Formal emails to offices, landlords and employers, friendly messages and forum posts: the texts you need in Germany and in every B1 exam. Write, check, compare with the model.
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German letters and emails follow clear conventions, and exams check them. Write formally (with Sie) to offices, landlords, employers, companies and people you don't know; write informally (with du) to friends, family and colleagues you are on first-name terms with.
| Formal | Informal | |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting | Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, / Sehr geehrte Frau Krüger, / Sehr geehrter Herr Klein, | Liebe Sara, / Lieber Jonas, / Hallo Aman, |
| You | Sie, Ihnen, Ihr (capital letter) | du, dich, dir, dein |
| Requests | Könnten Sie bitte …? Ich würde mich freuen, wenn … | Kannst du …? Hast du Lust, …? |
| Closing | Mit freundlichen Grüßen | Viele Grüße / Liebe Grüße / Bis bald |
After the comma in the greeting, the first word starts with a small letter unless it is a noun or Sie.
The trainer checks form and content points automatically. It cannot check every grammar mistake, so always compare your text with the model answer, and practise the grammar in the B1 lessons.
Most B1 writing tasks ask for about 80 to 100 words for a message or forum post and around 40 to 80 words for a short formal email. Follow the number in your task; the trainer shows the range for each task.
No. It checks the form (greeting, closing, du or Sie, length), connectors and whether you covered the content points. Compare your grammar with the model answer or ask a teacher.
Always when it means the polite 'you': Sie, Ihnen, Ihr. Lowercase sie means she or they.
