CAE Writing: Grammatical Structures to Use

One of  the four criteria on which your CAE writing papers are going to be assessed is Language. Not only does it evaluate how accurate you are (that is if there are any mistakes in the texts) but also, and it's even more important, how wide the range of  your vocabulary and grammar is. Accuracy and vocabulary range are topics for further posts. What I am going to talk about today is how you can be successful in showing a rich enough range of grammatical structures in your CAE writing papers.

Having studied loads of materials for CAE preparation including such coursebooks as CAE Gold, CAE Objective, Complete CAE and CAE Result, I can say that there is a certain number of grammatical structures which are considered to be sophisticated enough for the advanced level writing. What it means is that you are very likely to get a high score for your range of grammar if you make a good use of these structure.

Here they are

1. Emphasis with Inversion

This is when we use inverted word order  AUXILIARY VERB + SUBJECT (generally characteristic of questions) in affirmative sentences to make them sound more emphatic.

You can use inversion after certain 'negative' expression at the beginning of the sentence:
- never / rarely / seldom / never before /
- not until /  not since / not for one minute / not even once / at no time
- on no account / under no circumstances/ in no way / on no occasion
- only when / only if / only in this way / only then / only after
- little
- not only ... but also
- scarcely / hardly / barely ...when
- no sooner ....than

Here are some example sentences with the inversion:
Never before had I seen such a professional performance.
Not until it was too late did they see the sign.
Under no circumstances should you let children play with fire.
Little did he realise that he was being watched.
Scarcely had she got home when the phone rang.

You can also use inversion in conditional sentences, which is very common in formal pieces of writing such as a letter of complaint or apology. What we do is omit 'if' and change the places of the subject and the predicate.

Should  I receive no satisfaction, I will be forced to take matters a step further.
Had he known, he would have made arrangements. 

You can find a good presentation on Inversion here

2. Cleft Sentences

This is certain structures that help us emphasise a particular part of a sentence.

- IT IS / WAS + SUBJECT / OBJECT + [THAT / WHO ...]
It is the principal who is responsible for the school budget.
It is for the school budget that the principal is responsible.

- WHAT + SUBJECT + VERB + INFINITIVE

What we need is to address the road congestion issue.

- ALL / THE LAST THING + SUBJECT + VERB + IS / WAS

The last thing people want is encroaching on the suburbs.

3. Participial Clauses

They may be used for the following reasons:

- to link two events in time
- to provide a reason
- instead of a conditional construction.

Opening the door, I saw ... (= when I opened the door...)
Being the richest of us, she paid the bill (= because she was the richest...)
Eaten in small quantities, chocolate is good for our health (= if you eat it in small quantities...)

4. Relative Clauses

Be sure you know how to use both identifying and non-identifying relative clauses.

The person to whom the letter is addressed lives is Moscow.
The roads in the inner city are heavily congested, which is why it may take hours to get to your workplace.

5. Comparative Structures (Double Comparatives / All the More)

The more absurd it appeared, the more appealing it became. 
The lack of any programme for changing the industry is all the more striking given the obstacles that the likes of John Davis persistently put in their way.

CAE 2015: Writing: A Letter of Reference

     A letter of reference is supposed to have three key components:

     1) an opening paragraph (sentence) in which  you: 

      - state the purpose of writing; 

      - explain how long and in which capacities    you have known the person;

      2) an evaluation of the person's skills,      character and accomplishments depending on what is being expected by the employer;

3)  a closing paragraph that summarises why and to what degree you would recommend this person.

      Below I have put down some useful expressions and structures for the opening and closing paragraphs as well as for evaluating various kinds of skills

Purpose of writing	I am writing on behalf of… I am writing to recommend … for a position of … with… I am writing in regard to ...’s application..
Relations	I have known … personally and socially for for approximately 5 years /  since childhood for over 2 years during which time she worked as a … in my office we are in the same tutorial group at college and she is a highly qualified candidate for a position is qualified and experienced to accept the challenge of being...
Active position	is involved in her local community, her church and her childrens’ schools
Social skills	has an excellent rapport (gets on) with people of all ages will establish productive relationships with (will be popular with) is used to dealing with …. the social (interpersonal) skills she has learnt in this job should serve her well as .../ enable her to... / allow her to...
Organisational skills	outstanding organisational skills an excellent person to have around in times of crisis dependable not inclined to panic or lose her temper although never bossy, she can take control over difficult situations without upsetting anyone would definitely be able to cope if things went wrong… ...which may come in very useful .. is able to successfully complete multiple tasks with favourable results despite deadline pressure consistently demonstrated leadership abilities
Physical condition	an accomplished sportsman at… she has reached competition level
Communication skills	Her strong verbal and written communication skills allowed her to relay information in a clear and coherent manner. She demonstrated the ability to articulate information and ideas in both the written and verbal forms.
Diligency	She will devote herself to a position with your organisation with a high degree of diligence ...is a direct result of her hard work and strong focus With her enthusiastic commonsense (can do) approach she would ensure…. She has been effective in her efforts to...
Academic performance	exceptional (above-average) academic performance out of a class of 150 students, she graduated with honours in the top 10
Closing	I believe, she would make an excellent…/ would be a valuable asset to ... I am confident that she ... I have no hesitation in recommending her to your company (for the post) I recommend her to you without reservation. I highly recommend her ...

CAE 2015: Writing: Assessment

The four categories in which CAE writing papers are assessed are content, communicative achivement, organisation and language. Each category is marked on a subscale from 0 to 5.

'Content' is about what information you convey. It focuses on how well the task is fulfilled, by which I mean if the writer has done exactly what the question asked.


'Communicative achievement' is about who you are writing to and why. It focuses on whether the writer uses the format and style appropriate for the type of writing. Besides, it evaluates the candidate's ability to communicate ideas effectively and to hold the target reader's attention.

'Organisation' is about how ideas are ordered and linked. It focuses on how the piece of writing is put together: whether ideas are organised in clear paragraphs and if the writer has made a good use of linking words and other cohesive devices.

'Language' is about how you convey the message. In addition to evaluating accuracy, it focuses on the range and complexity of grammatical structures and vocabulary.

The table below shows what abilities candidates need to be successful in each category.

Content	Communicative achievement	Organisation	Language
- fulfil the task requirements - give all the information required	- use the correct register - use the appropriate format	- order information - use a range of cohesive devices effectively	- use a range of vocabulary effectively - use correct grammatical structures

CAE Writing (2015): Tasks Overview

There are several types of text a candidate has to be able to write for CAE:  an essay, a report, a proposal, a review, a formal letter and an informal letter. Each of them requires that candidates follow rather strict conventions including areas such as layout and format (what it looks like and how it is structured); register (how formal it is); functions (the purpose of the text). From the table below you can learn who each text type might be written for, what register is most appropriate in every situation, which functions candidates might be expected to fulfil and which skills it is advisable to practice for achieving success in every type of writing.

Task Type	Target Reader	Register	Functions	Things to practise
An essay	An academic tutor	Formal or neutral	- Present an argument and give reasons for it; - agree or disagree; - give opinion; - judge prioritie	- Effective planning and paragraphing; - linking ideas
A letter / an e-mail	- director of a company / school principal - the editor - a peer	- extremely formal - relatively formal - informal	- narrate personal experience; - give factual information; - give advice; - describe places; - reassure;    - correct a misunderstanding - justify a course of actions etc.;	- letter-writing conventions; - formal vs informal style
A proposal	- a peer group (such as colleagues or club members); - a supervisor (such as a boss or a college principal)	- less formal         - extremely formal	- make polite recommendations and suggestions; - persuade; - evaluate;	- a proposal format; headings
A report	- a peer group (such as colleagues or club members);     - a supervisor (such as a boss or a college principal)	- less formal             - extremely formal	- describe a situation; - evaluate to what extent a particular aim has been achieved; - make recommendations and suggestions (suggest an alternative course of action);	- a report format (headings) - specific vocabulary areas such as transport,     leisure and entertainment;
A review	readers of a magazine or a web site	- neutral or context-dependent	- describe; - explain; - give an opinion; - make a recommendation	- read as wide a range of reviews as possible for holidays, books TV programmes, consumer goods; - adjectives to describe and explain

CAE Writing: Formal vs Informal: Phrasal Verbs

One of the characteristic features that differentiate  formal and informal English is use of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are most typical of informal letters whereas in formal writing one-word verbs would be much preferred. Below is the list of some commonly used phrasal verbs and their one-word equivalents with example sentences.

PHRASAL VERBS	ONE-WORD VERBS
come along Ever since the Pears came along 3 years ago....	arrive Ever since the Pears arrived in the neighbourhood three years ago...
give up hope of I finally gave up hope of getting used to it.	despair of I finally despaired of getting accustomed to it.
wind smb up It was done just to wind me up.	provoke It was done with the sole intention of provoking me.
talk smth over I talked it over with my mates at work.	discuss I discussed the problem with my colleagues.
put in (a complaint) They suggested I put in a formal complaint.	lodge (a complaint) They suggested I lodge a complaint.
put smb through They put me through to the Social Services Department.	connect They connected me to the Social Services Department.
check out smb /smth The woman said she’d come and check it all out the next week	investigate The woman promised to investigate the matter the following week.
turn up She never turned up.	come She never came.
fix up (time) We fixed up another time.	arrange Another time was arranged.
put off They kept on putting it off.	postpone This was continually postponed.
show up One day, out of the blue, a bloke showed up.	visit Finally, a council officer visited.
pass on to He left after five minutes, saying he’d pass the matter on to the other department.	refer to After a brief inspection, the officer said he would refer the case to the other department.
make out She kept phoning the police about her neighbours, making out they had threatened to kill the birds.	claim / pretend She had been phoning the police, claiming that the Lampreys had threatened to kill the birds.
go by Well, 12 months have gone by now.	elapse Twelve months have elapsed since the officer came.
turn out It turned out he was the one that kept all the money for himself.	transpire It transpired that he kept all the money for himself.
bring back I told him it was his job to bring back peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.	restore I felt it was the Council’s job to restore peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.
put up with I wasn’t going to put up with another six months of being messed about.	tolerate I was no longer prepared to tolerate the situation.
talk into I’m really happy they have talked you into giving a lecture.	persuade I am so glad that you have been persuaded to give a lecture.
join in Mrs. Pear joined in.	enter (the quarrel) Mt Pear’s wife Dolores entered the quarrel.
do up They’ve recently done up the club meeting room.	redecorate The club meeting room has been recently redecorated.
cut off Our village is rather cut off.	isolate Our village is rather isolated.
put up You could be put up with  one of our members.	accommodate We could arrange for you to be accommodated with one of our members.
make up for I hope it’ll make up for having to stay overnight.	compensate for I hope it will compensate for the inconvenience of having to stay overnight.
come down with I was sorry you were coming down with flue.	catch I was sorry to hear that you felt you had caught influenza.
get over I hope you’ll get it over by the time of the meeting	recover I hope that you will have recovered by the time of the meeting.
tell off He got told off for being late quite often.	reprimand He was  repeatedly reprimanded for being late.
set up I hear he sets up very long talks.	organise He is said to organise talks which are too long.
done in All of us were done in at the end of a long day’s work.	exhausted Most members feel exhausted at the end of a long day’s work.
put out I do hope you won’t be put out.	offend I hope you will not be offended.
bring out (a book) He has brought out a book on his travels around Europe.	publish A book on his travels throughout Europe has been published.
pick up Because of this I picked up a better insight into the way we understand language.	gain This enabled me to gain a significant insight into the way we comprehend language..
talk out of I wish you would talk your boys out of playing loud music.	dissuade from I would be very grateful if you could dissuade your sons from playing loud music.
bring up I'd like to bring up the issue of publicity.	raise I would like to raise the issue of publicity.
carry on / go on He said he’d carry on studying abroad.	persist with He assured us that he would persist with his studies abroad.
back up They have no evidence whatsoever to back up their claims.	support There does not appear to be any evidence to support their claims.
carry out If Russia doesn’t carry out the promise, further sanctions will follow.	fulfil Should Russia not fulfil the pledge, we shall be obliged to impose further sanctions.