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How to shape 150 to 200 words into clear paragraphs, with the right paragraph map for each task, topic sentences that work, and connectors used sparingly.
Organization is worth more than it looks. Two of the four things inside the Readability score are about shape rather than correctness: paragraphing and connectors. And paragraphs are one of only three format items that CELPIP actually marks, alongside capital letters and punctuation.
An examiner reads a great many answers. One block of text is hard work before it has even been judged. Clear paragraphs make your ideas findable, and findable ideas score better than the same ideas buried.
Press Enter twice between paragraphs.
Not one line break, two, so there is a visible blank line. It takes a second, it costs no words, and it is the difference between an answer that looks organised and one that looks like a wall.
Do this every time you move to a new point.
Aim for three to five short paragraphs, two to four sentences each, one idea per paragraph.
| Part | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Greeting | Matches the tone, formal or informal |
| Purpose | One sentence saying why you are writing |
| One paragraph per prompt bullet | Three bullets means three short paragraphs |
| The ask and next step | What you want, and by when |
| Sign off and name | Matches the tone |
Build the body on the bullets, not on "two reasons." Almost every Task 1 prompt gives you three points to cover, and an examiner checks each one. If your paragraphs follow the bullets, missing one becomes almost impossible. If you plan for two reasons instead, you have two containers for three jobs, and the third one gets dropped or squeezed into a clause.
The bullet most often lost is the last, usually the one asking you to suggest something or ask what happens next.
→ Full treatment in Task 1 Essentials.
| Part | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Opening | Your choice, in the first line |
| Reason A | One idea, with one short example |
| Reason B | A different angle, with one short example |
| Close and the nod | Acknowledge the other side, answer it, restate your choice |
Here two reasons is correct, because the task asks you to defend one position rather than cover a list of points.
The nod at the end is scored. Some older advice, including an earlier version of this page, called it optional if you had space. Naming the other view and answering it shows you weighed both options, and it earns credit under Content and Coherence as well as Task Fulfillment.
No greeting and no sign off. This is not an email.
→ Full treatment in Task 2 Essentials.
🎥 See both shapes built on practice prompts
A topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph is about, in the first line, before any detail.
Keep it direct and narrow
Avoid openings that say nothing
Each of those spends words before the paragraph has begun. In a 200 word limit you cannot afford an introduction to an introduction.
Your reader should never have to ask why a sentence is where it is.
For emails: problem, then impact, then request.
For surveys: choice, then reason A, then reason B, then the close.
Inside any paragraph: the point first, then the detail that supports it.
When describing events: time order, oldest first.
Use the order you planned. Do not go back to an earlier idea once you have moved past it. If you find yourself writing "as I mentioned above," something is in the wrong place.
You do not need one in every sentence. One or two per paragraph is plenty, and stacking them is a known way to sound like a machine.
| Purpose | Words worth learning |
|---|---|
| Add | also, and, another, as well |
| Cause and result | because, so, as a result |
| Contrast | but, however, although, while |
| Example | for example, for instance, such as |
| Order | first, second, then, finally |
Four will carry most of your writing: because, so, for example, as a result. Master those and use them well rather than reaching for moreover and furthermore, which almost never sound natural in an email from a resident to a building manager.
If a sentence is already clear without a connector, leave it out.
These stop you repeating the same noun in every line, and they hold paragraphs together.
One caution. A reference word must clearly point at one thing. If a paragraph mentions the bus, the schedule and the driver, then "it" is ambiguous, and the reader has to stop and work out which you meant. When in doubt, name the thing again.
Before. Mixed ideas, no order, no paragraphs.
I want the class time to change. People arrive late. The bus is slow. The teacher said many students miss work. I think weekends are better and school is busy on Friday.
Five sentences, four different ideas, no shape at all. The reader has to sort it out.
After. Clear order, topic sentences, light connectors, blank lines.
I would like to ask whether the Tuesday class could move to a weekend.
Evening travel is the main problem. Traffic and bus delays push most of us past the start time, so we miss the first ten minutes of every session.
Work is the other issue. Many students finish shifts at six, which means rushing across town and arriving tired.
A Saturday morning class would remove both problems. Could you tell me whether a weekend section is possible this term?
Same content. The second version can be understood at a glance, and it scores better on Content and Coherence and on Readability at the same time.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| One giant paragraph | Break into three to five, one idea each, blank line between |
| Two ideas in one paragraph | Split them, and give each a topic sentence |
| A connector in every sentence | Keep one or two per paragraph |
| "As I mentioned above" | Move the idea to where it belongs |
| Vague it or this | Name the thing again |
| An opening that says nothing | Delete it and start with the point |
| Task 1 built on two reasons | Rebuild on the three bullets |
🎥 Two of the seventeen most common CELPIP writing mistakes are on this list: writing with no paragraphs, and putting a connector in every sentence. Both are worked through with before and after examples in CELPIP Writing Errors: All 17 Mistakes (29:24), at mistakes 10 and 12.
Three to five paragraphs, one idea each
Blank line between every paragraph
Each paragraph opens with its point
Task 1: one paragraph per bullet, all three
Task 2: choice, reason A, reason B, close with the nod
One or two connectors per paragraph, no more
Every it and this points at one clear thing
The order I wrote in is the order I planned
1. Split the block (5 min). Take the Before paragraph above and rewrite it yourself, without looking at the After. Then compare. There is more than one right answer.
2. Topic sentence drill (5 min). Take any answer you have written and read only the first sentence of each paragraph. If those sentences alone tell the story, your organisation is working. If they do not, the points are buried further down.
3. Cut the connectors (3 min). Take a paragraph with three or more connectors and remove all but one. Read it again. Most of the time it is clearer.
Related: Readability for sentences and punctuation · Scoring for where paragraphing sits among the sixteen factors.