Writing in Italian: Register, Structure and Accuracy
What this domain asks you to do
Writing tasks require you to produce a text of roughly 100–200 words in a specified format: an email, a letter, a diary entry, a notice, an article or a short story. You are assessed on relevance to the task, range and accuracy of language, and organisation.
Planning and format
Read the prompt for the audience, purpose and required points, and tick each point as you cover it. Use the correct conventions: an email opens with Caro/Cara or Gentile and closes with A presto, Cordiali saluti, Un caro saluto; a formal letter uses Le scrivo in merito a and La ringrazio anticipatamente; a diary uses the past tenses and personal reflection; an article has a title and a conclusion.
Language range
Show variety: mix tenses (passato prossimo, imperfetto, futuro, condizionale), use connectives (innanzitutto, inoltre, però, quindi, infine), and include complex structures such as relative clauses (la città in cui vivo), perché clauses and impersonal si. Keep register consistent - do not mix tu and Lei in the same formal text.
Traps
Candidates lose marks by missing one bullet point, writing too little, or copying memorised sentences that do not fit the task. Common accuracy errors: wrong auxiliary, participle agreement, di instead of da with time (da tre anni), wrong preposition with cities and countries (a Roma, in Italia, negli Stati Uniti), and accent omission (perché, città, più, è vs e). Leave two minutes to check verbs, agreements and accents.
Worked example
Prompt: Scrivi un'email a un amico italiano per invitarlo a visitare la tua città. Model opening: Ciao Marco, come stai? Ti scrivo perché vorrei invitarti a passare qualche giorno qui da me. Note the tu form, the conditional for politeness, and the clear statement of purpose in the first line; then give two or three concrete reasons and a closing invitation.
Rule of thumb
Plan for three minutes, write for twelve, and reserve the last three for checking verbs, agreements and accents - one missed bullet costs more than one small error.