Goethe / telc B1 Schreiben: a model letter, sentence by sentence

Teil 1 of the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 writing paper asks for an informal email to a friend of about 80 words, with roughly 20 minutes planned for it. Three content points are printed with the task, and the markers check first of all whether every point is genuinely covered. The email below answers one such task completely, and the sections that follow take it apart one sentence at a time, naming which part of the letter each sentence fills and what it earns.

The task

A task in this part always has two layers. First comes a short situation in two sentences, then three points that the email must contain. The situation is never to be retold, because the reader already knows it. The three points are the checklist the marker holds while reading.

• Sagen Sie: Sie kommen gern mit. (Say that you are happy to come along.)
• Machen Sie einen Vorschlag: Was nehmen Sie beide mit? (Make a suggestion about what the two of you will take.)
• Fragen Sie: Wie fahren Sie dorthin? (Ask how you will get there.)

Since the task names Ihre Freundin Carla (your friend Carla), the register is du, written lowercase throughout, with a warm greeting and a friendly sign-off. Being a few words over or under the 80-word guideline does no harm, but a missing content point costs heavily, so the safest layout gives each point its own short paragraph.

The email, sentence by sentence

The model answer follows the five-part skeleton of every German letter, that is, Anrede (greeting), Einleitung (opening line), Hauptteil (body), and Gruß und Name (sign-off and name), with no Betreff because the task supplies none. The greeting comes first, and it already shows two rules. Liebe takes the ending -e because Carla is a woman, and the line ends in a comma, so the next line continues the sentence and starts lowercase.

The first paragraph is the Einleitung and content point 1 in one. It opens with the standard thanks for the invitation, then gives the acceptance and a reason for it in a single sentence, joined with denn (because). After denn the word order does not change at all, so ich war stays exactly as it would in a main clause.

The second paragraph is content point 2, the suggestion. It uses the fixed phrase Ich schlage vor, dass (I suggest that), which sends the verb mitbringe to the end of its clause. The next sentence adds a second item with außerdem (in addition), which takes position 1 and pushes the verb packe into position 2, and it justifies the item with weil (because), which sends the verb ist to the end. The paragraph closes with a polite request in Könntest du (could you), so the suggestion involves Carla too.

The third paragraph is content point 3, the question. Eine Frage habe ich noch (I have one more question) announces it, and the question itself is an either-or question, train or car, which makes it easy for Carla to answer. The last sentence asks for a reply and gives a purpose with damit (so that), another clause with the verb at the end, so the email ends with a clear goal rather than trailing off.

The closing line and the sign-off finish the skeleton. Bis Samstag (see you Saturday) looks ahead to the meeting, Liebe Grüße is the informal Gruß that matches Liebe Carla, and it takes no comma or full stop before the name on the next line.

The plain version and what the connected one adds

The same task can be answered correctly at A2 level, and the book prints that version too, so that the difference is visible. Both versions cover all three points, both are the right length, and both use du correctly. What separates them is connection, and connected text is rewarded in this exam.

Four changes turn this plain version into the connected one above. The connected version links acceptance and reason with denn in one sentence, instead of adding the reason as a separate short sentence. It makes a real suggestion with Ich schlage vor, dass and justifies the rain jacket with weil. It asks an either-or question, train or car, rather than an open one. And it asks for a reply with damit ich planen kann, which gives the whole email a purpose. The table lists the four connectors the model uses and where each one puts the verb.

Redemittel to take into the exam

Five phrases from the model can be reused in any invitation email, whatever the friend is inviting you to. Each one fills a slot of the skeleton, so learn them by the job they do rather than as a bare list.

A second task and its model answer

The book closes the unit with a task of the same shape for you to write yourself, and the model solution is printed at the back. Try it before reading the answer, then compare point by point. The three content points here are acceptance, a question about when and where to meet, and a suggestion for afterwards.

Notice that the same four connectors return in the same roles, denn for the reason behind the acceptance, damit for the purpose of arriving early, außerdem to add the suggestion, weil to justify it. The greeting changed to Lieber because Timo is a man, and the sign-off stayed Liebe Grüße. Everything else is the skeleton, filled in for a new situation.

Where this comes from

This page condenses Unit 12 of The Art of Writing, Goethe B1, Teil 1: die E-Mail, in the Prüfung section of the book, together with the Timo model answer from the solutions at the back. The unit prints the exam strategy, Version A and Version B side by side with their English translations, the list of differences, the Redemittel and the writing assignment. The five-part skeleton it relies on is the subject of the book's first chapter, Der Bauplan, which is summarised on German B1 letter writing: the blueprint and the Redemittel.

The other exam units of the book treat the remaining letter types in the same way, and the connectors used here are explained with their verb positions on weil, denn, deshalb: German connectors and where the verb goes. A free sample of the book is available on the book page.

Continue with

• German B1 letter writing: the blueprint and the Redemittel
• weil, denn, deshalb: German connectors and where the verb goes