The Tense-Choice Rewrite
A candidate is asked to complete a short writing task: describe a job they once had and a plan for the future. Their draft reads: "I work in a restaurant for six months last year. I am a waiter there. It is very busy on weekends. Next year I will want to study nursing, so I am saving money now. I hope I will have finished the course by 2028." The marker must decide whether the errors reflect a low grammar level or a narrow but real control of some structures, and must give feedback that is accurate and not overwhelming.
1. Classify each verb-form issue in the draft and judge the overall grammar level.
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Sort the forms into errors vs correct control:
- "I work in a restaurant for six months last year" - error: finished past time ("last year", "for six months") requires past simple → "worked".
- "I am a waiter there" / "It is very busy" - error: these describe the past job; past simple needed → "was".
- "Next year I will want to study" - awkward but not wrong; "I want to study" or "I'm going to study" is more natural. Flag as style, not error.
- "I am saving money now" - correct: present continuous for current action.
- "I hope I will have finished the course by 2028" - correct and ambitious: future perfect with "by" used accurately.
Judgement: the candidate has a narrow but genuine command - they control present continuous and even future perfect, but collapse to present tense for past narration. That is a specific, teachable gap (past simple for finished events), not a uniformly low level. Place at a level where past-tense narration is the priority target.
2. Write feedback (2-3 sentences) that names the main pattern without listing every error.
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Model feedback:
"You already control some advanced forms well - your sentence about finishing the course by 2028 uses the future perfect correctly, and your present continuous ('I am saving') is accurate. The main pattern to work on is talking about finished past events: when you describe your old job, use the past simple ('I worked', 'I was a waiter', 'it was busy') rather than the present. Fix that one pattern and this paragraph will read much more accurately."
Why this works: it leads with genuine strength (so the learner isn't overwhelmed), names one dominant pattern with concrete before/after examples, and deliberately omits minor style points ("will want") to keep the target focused.