## What examiners actually reward

Writing is where candidates lose the most avoidable marks, and usually not because their
Portuguese is weak. They lose marks by not answering the task, or by running out of words.

Five things score well:

1. **Answer every part of the task.** If the prompt asks you to apologise *and* suggest a new
   time, do both. A missing required point is the most common reason for lost marks.
2. **Hit the word count.** Each task gives a target range. Too short looks incomplete. Padding
   adds errors. Aim for the middle.
3. **Use the right register.** *Tu* with a friend, the formal form with a stranger or an
   institution. Getting this backwards is noticed.
4. **Keep the grammar simple and correct.** Short correct sentences beat ambitious broken ones.
5. **Organise it.** A greeting, the message, a sign-off. That is enough structure.

## A skeleton that works for almost any A2 task

- Greeting: *Olá, [name]!* or *Bom dia,*
- One sentence saying why you are writing
- One short sentence for each thing the prompt asks for
- A closing line: *Até já*, *Cumprimentos*, *Obrigado* or *Obrigada*
- Your name

Fill that in, tick each bullet in the prompt, then count your words. That alone puts you ahead of
most candidates.

## The mistakes to drill out

Forgetting a required point. Wrong register. No greeting or sign-off, which are free marks.
Translating from English word for word. Going far over or under the range.

## Where this sits in the grade

Writing is marked together with reading as a single component worth 45% of your total, the
heaviest of the three. It is also the component you can move the most with practice.

Our tool focuses on the reading half of that component. Pair the template above with steady
reading practice and you are working on the part of the exam that decides most results.