CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1
e-MAIL
How to answer an informal e-mail?
pROFESORES
Parts of the e-mail
Greetings: we greet the other person (i.e. say «hi» or «hello»).
Main paragraph 1: in this paragraph we deal with the first important point, which we can identify in the instructions.
Opening paragraph: we react to the other person’s news and ask them how they are feeling and whatever else you feel is appropriate.
Main paragraph 2: if there is a different point to deal with, this paragraph will do so.
(We might have more main paragraphs, depending on the task.)
Closing paragraph: in this paragraph we «start» to say goodbye by wishing the other person well and asking them to reply to your email.
Goodbye: we use a short expression to say goodbye.
Signature: we sign the email with our name.
Note:
Note:
In general, all emails must follow the same structure, and also, I recommend you following these two pieces of advice::
Don’t write From: or To:, as it is completely unnecessary and Cambridge won’t penalise you. Also, you’re saving words which you can use in the body of your email.
Don’t write a subject, for the same reason as before.
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
Greetings
Greetings
In order to start your email in Writing Part 1 for Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET), you can use different expressions, which are really typical and easy to remember. We have 3 basic ways to greet in this kind of writing, which is usually for 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 to write a comma (,) right after greeting your friend or relative. After greeting the addressee (i.e. the person who will read the email), you must start the opening paragraph in a new line.
Opening paragraph
The opening paragraph is the place to react to your friend’s or relative’s email. In order to do so, you can use a number of different expressions. Here we have some examples:
- It’s nice / great / good to hear from you.
- It’s nice / great / good to read your email.
- 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 email.
- Thank you very much for your email.
Opening paragraph
And many more. Also, it’s a good idea to ask your friend or relative how they are feeling, which you can do like this:
- Hope you are doing well.
- How’s it going?
- How are you (doing)?
- How are things (going)?
- You can also add some information that you think is relevant or necessary, but don’t expand this paragraph very much, because the important information must go in the main paragraphs.
Main paragraphs
For the main paragraphs, there aren’t any fixed expressions which you must use, as it depends mostly on what you have to write about. However, you should try to make use of connectors and appropriate punctuation. So let’s take a look at common useful connectors and the punctuation we use them with:
and… : to connect two similar things or 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.
Main paragraphs
Moreover, … : to add more information about something.because… : to justify an opinion or idea.
- 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.
. Because of that, … : to justify an opinion, fact or idea.
- My mum likes to cook using new ingredients all the time. Because of that, she creates original dishes every month.
. As for…/ Regarding… : to switch to a new topic. For instance, you can use this connector to start the second main paragraph.
- As for/Regarding why I like this cookery show, I think it’s because it’s a great way to see new recipes.
Time linkers: then, after that, yesterday, this morning, last summer, etc.
- Last night, I watched a very good action film.
With many connectors, we typically use a comma (,) after it when we start a sentence (e.g.: However, Last night, Moreover, etc.).
Closing paragraph
As we mentioned earlier, a closing paragraph in this Writing part 3 is used to start saying goodbye to the addressee and to ask for a response to your email. So we 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 still have to write more words, you can add a question for a subsequent email. This question should be related to the topic of your piece of writing.
Saying goodbye
Saying goodbye
There are many ways in English to close an informal email. The most frequently used ones are the following:
- Best wishes,
- Best,
- Sincerely,
- Take care,
- All my love,
- Love,
- Lots of love,
- See you soon,
- Regards,
And finally your signatureRegards,Luis
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1
Article
How to write an article?
pROFESORES
Parts of the Article
TitleYou will create a title that is related with the main topic
Idea 1 development
Introduction
Idea 2 development (if there's one)
Closing
Title
It should be short and informative. Try to choose an interesting title, so the reader wants to read your article to learn more about the topic.
Main paragraphs:
This is the main part of your article, it should include the following parts:Introductory paragraph: Here you introduce the topic. The introduction should be short, catching, and interesting.
- Have you ever thought about …?
- What would you do if …?
- Do you like + verb+ing …?
- How important is it for you to …?
- What would life be like if …?
Ideas development
Descriptive paragraph: Here you give examples and reasons.
- In my opinion, …
- From my point of view, …
- As far as I’m concerned, …
- I guess that …
- I’m under the impression that …
- I have no doubt that …
- I have the feeling that…
Closing/conclusion
Conclusion: This is the ending paragraph of the article that should be a summary of your article.
- … in case
- … so (that)
- … because it might + base form
- The evidence shows (that) …
- The facts suggest (that) …
CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1
Story
How to write a story
pROFESORES
Note:*Write your title in capital letters. *Leave a clear space between paragraphs.
Parts of the story
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.
Title: The title should either summarise the whole story (without spoilers!) or have something to do with the main theme.
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.
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
How to begin a story
When you start a story, if the first sentence isn’t given to you, you can use phrases like these:
- It all began…
- When I first…
- At the beginning…
- It was a hot/cold summer/winter day.
Just to be clear, these are only some simple examples which you can use, as there is no right or wrong way to start a story. That’s the beauty of it!
pROFESORES
Time phrases
One of the great differences between writing a letter, essay, article and so on, and writing a story is the need to pay careful attention to the time over which the story develops. In order to define the order of the events in the story, we must use time expressions or time phrases. So let’s see a few:
- Then
- After that
- Not long aftewards
- As soon as
- While
- Meanwhile
- As
- Some time later
- A little later
- minutes later
- a moment later
- Later (that morning/afternoon/day/night…)
- Just then
It is essential to use these expressions properly. Otherwise, it won’t be clear exactly how the story develops.
pROFESORES
Creating suspense
When writing a story, the aim is not to inform or to convey information; the real purpose is to entertain the reader, just like when you read a novel you expect to be entertained. For this reason, a story, even a story for Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 3 should aim to do so: entertain. And a cool way to entertain is to create suspense, which we can do by using some of the following expressions:
- Suddenly
- All of a sudden
- Without warning
- Just at that moment
- Unexpectedly
- Out of the blue
- Out of nowhere
- Right away
- Straight away
pROFESORES
Direct speech
In every story there are characters and they usually interact with each other, so it is always good if you know how to use direct speech, that is, reproduce the words the characters actually say or think. The tricky bit about this is the punctuation and the verbs to choose, because it’s good to use some verbs other than «say». Let’s take a look at some examples:
«I’m coming with you,» she said.
She said, «I’m coming with you.»
«Do you like it?» he asked.
«Don’t do it!» he screamed.
Pay close attention at where the comma (,) or other punctuation marks go (?, !). Also, don’t forget to use inverted commas («…») to enclose the direct speech. In British English we normally use single inverted commas (‘…’), but it’s not important so choose the one that suits you best.
pROFESORES
Finishing your story
This paragraph, the resolution, should be separated from the rest, and it’s a good idea to start it with one of the following expressions:
- In the end
- Finally
- When it was all over
- Eventually
- After everything that happened
- Luckily
Again, these are just a few examples. There’s no right or wrong way to conclude a story, as long as it makes sense with the rest of the piece of writing.
pROFESORES
Verb tenses
One of the reasons why stories are particularly challenging for B1 students is that they tend to take place in the past, which makes it necessary to use a range of past tenses approriately. The main three past tenses you should really try to use are the following:
- Past simple (-ed/irregular form)
- Past continuous
- Past perfect
pROFESORES
Write a story
pROFESORES
Write a story
pROFESORES
Test
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
+190
Puedes plasmar cifras de esta forma.
+85k
Así mantendrás la atención de tu clase.
+45k
…Aunque luego lo expliques oralmente
+12k
Y los datos quedarán grabados en su cerebro
90%
de la información visual se asimila mejor.
+45k
…Aunque luego lo expliques oralmente
+12k
Y los datos quedarán grabados en su cerebro
+12k
Y los datos quedarán grabados en su cerebro
+190
Puedes plasmar cifras de esta forma.
+190
Puedes plasmar cifras de esta forma.
90%
de la información visual se asimila mejor.
Con esta función...Puedes añadir un contenido adicional que emocione al cerebro de tu alumnado: vídeos, imágenes, enlaces, interactividad... ¡Lo que tú quieras!
50%
de nuestro cerebro está involucrado en el procesamiento de estímulos visuales.
+45k
…Aunque luego lo expliques oralmente
90%
de la información visual se asimila mejor.
+85k
Así mantendrás la atención de tu clase.
CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1 email
Luis Magaña Sánchez
Created on December 5, 2023
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Transcript
CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1
e-MAIL
How to answer an informal e-mail?
pROFESORES
Parts of the e-mail
Greetings: we greet the other person (i.e. say «hi» or «hello»).
Main paragraph 1: in this paragraph we deal with the first important point, which we can identify in the instructions.
Opening paragraph: we react to the other person’s news and ask them how they are feeling and whatever else you feel is appropriate.
Main paragraph 2: if there is a different point to deal with, this paragraph will do so. (We might have more main paragraphs, depending on the task.)
Closing paragraph: in this paragraph we «start» to say goodbye by wishing the other person well and asking them to reply to your email.
Goodbye: we use a short expression to say goodbye. Signature: we sign the email with our name.
Note:
Note:
In general, all emails must follow the same structure, and also, I recommend you following these two pieces of advice:: Don’t write From: or To:, as it is completely unnecessary and Cambridge won’t penalise you. Also, you’re saving words which you can use in the body of your email. Don’t write a subject, for the same reason as before.
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
Greetings
Greetings In order to start your email in Writing Part 1 for Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET), you can use different expressions, which are really typical and easy to remember. We have 3 basic ways to greet in this kind of writing, which is usually for a friend or family member:
Notice how «hi» is less formal than «hello» or «dear». Also, don’t forget to write a comma (,) right after greeting your friend or relative. After greeting the addressee (i.e. the person who will read the email), you must start the opening paragraph in a new line.
Opening paragraph
The opening paragraph is the place to react to your friend’s or relative’s email. In order to do so, you can use a number of different expressions. Here we have some examples:
Opening paragraph
And many more. Also, it’s a good idea to ask your friend or relative how they are feeling, which you can do like this:
Main paragraphs
For the main paragraphs, there aren’t any fixed expressions which you must use, as it depends mostly on what you have to write about. However, you should try to make use of connectors and appropriate punctuation. So let’s take a look at common useful connectors and the punctuation we use them with:
and… : to connect two similar things or 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.Main paragraphs
Moreover, … : to add more information about something.because… : to justify an opinion or idea.
- 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.
. Because of that, … : to justify an opinion, fact or idea.- My mum likes to cook using new ingredients all the time. Because of that, she creates original dishes every month.
. As for…/ Regarding… : to switch to a new topic. For instance, you can use this connector to start the second main paragraph.- As for/Regarding why I like this cookery show, I think it’s because it’s a great way to see new recipes.
Time linkers: then, after that, yesterday, this morning, last summer, etc.- Last night, I watched a very good action film.
With many connectors, we typically use a comma (,) after it when we start a sentence (e.g.: However, Last night, Moreover, etc.).Closing paragraph
As we mentioned earlier, a closing paragraph in this Writing part 3 is used to start saying goodbye to the addressee and to ask for a response to your email. So we 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 still have to write more words, you can add a question for a subsequent email. This question should be related to the topic of your piece of writing.Saying goodbye
Saying goodbye There are many ways in English to close an informal email. The most frequently used ones are the following:
- Best wishes,
- Best,
- Sincerely,
- Take care,
- All my love,
- Love,
- Lots of love,
- See you soon,
- Regards,
And finally your signatureRegards,LuispROFESORES
pROFESORES
CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1
Article
How to write an article?
pROFESORES
Parts of the Article
TitleYou will create a title that is related with the main topic
Idea 1 development
Introduction
Idea 2 development (if there's one)
Closing
Title
It should be short and informative. Try to choose an interesting title, so the reader wants to read your article to learn more about the topic.
Main paragraphs:
This is the main part of your article, it should include the following parts:Introductory paragraph: Here you introduce the topic. The introduction should be short, catching, and interesting.
Ideas development
Descriptive paragraph: Here you give examples and reasons.
Closing/conclusion
Conclusion: This is the ending paragraph of the article that should be a summary of your article.
CAMBRIDGE WRITING B1
Story
How to write a story
pROFESORES
Note:*Write your title in capital letters. *Leave a clear space between paragraphs.
Parts of the story
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.
Title: The title should either summarise the whole story (without spoilers!) or have something to do with the main theme.
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.
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
How to begin a story
When you start a story, if the first sentence isn’t given to you, you can use phrases like these:
- It all began…
- When I first…
- At the beginning…
- It was a hot/cold summer/winter day.
Just to be clear, these are only some simple examples which you can use, as there is no right or wrong way to start a story. That’s the beauty of it!pROFESORES
Time phrases
One of the great differences between writing a letter, essay, article and so on, and writing a story is the need to pay careful attention to the time over which the story develops. In order to define the order of the events in the story, we must use time expressions or time phrases. So let’s see a few:
- Then
- After that
- Not long aftewards
- As soon as
- While
- Meanwhile
- As
- Some time later
- A little later
- minutes later
- a moment later
- Later (that morning/afternoon/day/night…)
- Just then
It is essential to use these expressions properly. Otherwise, it won’t be clear exactly how the story develops.pROFESORES
Creating suspense
When writing a story, the aim is not to inform or to convey information; the real purpose is to entertain the reader, just like when you read a novel you expect to be entertained. For this reason, a story, even a story for Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 3 should aim to do so: entertain. And a cool way to entertain is to create suspense, which we can do by using some of the following expressions:
pROFESORES
Direct speech
In every story there are characters and they usually interact with each other, so it is always good if you know how to use direct speech, that is, reproduce the words the characters actually say or think. The tricky bit about this is the punctuation and the verbs to choose, because it’s good to use some verbs other than «say». Let’s take a look at some examples: «I’m coming with you,» she said. She said, «I’m coming with you.» «Do you like it?» he asked. «Don’t do it!» he screamed. Pay close attention at where the comma (,) or other punctuation marks go (?, !). Also, don’t forget to use inverted commas («…») to enclose the direct speech. In British English we normally use single inverted commas (‘…’), but it’s not important so choose the one that suits you best.
pROFESORES
Finishing your story
This paragraph, the resolution, should be separated from the rest, and it’s a good idea to start it with one of the following expressions:
- In the end
- Finally
- When it was all over
- Eventually
- After everything that happened
- Luckily
Again, these are just a few examples. There’s no right or wrong way to conclude a story, as long as it makes sense with the rest of the piece of writing.pROFESORES
Verb tenses
One of the reasons why stories are particularly challenging for B1 students is that they tend to take place in the past, which makes it necessary to use a range of past tenses approriately. The main three past tenses you should really try to use are the following:
pROFESORES
Write a story
pROFESORES
Write a story
pROFESORES
Test
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
pROFESORES
+190
Puedes plasmar cifras de esta forma.
+85k
Así mantendrás la atención de tu clase.
+45k
…Aunque luego lo expliques oralmente
+12k
Y los datos quedarán grabados en su cerebro
90%
de la información visual se asimila mejor.
+45k
…Aunque luego lo expliques oralmente
+12k
Y los datos quedarán grabados en su cerebro
+12k
Y los datos quedarán grabados en su cerebro
+190
Puedes plasmar cifras de esta forma.
+190
Puedes plasmar cifras de esta forma.
90%
de la información visual se asimila mejor.
Con esta función...Puedes añadir un contenido adicional que emocione al cerebro de tu alumnado: vídeos, imágenes, enlaces, interactividad... ¡Lo que tú quieras!
50%
de nuestro cerebro está involucrado en el procesamiento de estímulos visuales.
+45k
…Aunque luego lo expliques oralmente
90%
de la información visual se asimila mejor.
+85k
Así mantendrás la atención de tu clase.