Pet Writing Part 1 2020

What do you have to do in Writing Part 1?
In this part of the test, you are given an extract of a letter or email from an English friend or
relative, and you are asked to respond to it in about 100 words. The topics are usually not very
difficult, as you’re expected to write at an intermediate level, about topics you are familiar with:
sports, hobbies, TV programmes, the weather, your town/city, etc.
Email/Letter structure
The first thing you need to know is the different parts of an email:
 Greetings: we greet the other person (i.e. say “hi” or “hello”).

 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 1: in this paragraph we deal with the first important point, which we can
identify in the instructions.
 Main paragraph 2: if there is a different point to deal with, this paragraph will do so.
 Closing paragraph: in this paragraph we “start” to say goodbye by wishing the other
person well and asking them to reply to your letter.
 Goodbye: we use a short expression to say goodbye.
 Signature: we sign the letter with our name.
It’s important that your writing is visually appealing, apart from having good grammar and
vocabulary. This means that the paragraphs should be well defined, with a space in between, and
that you should know when to break lines. This is specially important after greetings, after
opening and closing paragraphs, and after saying goodbye. This will make your text visually
appealing, as it will look like a real letter or email.
Expressions to use in your email/letter

In this section, we are going to focus on different expressions you can use in the different parts
of the letter. While the main paragraphs will vary completely depending on the topic of your
writing, most of the other parts in the letter can be practised and memorised almost completely.
Let’s take a look:
Greetings
In order to start your email or letter in Writing Part 3 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 letter, 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
letter), 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 letter. 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  It’s great to hear that…
you.  I’m sorry to hear that…
 It’s nice / great / good to read your  I’m really sorry to read your news.
letter.  Thanks a lot for writing!
 I’m glad to hear your news.  It was good to receive your letter.
 I’m excited about… (your news.)  Thank you very much for your letter.
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.
My favourite meal is fish and chips.
 …, but… : to connect two contrasting ideas.
I love watching Tv, but I don’t have a favourite show.
I am reading a book, but I don’t remember the title.
 . However, … : to connect contrasting 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 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 letter. 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 letter or
email. This question should be related to the topic of your piece of writing.
Saying goodbye
There are many ways in English to close an informal letter or email. The most frequently used ones
are the following:
 Best wishes,  Love,

 Best,  Lots of love,
 Sincerely,  See you soon,
 Take care,  Regards,
 All my love,
Notice how there is a comma (,) after each of the phrases. Also, after writing any of these
sentences, make sure you write your name on a different line. And write your name without a full
stop!
Top 5 Tips for Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 3

(Emails/Letters)
1. Learn and memorise a set of expressions. Make sure you already know a set of
expressions to use in your greetings, opening and closing paragraphs, and to say goodbye.
This will save you a lot of time while doing a task, and you will avoid making silly mistakes
as you will already know the expressions by heart.
2. Write a well-structured and visually-appealing email or letter. One of the things
Cambridge English examiners pay attention to is the organisation of your piece writing, so
make sure not to write a messy email. Also, remember that punctuation matters, so be sure
to separate your sentences with stops and commas and don’t write excessively long
sentences.
3. Brainstorm, write, read and edit. Before starting to write your email, brainstorm a couple
of things and write down some ideas. This can include vocabulary related to the topic. For
example, if you have to write about TV shows, you can write down thinks like
“contestants”, “cookery show”, “prize”, etc. Then, write out your email. After that, read it
and look for possible mistakes or opportunities for improvement (e.g.: adding
descriptive adjectives, rephrasing sentences, etc.).
4. Read carefully and identify the task. Don’t start writing right away. Make sure you read
the task carefully and that you identify exactly what you are being asked. Sometimes, we
don’t pay attention to the instructions and we end up writing about something different. This
will mean losing points, in a very silly way, I must say.
5. Experiment at home, be conservative in the exam. Homework is the best chance to be
creative and experiment different ways to express yourself. So make sure you try your
hardest to keep improving when you write at home. On the other hand, when you’re doing
an exam, don’t risk trying out new words or expressions, as you may be making a terrible
mistake. So be safe in your exam and stick to what you already know works.

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What do you have to do in Writing Part 1?

 Greetings: we greet the other person (i.e. say “hi” or “hello”).

Expressions to use in your email/letter

 Hope you are doing well.

 … and… : to connect two similar things or ideas.

I love reading and listening to music.

My favourite meal is fish and chips.

 …, but… : to connect two contrasting ideas.

I love watching Tv, but I don’t have a favourite show.

I am reading a book, but I don’t remember the title.

 . However, … : to connect contrasting ideas.

 Moreover, … : to add more information about something.

 . Because of that, … : to justify an opinion, fact or idea.

Last night, I watched a very good action film.

 Well, it’s time to say goodbye.

 Best wishes,  Love,

Top 5 Tips for Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 3

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