try to do as many tasks as you can, using
a variety of language in order to boost your writing skills. However, don't take any risks in
the exam unless you are absolutely forced to do so. In the exam, you should keep it simple.
Sources
- Cambridge English task samples: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/preliminary/
exam-format/
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