How to write an email for B1 Preliminary

Writing (PET)

As we have already seen in the Writing guide of the B1 Preliminary,

updated to 2020, this component of the exam consists of 2 parts. The
first of these is an email and the second can be a story or an article.
Therefore, in this article I am going to teach you how to write a B1
level email for the B1 Preliminary (PET) exam of Cambridge English.

How to write an email for the B1 Preliminary (PET)

To know what steps to follow when writing an email for the B1 level
exam, the first thing you have to do is know what the instructions are
like and what exactly is expected of you. And although we already
saw it in the Writing guide of B1, now we are going to review it and
deepen something more.

Writing Instructions B1 Preliminary Part 1: Email

In this part of the exam, you are given an email that you have
received from an English friend or relative, and you have to
answer in approximately 100 words. This email contains
annotations that tell you what you have to respond to and which
points you should pay more attention to.

On the other hand, you should know that email topics are not
especially difficult, since you are expected to write at an intermediate
level (B1), so they are topics with which you should already be
familiar: sports, hobbies, television, weather, your city, etc. Here's an
example of a real Cambridge English writing: Preliminary (PET)
 As you can see in this example, taken from the official
Cambridge website, we have received an email from a person
named Sandy, who is supposed to be our friend. In addition, we have
annotations made, which are the points that we must touch in our
response email:
 Me too!
 Say which I prefer
 No, because...
 Ask Sandy...
In this sense, Cambridge makes the task much easier, since we
cannot stay blank and, in addition, it is practically indicating
the structure that our email will have, which we will see below.
Structure of an email
The first thing you have to know to write an email is the different
parts of this type of writing. They are as follows:
 Greeting: We greet the other person.
 Opening paragraph: We react to the other person's news and
ask them how they are doing and, if necessary, some other
questions.
 Main paragraph 1: In this paragraph we respond to the first
important point that we will have identified in the instructions.
 Main paragraph 2: In this paragraph we deal with another
important point, if there is one in the instructions.
 (there may be more main paragraphs, depending on the task)
 Closing paragraph: In this paragraph we "begin" to say
goodbye and wish him good luck. In addition, we must ask him
to answer us, so we can ask him something relevant as well.
 Farewell: A short expression to say goodbye.
 Signature: We sign with our name.
In general, all emails should follow the same structure. In addition, I
recommend the following:

 Do not put From: and To:, since it is not necessary to

indicate this and Cambridge will not penalize you. In addition,
you save words that you can use in the body of the message.
 Do not indicate a subject, for the same reason as the
previous point.
Now that you know the different parts of an email, let's look at an
example.

Example of Email for PET Writing

The following is an example of a task and response from
Cambridge English
Writing Part 1: Preliminary (PET):
In the example above, you can see the different parts of an
email very well defined. It is important that your writing is visually
clear and attractive, apart from having good grammar and relevant
vocabulary. This means that the paragraphs should be well
defined, with a space between them, and that you know when to
start a new one. In this sense, it is especially important to start in a
new line after the opening and closing paragraphs, and the greeting
and farewell, as is done in a real email.

Expressions to use in your email

In this section we are going to focus on the different expressions
that you can use in the parts of your email. Although the main
paragraphs will vary completely depending on the theme of the
Writing, most of the other sections will be composed of expressions
that you can practice and memorize almost completely. See:

Best regards
To start an email for Cambridge English Writing Part 1:
Preliminary (PET)," you can use a limited variety of expressions,
which are quite typical and easy to remember. There are 3 basic
expressions to greet someone in an email addressed to a friend or
family member:
 Hi John, 
 Hello John,
 Dear John,
Notice how "hi" is less formal than "hello" or "dear". Also, don't
forget about the comma (,) right after greeting your friend or family
member. After greeting, we should start the opening paragraph on
a new line.
Opening paragraph
The opening paragraph is the perfect place to react to the news of
the person who sent us the email. To do so, we can use a wide
variety of expressions. Here are a few examples:
 It's nice / great / good to hear from you.
 It's nice / great / good to read your letter.
 I'm glad to hear your news.
 I'm excited about... (your news.)
 It's great to hear that...
 I'm sorry to hear that...
 I'm really sorry to read your news.
 Thanks a lot for writing!
 It was good to receive your letter. 
 Thank you very much for your letter. 

And many more. In addition, it is also a good idea to ask this person
how he is, being able to do it like this:
 Hope you are doing well. 
 How's it going?
 How are you (doing)?
 How are things (going)?
You can also add information that you think is relevant or necessary,
but do not go overboard with this paragraph, since the important
information will go in the main paragraphs that go next.
Main paragraphs
For the main paragraphs there are no fixed expressions that you
should use, as it depends on the topic you have to write about.
However, it is important that you correctly use multiple
connectors and punctuation. So let's look at several basic
connectors and how to score the phrases in which we use those
connectors:
 ... and... : to connect two similar ideas.
I love reading and listening to music.
My favorite meal is fish and chips.

 ..., but... : to connect two different or opposite ideas.

I love watching TV, but I don't have a favorite show.
I am reading a book, but I don't remember the title.

 tags. However, ... : to contrast two different ideas.

Last month, I went to the cinema. However, I didn't enjoy the movie.
I am a very big fan of this author. However, I haven't read his last
novel.

 Moreover, ... : to add more information about an idea.

 ... because... : to justify an idea or opinion.
My mum is the perfect cook because she knows a lot of recipes and
has plenty of experience. Moreover, she experiments with different
ingredients all the time.
 tags. Because of that, ... : to justify an idea, opinion or fact
mentioned above.
My mum likes to cook using new ingredients all the time. Because of
that, she creates original dishes every month.
  tags. As for.../ Regarding... : to change the subject. For
example, you can use it to start the second main paragraph
with a new information point.
As for/Regarding why I like this cookery show, I think it's because
it's a great way to see new recipes.

 Time connectors: then, after that, yesterday, this morning,

last summer, etc.
Last night, I watched a very good action film.

Notice how we use many connectors with a comma (,) when we start
a sentence. For example: However, Last night, Moreover, etc.
Closing paragraph
As I mentioned earlier, a closing paragraph in Writing Part 1 is
used to start saying goodbye and to ask for a response to our
email. For this you can use the following expressions:
 Well, it's time to say goodbye.
 Anyway, I have to go now. 
 Well, it's time to go.
 Anyway, gotta go. 
 I really hope to hear from you soon. 
 I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
 I hope you write back soon. 
 Make sure you write back soon. 
Also, if you think you still lack words to reach 100, you can add a
question for a supposed response email. This question should be
related to the subject of Writing, obviously.
Farewell
There are many expressions in English to end an informal email.
The most commonly used are the following:
 Best wishes,
  Best
 Sincerely, 
 Take care, 
 All my love, 
 Love,
 Lots of love, 
 See you soon, 
 Regards, 
Notice again how we use a comma (,) after each expression.
Also, be sure to write your name on a different line. And write
your name without a full stop!
Another example of email at level B1
Now that we know what expressions to use in our writing, let's see
another example of response to this type of task, although in this
case it is a task of the old ones, but for this case it is the same, since
what interests us is the structure of the email:
Notice how bold words are used. When writing an email, try to use
these types of expressions, and make sure you use
them appropriately.

The 5 essential tips to write an email for the Writing of

the B1 Preliminary (PET)

1. Learn and memorize a series of expressions. Make sure

you already know a number of made expressions that you can

use to say hello, for the opening and closing paragraphs, and
 to say goodbye. This will save you a lot of time while doing

homework, and will save you from silly spelling or grammar

mistakes, as you'll know them by heart.

2. Write a well-structured and visually appealing email. One

of the aspects that Cambridge English examiners evaluate is

the organization of your writing, so I advise you to pay attention

to the appearance and structure of it. Also, remember

that punctuation is also important, so be sure to separate

your sentences with semicolons and not write sentences that

are too long.

3. Brainstorm, write, read, and edit. Before you start writing an

email, write down a few ideas about what you're going to talk

about. This includes vocabulary related to the topic of the

email. For example, if you have to write about TV shows you

like, you can write things like "contestants", "cookery show",

"prize", etc. Then, write your full email. After that, read it and

look for possible misspellings or grammatical errors. In

addition, you should look for ways to try to improve it; for

example, adding descriptive adjectives, paraphrasing some

sentences, etc.

4. Pay attention to the instructions. Don't start typing directly.

Make sure you've read the task carefully and identify exactly
 what you need to do. Sometimes, we don't pay attention to the

instructions and end up writing about something different. This

involves losing points in a very silly way.

5. Experiment with your homework, but not during the exam.

Homework is the best opportunity for you to get creative or

creative and experience different ways of expressing yourself.

So make sure you keep improving with the writings you do at

home. However, when you're on the exam, don't risk trying new

words or expressions, as you may be screwing up to the

bottom. So to heal us in health, play it safe in the writing of

the exam.