B1 Brief Schreiben: 5 telc B1 Sample Letters, Explained

PassGerman is built by German tutor Ramin A., who has taught more than 1,000 lessons on Preply. Every letter below was written for this article and marked against the criteria in telc's own practice test.

How the scoring works in detail is in our telc B1 writing tips. This page is the hands-on part: real letters you can copy the shape of. Think of it as IKEA instructions, except every piece is included and nobody argues.

Brief or email: what the telc B1 writing task asks for

In telc B1 you write one informal or semi-formal email in 30 minutes, worth 45 points. Many prep books still call it a Brief, a letter. For this exam it's the same job: someone wrote to you, you answer, and you cover four guiding points (telc Übungstest 1, page 17).

One learner helping their mother prepare looked for an official template: some people said a subject line is a must, and one video said the date matters. telc settles it. The task asks you to think of a fitting subject, and the marking guide says date and sender aren't required (page 37).

Good news for anyone who's fought a German form: no address, no date, no sender block. Germany asks you for one less piece of paperwork. Enjoy it, it won't happen again.

How to structure a B1 letter

A B1 letter has six parts: subject line, greeting, a short opening, the four points, a closing line and the sign-off. The practice task itself lists them: a fitting subject, greeting, introduction and ending (page 17).

After the greeting, German letters continue in lower case: "Lieber Jonas, vielen Dank …". It looks like a typo. It isn't. It's just German being German about commas.

Letter 1: accepting a birthday invitation (informal)

The task: your friend Jonas invites you to his birthday party on Saturday. Accept, say what you'll bring, ask how to get there and offer to help him prepare. Four points, one cheerful paragraph each.

Why it works: every point has its own paragraph, and only the last line starts with "Ich". The potato salad does a lot of quiet work here. It answers a guiding point and sounds like a real person, which is more than most exam letters manage.

Letter 2: giving a friend advice about moving (informal)

The task: your friend Laura is moving to your city for a new job. Recommend a district, explain how to find a flat, say what rents are like and offer your help. This is the advice letter, and it's where connectors earn their keep.

Why it works: "Am besten", "Deshalb", "also" and "Wenn" tie the points together, so it reads like one letter, not four answers. Offering to carry boxes is also the most realistic sentence ever written about a German move.

Letter 3: complaining to the landlord about the heating (semi-formal)

The task: the heating in your flat has been broken for a week. Write to your landlord, describe the problem, say since when, say what you've tried and ask for a repair. Semi-formal means Sie, polite and firm, like a strongly worded note that still says "thank you".

Why it works: Sie from the first line to the last, a concrete detail (15 degrees) and a clear request with a time. Complaints are where people slip into du out of pure frustration. The heating is cold, the register stays cool.

Letter 4: replying to your course leader (semi-formal)

The task: your course leader, Frau Schneider, invites the class to a farewell dinner. Accept, suggest a restaurant, ask if you can bring your partner and ask about the time and costs. This one matters, because telc's own marking guide uses a course leader's invitation as its off-topic example (page 37).

Why it works: it accepts the invitation, which sounds obvious until you read the marking guide. Writing an apology instead is off topic, and off topic scores 0 of 45. Writing your own invitation back misses the situation and loses the whole first criterion. Reply to the letter you got, not the one you practised.

Letter 5: a real 2026 exam topic, the zoo trip (informal)

Two test-takers in 2026 reported the same writing task: a friend plans a zoo trip with her son and his friends. One listed the four points: what you think of her plan, whether there are zoos in your home country, your favourite zoo animal, and suggesting a meeting. Another got a zoo invitation in the digital exam. Here's our answer to the first version.

Why it works: four points, four paragraphs, and a meeting suggestion with a day attached. Note the order is the one printed, because it happens to make sense here. Nobody needs to know your real favourite animal is the one asleep behind the glass.

Weak vs strong: the same letter twice

The same task as Letter 1, written badly, loses most of its points without a single dramatic mistake. Here's the version a tired brain produces at minute 145 of the exam.

Thirty points apart, and the weak letter isn't even rude. It just forgot the bus and the help, started every sentence with Ich and signed off to a friend like a tax office. The bus question alone would have been worth more than the salad.

For a real-world check: one test-taker posted 33 of 45 for writing, which in the grid is exactly A, B, B. Good, with two criteria one notch short.

Useful phrases for B1 letters (Redemittel)

A small set of fixed phrases covers most B1 letters: thanking, accepting, declining, suggesting, asking and closing. Learn them in pairs, du and Sie, so the register never slips.

Eight rows, sixteen phrases. That's fewer than the forms you filled in to register your address, and considerably more useful.

Which B1 letter topics come up in telc?

telc doesn't publish a topic list. The tasks are everyday situations: invitations, advice, complaints, requests for information, cancellations and thank-yous. The marking guide describes them as everyday topics, work and personal interests (page 37).

In telc's own practice test, a friend wants to visit your home country and asks about trips, the season, clothes and preparation. That's four questions before booking, which is three more than most friends ask before turning up. We wrote a model answer to that one in our writing tips.

What our five letters have in common

All five example letters are short, connected and boring in the best way: 93 to 115 words, one paragraph per point, and almost no sentences starting with Ich. We counted.

None of them uses a word you'd need a dictionary for. That's the point. B1 rewards clear and complete, not impressive. Save the Konjunktiv II fireworks for B2.

FAQ

Ready to write one against the clock? Our telc B1 exam preparation page shows how PassGerman trains you for the whole written exam, and the German B1 exam guide explains every other part.

Written by Ramin A.

German tutor and co-founder of PassGerman, with more than 1,000 lessons taught and a 5.0 rating on Preply.