Writing: Producing Accurate and Register-Appropriate Korean
What the writing task asks of you
Writing tasks assess whether you can produce coherent Korean text for a stated audience and purpose: a personal email, a diary entry, a short opinion paragraph, or a message to a teacher or friend. You must control sentence structure, verb endings, and register. The critical decision is speech level: 합니다체 for formal writing and notices, 해요체 for polite everyday communication, and 해체/반말 only for close friends or younger listeners. Getting this wrong is a global error that affects the whole response.
Concepts to master
Use connectives to link ideas smoothly rather than writing disconnected short sentences: -고 (and), -지만 (but), -아서/어서 (so/because), -는데 (background/contrast), -려고 (intention). Control tense consistently, including past -았/었- and future -ㄹ 것이다 / -겠-. Use honorific forms correctly when writing to a superior: 선생님께, -(으)시-, 계시다. Nominalisation (-기, -는 것) helps you express opinions: 저는 …라고 생각합니다.
Traps to expect
Mixing speech levels mid-text is the most common penalty. Another trap is literal translation from English, producing unnatural word order or the wrong particle. Watch out for irregular verbs (듣다 → 들어요, 돕다 → 도와요, 살다 → 사는) and for spacing errors that change meaning (못 하다 vs 못하다). Under-length responses that omit the required content points lose marks even when the grammar is clean.
Rule of thumb
Plan three points before writing: audience/register, required content, and two connectives you will use. Then check every verb ending for consistency.
Worked example: To a teacher, write 「선생님, 이번 주 금요일에 시간이 있으세요?」 - honorific 계시다 is not needed here, but -(으)세요 and the address term 선생님 set the register. Rewriting it as 「선생님, 금요일에 시간 있어?」 drops the honorific and breaks register.