Writing: Short Conditional English Composition
What the writing task requires
The conditional English composition task gives a topic and conditions: a word limit, a required word or structure, and often two content points. You are scored on content, organization, vocabulary, and grammar. Simple, correct English beats ambitious, broken English.
Core rules
- Underline every condition before writing: topic, length, required word, number of reasons, sentence count.
- Plan two or three short sentences: answer + reason/example + closing.
- Use a reliable pattern: 'I want to ... because ...' / 'If ..., I will ...' / 'I think ... because ...'
- Count words roughly: 15-25 words is about two short sentences; do not go far over.
- Check tense consistency, third-person -s, articles, and spelling.
Worked example
Prompt: 'Write 15-25 words about what you want to do this summer and why. Use because.' Plan: activity = visit grandmother in Niigata; reason = learn her cooking. Draft: 'I want to visit my grandmother in Niigata this summer because I want to learn how to cook her special dishes.' Reason: It answers both parts, uses 'because,' and is 22 words. It stays within the limit and uses simple present + infinitive correctly.
Traps
- Writing 40 words when the limit is 25; extra words can add errors.
- Forgetting the required word or the second content point.
- Using Japanese-style phrasing such as 'I want to became' or 'I enjoyed to play.'
- Changing tense in the middle without reason.
- Adding an unrelated opinion that does not answer the prompt.