Useful Phrases for Informal Letters PET

Useful Phrases for Informal Letters On this page we will look at some useful phrases for informal letters (PET Writing Part 3).

Phrases The words and expressions below are often used by natie speakers when writing to friends and relaties. !sing them will help you write in an informal style and will also help you organise your letter into "lear paragraphs. Starting your letter (Paragraph 1)

Thanks for your letter. #oely to hear from you. $ow are you% $ow are things% $ope you&re well.

Commenting on something (Paragraph 1)

'&m sorry to hearlearn ... '&m so pleased to hear ... 't&s great to hear ... What wonderful news about ...

Moving the topic on (Paragraph 2)

nyway* the reason '&m writing ... ' thought '&d write to tellask you nyway* ' was wondering ...

Ending your letter (Paragraph 3)

Well* that&s all for now Write ba"k soon #ooking forward to hearing from you again ll the best +est wishes

,ee you soon Take "are -ours #oe #ots of loe

Contractions in Informal Letters for the Preliminary English Test On this page we will look at using "ontra"tions in your informal letter (PET Writing Part 3).

Contractions 'n the Part 3 Writing task you hae the "hoi"e of writing an informal le tter. !sing "ontra"tions like &'&m& instead of &' am& or &she&s& instead of &she is& will help "reate an informal style.

ontra"t the words in bra"kets in the following letter/

Dear Claire (It is)

great to hear from you. (I am)

(You are)

a very clever student!

 Anyway (I have) (you would)

so pleased that you passed your exam.

got my summer holiday coming soon and I was wondering if

lie to come and stay with me for a wee. ("e will)

#e a#le to

do some travelling and hopefully en$oy some lovely weather. And as (we are)  planning to tae %C& next year we can practise our &nglish! "rite #ac soon and tell me what you thin. 'y parents send their love and say (they would) love to meet you.

est wishes aren

-ou got 0 right out of 1. The "orre"t answers are/ 't&s great ...* '&m so pleased ...* -ou&re a ery "leer ...* '&e got my summer ...* you&d like to "ome ....* We&ll be able to ...* we&re planning ...* they&d loe to meet you2

Paragraphs in Informal Letters On this page we will look at using "ontra"tions and paragraphs in your informal letter (PET Writing Part 3).

Paragraphs 'n Part 3 of the Writing Paper you hae the "hoi"e of writing an informal letter of around 00 words. 'nformal letters need to be well organised and one way to show your organisation is through the use of paragraphs.  letter of of 00 words "an easily be organised around 3 paragraphs. Paragraph 1 4 the introdu"tion. When we are replying to a letter we usually say something about what was in the original letter. Paragraph 2 4 the main "ontent. Paragraph 3 4 the "on"lusion whi"h usually ends with something like &Write ba"k soon&.

Practise Using Paragraphs The letter below has been written without the use of paragraphs. $ow would you organise the senten"es into paragraphs%

Dear 'iel  It was nice to hear from you. *f course I will help you with your school  pro$ect! You wanted to now a#out a typical morning. "ell on days when I go to college I usually get up a#out +.,, o-cloc. 'y mum always ass me to sit down and have #reafast #efore I leave. nfortunately I don-t have much time and I eat #reafast at college. I go to college #y #us. It taes a#out /, minutes #ut sometimes it-s longer if there-s a lot of traffic.  As soon as I arrive I meet my friends and

get the latest news.  Anyway give my love to your family. "rite #ac soon. est wishes 0teve

$ere&s the letter written with paragraphs.

Dear 'iel  It was nice to hear from you. *f course I will help you with your school pro$ect! You wanted to now a#out a typical morning. "ell on days when I go to college I usually get up a#out +.,, o-cloc. 'y mum always ass me to sit down and have #reafast #efore I leave. nfortunately I don-t have much time and I eat #reafast at college. I go to college #y #us. It taes a#out /, minutes #ut sometimes it-s longer if there-s a lot of traffic. As soon as I arrive I meet my friends and get the latest news.  Anyway give my love to your family. "rite #ac soon. est wishes 0teve

PET Writing Part 2

Writing Part 2 is worth 5% of your total PET mark  You have around 10 minutes to comlete Part 2!  You have to write a "E#Y short note$ only 5 & '5 for writing more!  You +),-T lose marks for small selling and gram  You *T include (( three oints in the 3uestio

se the 3uestion as your P(,! Write 10 words fo heck out the model answer 4elow! 67uess what8 start 4ecause notes are normally written in an info

Practise answering these 3uestions!

1! You recently did a homework ro9ect a4out 2! You have 9u life in :rance and your :rench friend Pierre heled you 4y sending you some Write an email information! email, you shou  Write an email to Pierre. In you email, you should

 tell Jane wh



 say where y



 thank him for his help



 explain why



 explain which information was most useful to you 

 say what your teacher thought about your project. 

Write 5 & '5 words on your answer sheet.

! You are going to 4e a4sent from your ne;t maths class!  Write a note to your maths teacher. In your note, you should

Write 5 & '5 w

 explain why you are going to be absent



 apologise to your teacher 



 ask your teacher for information about next weeks class. 

 Write 5 & '5 words on your answer sheet.


PET #eading Part 5 is ,)T voca4ulary and grammar! There is a te;t with gas! Y with otion $ =$  or +! There are 10 gas to fill! % of your final PET  You have 10 & 15 minutes to 5!

T o i c s a n d 7 a  E;ercises The list is in order of the most


PET Writing Part 1 is ,)T a4ou 7##! The 3uestions are T#,*:)# changing a sentence from assi ),E$ TW)$ or T?#EE words ), 1

!heir father was given his first pony

Their father-s grandmother !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ony!

There are five transformation 3 3uestion is worth 1% of the tota  selling mistake in an answer 3uestion! .A  You only have 5 & 10 minutes to

have to 4e 3uick!

7rammar toics y study The list is in order of the most f  grammar! B1 omaratives$ as!!! as$ the same as C of these in nearly every e;amD/

B2 Past simle$ resent erfect$ never an constitute around 12% of 3uestions!/

B Passive to active and occasionally act AThese constitute around 10% of trans

B' ntonyms oositesF and *ynonyms of Part 1 3uestions/!

B5 Guantifiers. a few$ not many$ most$ all H% of Part 1 3uestions/!

BI ?aveJhas KL there isJare AThese c onsti 3uestions/!

B> *o do
BH lose toJfar fromJnear AThese constitu 3uestions/!

BM #eorted seech to direct seech ATh Part 1 3uestions/!

B1
B1 nlessJas long as$ roviding AThese c 2 3uestions/! B1 *econd conditional AThese constitute  3uestions/! B1 What a4out N &<,7 KL*hall we!!! AThes ' 1 3uestions/! B1 )ther tyes of transformation occasio 5 ?ave versus have got +uring and While ,egative infinitives eg < decided not to )ne of my friends KL a friend of mine To 4e keen on N "er4N<,7 *he goes there in 10 minutes KL