Writing in Russian: Structure, Register and Accuracy
What this section tests
Writing in Russian requires you to produce a coherent text of the required length and text type - a personal letter, an email, a diary entry, a notice, or a short opinion piece. Marks come from three areas: content (all bullet points addressed and developed), range and accuracy (vocabulary, grammar, spelling), and structure and register (organisation, linking, appropriate formality).
Concepts you must control
Plan according to text type conventions: a Russian personal letter opens with Привет, [имя]! and closes with До свидания / Пиши; a formal email uses Уважаемый/Уважаемая and Вы throughout. Control aspect deliberately - use perfective for single completed events, imperfective for description and habit. Vary sentence structure with потому что, поэтому, хотя, если, когда, чтобы. Use time expressions (сначала, потом, через неделю, в прошлом году) to organise narrative. Check prepositional case after prepositions and verb conjugation as your final pass.
Traps to expect
- Ignoring one bullet point - the most common lost content mark.
- Mixing ты and вы within one text.
- Over-reliance on short simple sentences, which caps range marks.
- Calquing English word order instead of natural Russian emphasis.
- Spelling of unstressed vowels (проверяемые гласные) and ь after sibilants.
Rule of thumb
Spend the first five minutes planning: list the bullet points, note 2–3 key phrases for each, decide your opening and closing. Then write. Reserve the last five minutes to check verb endings, case endings and agreement.
Worked example
Task: write a letter to a Russian friend about a school trip. Plan: greeting; where and when; what you did; what you liked most; closing question. Draft sentence: «Мы ездили в музей, который находится в центре города, и больше всего мне понравилась выставка старых фотографий.» This shows past tense, a relative clause and a superlative - three structures in one sentence.