Schreiben: how to write a German exam letter that scores full marks

The writing module is the most controllable part of the German exam. Reading depends on the text you get, listening on the recording, speaking on your partner. Writing depends almost entirely on habits you can build in three weeks.

Marks come in this order

1. Task fulfilment - did you cover every given content point?
2. Register - formal or informal, consistently.
3. Structure and coherence - greeting, purpose, points, request, closing.
4. Range - varied structures and vocabulary.
5. Accuracy - grammar and spelling.

Notice that accuracy is last. Candidates routinely sacrifice the first three chasing the fifth: they write short, safe, incomplete answers with perfect grammar and lose more marks than someone with a messier but complete text.

The skeleton that works at every level

Anrede → reason for writing → content points, one per paragraph → polite request or next step → Gruß.

Formal: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, … Mit freundlichen Grüßen. Informal: Liebe Anna, … Viele Grüße. Never cross the two. A formal opening with Liebe Grüße, dein Ali at the bottom is the single most visible register error there is.

Phrases worth memorising

• Reason for writing: ich schreibe Ihnen, weil … / ich wende mich an Sie, weil …
• Apologising: leider kann ich nicht …, weil … / ich bitte um Entschuldigung für …
• Requesting: könnten Sie mir bitte mitteilen, ob … / ich würde mich freuen, wenn Sie …
• Complaining: leider muss ich Ihnen mitteilen, dass … / ich erwarte, dass das Problem bis … behoben wird.
• Opinion (B1 forum post): meiner Meinung nach … / einerseits … andererseits … / ich bin der Meinung, dass …

Level by level

A1

A form plus a short message of roughly 30 words. Three sentences that hit the three given points beat a paragraph that hits two. Check capitalised nouns and verb position - that is most of the accuracy mark at this level.

A2

A short message and a semi-formal reply. Bring in the Perfekt and one subordinate clause with weil or dass. That alone lifts the range mark.

B1

Goethe gives you three tasks in about an hour: a forum post with an opinion, a semi-formal email and a short formal message. telc and the DTZ give you one longer semi-formal letter. In both cases, the B1 markers are: an opinion with a reason, a Konjunktiv II politeness formula, a connector that structures an argument (obwohl, trotzdem, deshalb), and correct formal closing.

The exam-day routine

1. Two minutes: number the content points in the margin.
2. Two minutes: jot one German keyword per point - not sentences.
3. Write: one paragraph per point, in the given order.
4. Three minutes: check the four cheap things - verb position, capital letters on nouns, Sie/du consistency, closing formula.

Those last three minutes typically recover more marks than any equivalent time spent writing more.

Mistakes examiners see every session

• Skipping a content point - the most expensive mistake in the module.
• Mixing Sie and du inside one letter.
• Writing far over the word count and running out of time to check.
• No greeting or no closing - free marks, thrown away.
• Memorised paragraphs pasted in regardless of the prompt. Markers notice, and unrelated content earns nothing.

Practise with correction, not just repetition

Writing without feedback rehearses your errors. Write one task every other day and have it marked: PassDeutsch scores your answer against exam criteria and tells you which content point was missing, where the register slipped and which grammar mistakes repeat. You can type the answer or photograph a handwritten one - and since the exam is handwritten, paper is the better rehearsal.