TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITINGS (PET)

Writing Part 1- Letter

First of all, you must use different paragraphs for each aspect. The different aspects that you shall fulfill during a
letter are:

· Greetings (be polite, greet your friend!)

+ Hi John,

+ Hello John,

+ Dear John,

· Opening paragraph (In this paragraph, you are meant to react to your friend’s letter)

+ It’s nice/great/good to hear from you

+ I’m glad to hear 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

…BESIDES, it would be a great idea to ask your friend how they are feeling. For that:

+ Hope you are doing well

+ How’s it going?

+ How are you doing?

· Main paragraphs (you should separate every question that you are made into different paragraphs. To make it
more appealing you should use connectors and linkers)

+ “and” to connect two similar ideas (I love reading and listening to music)

+ “but” to connect two contrasting ideas (I love watching TV, but I don’t have a favourite show)

+”However” to connect contrasting ideas (Last month, I went to the cinema. However, I didn’t enjoy the
movie

+“Moreover” to add more information about something (In summer, I play videogames. Moreover, I go
twice a week to the swimming pool with my friends)

+”because” to justify an opinion or idea (I don’t read comics because I find them boring)

+” because of that” [por eso] the same as above (I am allergic to chocolate. Because of that, I haven’t eaten a
single piece of your birthday party)

+ ”As for/ Regarding” To switch to a new topic! Regarding = en relación a, As for = con respecto a (Divide
the main paragraphs by using these connectors!!)

+ Time linkers (then, after that, yesterday, this morning, last summer, last day, etc)

· Closing paragraph (This paragraph is used to start saying goodbye to your friend)

+ Well, it’s time to say goodbye

+ Anyway, I have to go now

+ I really hope to hear from you soon

+ I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon

+ I hope you write me back soon

If you still have to write more words, you can do so here by adding a question for a subsequent letter.

· Saying goodbye

+ Best,

+ Sincelery,

+ Take care,

+ All my love,

+ Love,

+ See you soon,

+ Regards,
Here’s a list of things you may be asked for your writing:

· Inviting:

+ Would you like to come over…?

+ I’d like you to come…

+ Do you want to…?

· Reminding:

+ Remember that…

+ Don’t forget about/that…

· Congratulate:

+ Congratulations on…!

+ Congratulations! It’s great that…

+ Well done!

· Apologising:

+ I’m really sorry for/about (si después usais un verbo, que sea en ing!)

+ I’m sorry that I…

+ Forgive me for (verbo en ing)

+ Please, forgive me!

· Suggesting:

+ Why don’t we…?

+ Shall we…?

+ Let’s

+ It could be a good idea to…

· Arranging meetings:

+ Let’s meet at…

+ I’ll see you…at…, okay?

· Offering:

+ Shall I…?

+ I’ll…, if you want

+ Let me know with you need any help with….

· Explaining:

+ What happened was that…

+ The thing is that…

· Expressing preference:

+ I would prefer to….

+ I’d rather…

· Asking for advice

+ Should I…?

+ Do you think I should…?

· Saying what you liked/disliked

+What I really enjoyed/liked/loved/hated was…

+ I really enjoyed/liked/hated…

+ What I liked/loved/hated most was…

· Warning:

+ Be careful with…

+ Be careful not to…

+ I would(n’t)…, I if were you

· Saying “no”/ Refusing:

+ I’m sorry, but I can’t…

+ (Thanks, but) I’m afraid I can’t…

WRITING PART 2- STORY

Stories are 99% of the times based on something that has already happened, therefore you must use past tenses for
this part.
A story can roughly be divided into the following parts:

• Title: The title should either summarise the whole story (without spoilers!) or have something to do with the
main theme.
• Exposition: This is the beginning of the story, where the characters and setting are established. It serves as
the introduction to the next part, the action, and the so-called conflict of our story.
• Action: In this part, the characters deal with conflict and do things to solve it.
• Resolution: This is where the conflict is resolved and the story concludes with an ending, normally without
any loose ends.

· Beginning your story:

+ It all began…

+ It was a hot/cold summer/winter day

+ When I first…

· Time phrases:

+ Then

+ As soon as
 + Meanwhile

+ Some time later

+ Just then

· Creating suspense:

+ Suddenly

+ Without warning

+ Out of the blue

+ Right away

· Finishing your story:

+ In the end,

+ When it was all over,

+ Finally

WRITING PART 2- ARTICLE

For the article, candidates read an announcement from a magazine or a website. This gives the topic that they must
write about. For example, there may be a couple of questions that they should respond to.

Just like stories, articles need a title as well. You should also try and engage the reader with some questions that’ll
make them feel like they are being personally asked about a certain topic. The structure of this writing will depend on
what you are asked to do in a specific exercise. See example below:
A suitable example on how to write an article would be the one below:

Some structures that can be used in articles are the following:

· Engaging the reader:

+ Have you ever thought about…?
+ Are you one of those people who…?
+ Just imagine…
+ If the answer is…, you should….
·Try to use extreme adjectives instead of intensifiers:
+ instead of very good: awesome, excellent, fantastic
+ instead of very bad: awful, terrible, disturbing
+ instead of very big: huge, enormous
Etc.
· Developing your argument:
+ What is more, …
+ Another advantage of…
+ Besides

You can find more useful information within the resources listed below too.
Resources:

https://kseacademy.com/cambridge/b1-preliminary-pet/writing/email/
https://www.intercambioidiomasonline.com/2019/09/02/b1-preliminary-how-to-write-an-article/
https://cambridge-exams.ch/sites/default/files/b1-preliminary-handbook-2020.pdf