A2 Writing Common Mistakes: Forms, Emails, and Short Texts

Most A2 Writing mistakes are practical, not advanced grammar problems. In Schrijven, you can lose many points by missing one bullet, leaving a form field empty, writing only loose words, or making the message hard to understand. This guide shows weak answers and better A2-level answers.

• Adequaatheid/begrijpelijkheid means: does your answer fit the task, and can the reader understand it?
• When you practise, treat a completely wrong or missing task answer as 0, even if some Dutch words are correct.
• Short and clear is safer than long and confusing.
• Forms need exact details. E-mails and notes need complete sentences.
• A small grammar mistake is normal at A2. An unclear message is more dangerous.
• Use about 65% as a practice target, not as an official public pass mark.

For self-study, check the mistake before you count language points. If the answer does not fit the task or cannot be understood, treat the whole task as 0 and rewrite it first.

Use this table when you check your own writing. The better answers are not the only possible answers; they show the level of clarity you want.

Save a few minutes at the end. A simple check often adds more points than writing one more long sentence.

• Underline the bullets in the task and check that you answered each one.
• Check who, why, when, and what you ask or want.
• Read every sentence. Does it have a person and a verb?
• Check names, dates, postcodes, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses.
• Add one connector where it helps: want, omdat, maar, en, daarom.
• Stop if the answer is clear. Do not add a difficult sentence only to sound better.

After fixing these mistakes, compare your answers with the sample A2 e-mails, forms, notes and short texts. Then practise the full format in the A2 Writing exam guide. Use the free A2 writing summary for a final checklist and the A2 writing practice set when you want full tasks.