Today we are better than we were yesterday and tomorrow even better
CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
TERM I
SUPPORT MATERIAL - USE OF ENGLISH -GRAMMAR # 8
CONFUSING WORDS REACH - GET - ARRIVE
Name : Class: 6th 7th Level: PET
EXAM LEADER: Jeff Vidal
Skill: Reading comprehension
Indicator: Recognizes information in order to answer multiple choice, multiple matching and gap text
exercises connected through skimming and scanning, perceives messages from the text and interprets it on
his / her own.
Instructions: This is information that will help you while writing an email during your PET exam. It will
provide information and the structure required for building an email in a proper way.
What is an email?
How is an email structured?
How many words do I need to write?
Writing Part 2: Sample Task
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.
Heres an example:
Source: Cambridge English sample tests
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.
2. Writing Part 2: Sample Answer
Below you can see a sample answer to the task in the previous section:
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,
And all of the above is what you have to do in virtually any short message you may
have to write for Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET), except that the writing prompts
will change.
3. 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, its 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.
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:
Would you like to come over?
Do you want to?
Id like to you come
Why dont you come
Reminding:
Remember that
Dont forget about/that
Its important to remember sth./that
Its essential that you do/bring
Congratulations:
Congratulations on!
Congratulations! Its great that you
Well done!
Well done with!
Way to go!
Apologising:
Im really sorry about
Im sorry that I
Forgive me for
Please, forgive me!
Suggesting:
Why dont we?
How about?
What about?
Shall we?
Lets,
Lets, shall we?
It could be a good idea to
Arranging meetings:
Lets meet at
Ill see you at , okay?
Is it okay if we meet at?
Offering:
Shall I?
Can I help you with?
I can give you a hand with, if you want.
Ill . , if you want.
Let me know if you need any help with
Saying yes / accepting:
Of course Ill go (to).
Im more than happy to
Im glad to
Great! Id really like to
Saying no / refusing:
Im sorry, but I cant
(Thanks, but ) Im afraid I cant
Sorry, but its impossible for me to
Id like to, but I cant
Explaining:
What happened was that
The thing is that
Asking for information:
Could you tell me?
Can you tell me?
Is it true that?
Do you know (if) ?
Please, let me know (if) ?
Expressing preference:
I would prefer to (if thats okay).
Id rather
I like . better.
What Id like/love is to
Wish good things:
Good luck (with)!
All the best (with)!
Hope you enjoy !
Enjoy yourself!
Have fun (at/in)!
Have a good time (at/in)!
Youll have no problems with!
You can do it!
Asking for advice:
What could/can I do (about/with)?
Do you think I should?
Should I?
What would you do?
Saying what you liked/disliked:
What I really enjoyed/liked/loved/hated was
I really enjoyed/liked/loved/hated
What I liked/enjoyed/ most was
My favourite (part of the) was
The best thing (about) was
Warning:
Be careful with
Be careful not to
Remember (not) to
Its not a good idea to
I wouldnt if I were you.
>>DOW
