July 21, 2026
B1 Writing (Schreiben): the Emails and Letters That Actually Pass
The B1 writing section is the most gameable part of the whole exam, and most people who fail it fail for reasons that have nothing to do with their German. They lose marks because they missed a content point, wrote a formal greeting on an informal task, or ran out of time on the third piece. The tasks at B1 are short and completely predictable in shape. Once you know exactly what Goethe and telc ask for, you can walk in with the skeletons already memorized and spend your time on content, not on figuring out how to say hello.
This post is the B1-specific version of our general guide to formal German letters and emails. At B1 the twist is that you don't only write formally. You switch registers between tasks, and getting that switch right is half the score.
What the B1 writing section actually is
The two exams structure writing very differently, and that difference decides how you budget your time.
| Goethe-Zertifikat B1 | telc Deutsch B1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of writing tasks | 3 | 1 |
| Total time | 60 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Task 1 | Informal email, ~80 words (du) | One semi-formal letter/email, ~4 content points |
| Task 2 | Forum/opinion post, ~80 words | — |
| Task 3 | Semi-formal message, ~40 words (Sie) | — |
| Is it a separate module? | Yes, Schreiben is its own module | No, part of the written block |
Goethe's Schreiben is an independent module: 100 points, and you need 60 to pass it on its own. telc bundles writing into a larger written block (reading, language elements, listening, and writing together), and the block passes as a whole at 60%. So a shaky letter on telc can be carried by a strong reading score, while on Goethe the writing module stands or falls by itself. That is worth knowing before you decide which exam to sit. We compare the two head to head in Goethe B1 vs telc B1.
Goethe B1 Schreiben, task by task
Goethe gives you 60 minutes and three separate tasks. The official model set (Modellsatz) lays out exactly this shape, and it doesn't change from sitting to sitting.
Aufgabe 1: the informal email (~80 words, du)
You write to a friend or family member. In the model set it's a friend who missed your birthday party, and you have to describe the party, say which present you liked and why, and suggest meeting up. Three content points, always given as bullet points in the prompt.
This is the du task. Greet with Liebe Anna / Lieber Tom, use du/dich/dein throughout, and close with something warm: Viele Grüße, Liebe Grüße, or Bis bald. Writing Sehr geehrte here is an instant register error, and markers notice it in the first line.
Budget about 20 minutes. It carries the same weight as Aufgabe 2, so don't rush it to get to the "harder" tasks.
Aufgabe 2: the forum post (~80 words)
You respond to a forum or guestbook post on an everyday topic. In the model set the topic is personal contact versus the internet, and you give your opinion. This is a semi-formal opinion piece, not a letter, so it has no salutation or sign-off. You jump straight into your view.
What examiners want here is a clear position plus reasons. Open with your stance, back it with an example or two, and round off with a conclusion. Reach for opinion Redemittel: Ich bin der Meinung, dass…, Meiner Meinung nach…, Einerseits… andererseits…, Ich finde es wichtig, dass…. Budget about 25 minutes, since organizing an argument takes longer than filling in a chatty email.
Aufgabe 3: the semi-formal message (~40 words, Sie)
The short one, and the one people botch by running out of time. You write a brief message to someone you address formally, in the model set your course instructor Frau Müller, to decline a meeting and explain why. Only about 40 words, but it must open with Sehr geehrte Frau Müller (or Liebe Frau Müller if you've been told you know her), hold Sie throughout, and close with Mit freundlichen Grüßen.
Aufgabe 3 is scored differently from the other two. On tasks 1 and 2, each of the four criteria (task fulfillment, coherence, vocabulary, structures) is worth up to 10 points. On task 3, fulfillment and coherence are capped at 4 points each while vocabulary and structures are worth up to 6. It's lighter, but it's still points, and it's the easiest task to nail if you don't leave it starved of time. Save 15 minutes for it.
All three are scored on the same four criteria: Erfüllung (did you cover the content points), Kohärenz (does it hang together, with connectors like deshalb, weil, aber), Wortschatz (range of vocabulary), and Strukturen (grammar and sentence variety). Cover the points and hold the register, and you've banked the first two before grammar even enters the picture.
telc B1 writing: one letter, done well
telc is simpler in shape and tighter on time. You get 30 minutes to write one text, almost always a semi-formal letter or email, responding to a situation with four content points (Leitpunkte) you must address. A typical prompt: a friend or a course has invited you to something, and you reply covering four given bullets (thank them, explain a problem, make a suggestion, ask a question, for example).
Most telc B1 letters land in the semi-formal register: you know the person a little, so Liebe/r… with du, or Sehr geehrte/r… with Sie if the addressee is an institution or someone you don't know. Read the prompt's addressee carefully before you pick. Aim for roughly 80 to 120 words. There's no hard word limit, but too short and you can't cover four points properly.
The telc scoring penalty for skipped content points is brutal, and it's the number one reason competent writers fail this section. Miss one of the four Leitpunkte and your content mark drops sharply. Miss two and it drops again. Miss three or four and the content criterion can go to zero, which drags the whole letter down with it. Underline all four points in the prompt, then physically check each one off against a sentence in your draft before you stop.
The set phrases that do the work
At B1 you are not expected to write original prose. You're expected to assemble a letter from reliable building blocks (Redemittel) and slot your own content in between. Memorize a small stock for each register and you can build almost any B1 task.
Informal openings (du):
- Wie geht es dir? — How are you?
- Danke für deine E-Mail / deinen Brief. — Thanks for your email/letter.
- Ich habe mich sehr über deine Nachricht gefreut. — I was really happy about your message.
Semi-formal / formal openings (Sie):
- Ich schreibe Ihnen, weil… — I'm writing to you because…
- Vielen Dank für Ihre Nachricht. — Thank you for your message.
Giving an opinion (for the forum task):
- Meiner Meinung nach… — In my opinion…
- Ich bin der Meinung, dass… — I think that…
- Einerseits… andererseits… — On the one hand… on the other…
Making a request or suggestion:
- Könntest du / Könnten Sie…? — Could you…?
- Wollen wir uns treffen? — Shall we meet up?
- Ich würde vorschlagen, dass… — I would suggest that…
Closings:
- Informal: Viele Grüße, Liebe Grüße, Bis bald
- Formal: Mit freundlichen Grüßen (no comma after it)
Capitalize the formal Sie, Ihnen, and Ihr when they mean "you"/"your". Ich danke Ihnen takes a capital on Ihnen. The informal du/dich/dein stays lowercase. Getting this right is a fast, visible signal to a marker that you know the register you're in.
Worked model answers you can reuse
Here's a Goethe Aufgabe 1 informal email, covering three content points (describe a weekend trip, say what you liked, suggest meeting). Swap the details and the frame fits almost any du task.
Liebe Sara,
wie geht es dir? Am Wochenende war ich mit meiner Familie in Hamburg. Wir haben eine Hafenrundfahrt gemacht und viel gesehen.
Am besten hat mir das Miniatur Wunderland gefallen, weil die kleinen Modelle so genau sind. Das musst du unbedingt auch mal sehen.
Wollen wir uns nächste Woche treffen? Dann erzähle ich dir mehr. Melde dich einfach.
Liebe Grüße Elena
And a Goethe Aufgabe 3 semi-formal message, declining a meeting with a course instructor, in about 40 words:
Sehr geehrte Frau Müller,
leider kann ich am Donnerstag nicht zu unserem Termin kommen, weil ich einen Arzttermin habe. Könnten wir das Gespräch bitte auf nächste Woche verschieben? Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen Elena Rossi
Notice how little of either is invented. The greeting, wie geht es dir, am besten hat mir… gefallen, wollen wir uns treffen, leider kann ich nicht, könnten wir… verschieben, vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis, the closings, all of it is stock. The only original content is the specific detail. That's the whole trick at B1: assemble the frame from memory, spend your thinking on the content points.
Practice against the real prompts
The single best material to rehearse against is the exam's own. Both providers publish free model sets with the exact task types, sample answers, and the marking grid, so you can score your own writing the way an examiner will. Do not spend money on third-party mocks until you've exhausted these. We cover the full free set in the best free practice materials for the Goethe and telc exams.
The official free practice area for the Goethe-Zertifikat B1. It includes the full Modellsatz with the three writing tasks (informal email, forum post, semi-formal message), model answers, and the grading criteria. Rehearse your writing against these real prompts under the 60-minute clock.
telc's official free-downloads area, where you can get a free Übungstest (mock exam) for Deutsch B1 including the writing task and the four content points you'll have to cover. This is the authentic telc format, not an approximation.
For the register mechanics underneath both exams, the formal German letter and email guide goes deeper on salutations and closings, and since a passing B1 letter lives or dies on verb placement, it's worth being solid on German word order first. To see how the exam tests the other productive skill, we walk through the B1 speaking exam step by step. And for the full format, fees, and registration, see our guides to the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 and telc Deutsch B1.
Write ten of each task using the skeletons above, checking every content point off against a sentence and holding the register from greeting to sign-off, and the B1 writing section stops being a gamble. It becomes the part of the exam you can predict.