Guided E-mail Writing: Meeting Four Conditions in 25-35 Words
Your English teacher gives this writing task: Write an e-mail to your friend Ben. Use 25-35 words. Include all four conditions: (1) tell him when your school festival is, (2) invite him to come, (3) tell him one thing you will do together, (4) ask him a question. Your draft says: 'Hi Ben. My school festival is in October 12. Please come to my school. We can eat takoyaki.' The teacher marks it 'conditions 1-3 are OK, but condition 4 is missing, and there is one grammar problem with the date phrase.' You must rewrite the e-mail within the word limit and explain the grammar problem. You also want to keep a friendly tone and not add information that is not in the conditions.
1. Rewrite the e-mail so that it meets all four conditions and stays within 25-35 words.
Read the worked answer
One acceptable version: 'Hi Ben, my school festival is on October 12. Please come and enjoy it with me. We can eat takoyaki together. What time can you come?'
This is 26 words. It meets condition 1 with 'on October 12,' condition 2 with 'Please come,' condition 3 with 'eat takoyaki together,' and condition 4 with 'What time can you come?' The friendly tone comes from 'Hi Ben' and 'enjoy it with me.' It adds no new event or place, so it does not go beyond the conditions.
2. Explain the grammar problem with 'in October 12' and why your version uses 'on.'
Read the worked answer
English uses 'on' with a specific date: on October 12. 'In' is used with a month or year alone, as in 'in October' or 'in 2025,' or with a longer period. Because October 12 names one particular day, 'on' is required. The same rule applies to 'on Monday' and 'on my birthday' when the day is specific. So the correction is 'on October 12,' not 'in October 12.'
3. The draft is 19 words. Explain how your rewrite reaches the required length without adding a new condition.
Read the worked answer
The draft is short because it uses three short sentences and does not ask a question. The rewrite adds only words that serve the required conditions: 'and enjoy it with me' supports the invitation, 'together' makes condition 3 clearer, and 'What time can you come?' supplies condition 4. These additions are friendly phrasing, not new content. Counting the words also matters: the rewrite must stay at or below 35 words, so adding a long extra sentence about food or weather would break the limit without helping any condition.