5.3 Personal Letters, Emails & Postcards

Connect short ideas for a real reader

A personal email, letter or postcard can describe a trip, thank a host, make an invitation or reply to news. CAPLE lists writing simple informal personal texts as a CIPLE skill. A useful A2 response supplies the information the reader needs in short connected sentences. It does not require an elaborate rhetorical essay or one compulsory four-paragraph format.

In the exercises here, use a 60–80-word target to practise selecting details. On exam day, follow the length and actions printed on your actual task. The public specification confirms two short texts, but it does not establish the automatic word-count penalties or “top-band” length windows asserted in some preparation material. This guide uses transparent practice counts and qualitative feedback instead of inventing a marking grid.

Extract the requested actions

Read the prompt before composing a greeting. For a holiday message it may ask you to say where you are, describe two activities and invite your friend to join you. Write those actions as a checklist. A beautiful description of the weather still leaves a gap if no invitation appears.

Use a past form for a completed event, a present form for the current situation and ir + infinitive for a plan when appropriate. You do not have to put every verb in the past merely because one part of the prompt concerns yesterday.

Model 1: Holiday email

Original practice prompt: Estás em Tavira. Diz como está o tempo, conta duas atividades que fizeste e convida o Tiago para passar o sábado contigo. Escreve 60–80 palavras neste exercício.

Olá Tiago,

Estou a passar férias em Tavira com a minha família. O tempo está ótimo. Ontem fui à praia e visitei o mercado municipal. Gostei muito do peixe fresco e das ruas tranquilas do centro. Queres passar o sábado connosco? Podemos encontrar-nos às dez na estação e depois almoçar perto do rio. Diz-me se podes vir para combinarmos tudo.

Um abraço, Daniel.

Under this guide's whitespace-based practice convention, the message has 63 words. The greeting establishes the reader; the first paragraph supplies location, weather and two past activities; the invitation supplies a day, possible meeting time and place. The words e, depois and para connect ideas without making the sentences difficult to follow. The text is an original model, not a guaranteed passing script.

Model 2: Thank a host

Original practice prompt: Passaste o fim de semana em casa da Beatriz. Agradece a estadia, recorda uma atividade e convida-a para visitar a tua cidade. Usa o mesmo alvo de 60–80 palavras.

Olá Beatriz,

Já cheguei a casa e queria agradecer o fim de semana em Coimbra. A tua família foi muito simpática e senti-me muito bem. Gostei especialmente do passeio pelo jardim e do jantar que preparaste no sábado. Agora é a tua vez de visitar Braga. Estás livre no próximo mês? Podemos passear pelo centro e visitar o museu. Diz-me que dia preferes.

Beijinhos, Sofia.

This model has 65 words under the practice convention. It includes thanks, a remembered activity and a concrete return invitation. Queria agradecer is a courteous present intention in context even though queria is an imperfect form. Preparaste identifies a completed past action by the addressee. The model invites the reader to choose a day rather than pretending that an arrangement is already confirmed.

Write a postcard with fewer social preliminaries

A postcard may have little space. Put the place and one distinctive activity early: Estou no Porto. Ontem fiz um passeio junto ao rio e tirei muitas fotografias. Add a feeling or preference: Gostei muito da cidade, mas estava frio. Close with a relevant plan or greeting. Do not add an invitation if the actual prompt asks for something different.

An email can use short paragraphs to separate a description from a request. A postcard may fit in one paragraph. Organisation should help the reader follow the message; paragraph count is not a substitute for content. Likewise, a familiar closing such as Um abraço is suitable for many personal messages, while an enquiry to a service may need Bom dia and Com os melhores cumprimentos.

Diagnose specific problems in a draft

Suppose a draft says Ontem vou ao mercado. A cidade são bonita. Vem cá. Revise the completed action to Ontem fui ao mercado. Match the verb and adjective to the singular feminine subject: A cidade é bonita. Make the invitation usable: Queres vir no sábado? Podemos encontrar-nos na estação às dez. Each change repairs an identifiable communication problem.

A longer text is not automatically better. If the prompt asks about two activities, give enough detail to distinguish them and leave space for the request. Avoid a memorised travel paragraph containing facts unrelated to the assigned location. If you know a natural phrase in another Portuguese variety, do not assume it is a foreign-language intrusion; check meaning and consistency rather than inventing a national-variety penalty.

Finish with a reader's check

Read your response as the recipient. Can that person tell what happened, what you felt and what you want them to do? Check that dates and times match throughout. Verify that every instruction is covered and that the actual length constraint is respected. Use invented personal details where CAPLE's task/anonymity instructions require them. For additional practice, write a new message about a different place without copying the model's sentences, then explain which sentence fulfils each requested action.