50 useful phrases for Goethe B1 writing (PDF)

Don't learn all fifty in a row. For each task, pick one phrase for each job: one to open, one for your opinion, one for an example, one to close. Learn those well enough to write them without a mistake — that's 15–20 phrases for the whole exam.

The phrases are a frame, not the text. The examiner grades whether you've covered the task and how you write in your own words. A text stitched together from memorised phrases reads as memorised and loses points on vocabulary: the examiner sees the same expressions in every other candidate's paper.

Three rules that are checked in every task:

• after "weil", "dass" and "wenn" the verb goes to the end: …, weil ich krank bin;
• the greeting ends with a comma and the letter carries on with a lowercase letter — not a capital, as it would in English: Lieber Jonas, schade, dass …;
• there's no comma after "Viele Grüße" or "Mit freundlichen Grüßen", however natural "Best wishes," feels.

A letter to a friend, using du, about 80 words. The task has three points: describe what happened, explain what you liked or why, and suggest something, invite your friend somewhere, or ask them for something.

Your opinion on a TV programme's topic, about 80 words. This isn't a letter: no greeting, no signature. You need an opinion, a reason, an example, and a response to someone else's comment in the guestbook. The structure is set out in the Forumsbeitrag article.

A short letter using Sie, about 40 words: a teacher, a manager, a doctor or a landlord has invited you to something and you can't come. You need to apologise politely and explain why. Greeting and sign-off in detail: the formal letter article.

Some phrases turn up in candidates' texts all the time, and they cost points:

• "Hallo Frau Keller" and "Liebe Frau Keller" in a formal letter. It has to be "Sehr geehrte Frau Keller".
• "Kannst du …?" in a formal letter. English has one "you" for everyone, which makes this slip easy. A single "du" instead of "Sie" is a style error, and style is part of task fulfilment.
• "Mit freundlichen Grüßen," with a comma, and signing with a first name only.
• "Ich bin einverstanden mit dir" in Aufgabe 2. It's a chat reply, not an opinion on the topic. Better: "Ich sehe das genauso wie Petra".
• "Wie geht es dir? Mir geht es gut." at the start of Aufgabe 1. That's eight words that don't cover a single point of the task.
• "Meiner Meinung nach ich finde …" — "in my opinion, I think": two opening phrases back to back, and the verb isn't in second place. Either "Meiner Meinung nach ist …" or "Ich finde, …".

Check how the phrases work in your own text, not in a list. In doch! you can write a response to a free Schreiben task and get feedback against the exam's four criteria: where a phrase did its job, and where it reads as memorised.