Written Production
The writing section tests short functional production at A2: a message, email, note, form, or simple description. You must communicate a clear purpose with understandable vocabulary and basic grammatical control, not write an essay.
What is assessed
- Task response: did you do what the prompt asked?
- Organization: greeting, body, closing; logical order of ideas.
- Grammar: verb placement, subject–verb agreement, basic case use.
- Vocabulary: everyday words used appropriately; circumlocution when a word is missing.
- Coherence: connectors such as “og,” “en,” “því að,” “af því að,” “svo,” “samt,” “líka.”
Core rules
- In main clauses the verb is the second element: “Ég get ekki komið” - not “Ég ekki get komið.”
- If a sentence starts with an adverb, invert subject and verb: “Á morgun fer ég í skólann.”
- Use “að” before an infinitive: “Ég ætla að fara.”
- Prepositions govern case: “með honum” (dative), “fyrir hann” (accusative), “til hans” (genitive).
- Keep sentences short and connected rather than translating long English sentences.
Worked example
Task: Write a short email to a friend declining a dinner invitation because you are working late, and suggest Saturday instead. Model: “Sæl Anna. Takk fyrir boðið. Ég get því miður ekki komið á fimmtudaginn því að ég er að vinna til seint. Getum við hist á laugardaginn í staðinn? Kveðja, Jón.” Reasoning: “því miður” softens the refusal; “því að” gives the reason; “Getum við” shows correct inversion in a question; “í staðinn” means instead. The message answers both parts of the task.
Traps that cost marks
- English word order: “Ég ekki get” instead of “Ég get ekki.”
- Omitting “að”: “Ég ætla fara” instead of “Ég ætla að fara.”
- Wrong case after a preposition, especially “með” and “fyrir.”
- Writing a long, unclear text that misses the greeting or the closing.
- Forgetting to answer one part of a two-part prompt.