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

An A2 Writing answer becomes incomplete when you miss a bullet, leave a form field empty, write only loose words, or make the message hard to understand. This guide pairs each mistake with a clearer A2-level answer.

• Check adequaatheid/begrijpelijkheid (task fit and understandability) to see whether your answer fits the task and the reader can understand it.
• Treat a completely wrong or missing task answer as 0 during practice, even if some Dutch words are correct.
• Use short, clear sentences instead of adding confusing detail.
• Use exact details in forms and complete sentences in e-mails and notes.
• Check the message before minor grammar errors; a small grammar mistake can still leave it understandable.
• Use about 65% as a practice target, not as an official public pass mark.

For self-study, first check whether the answer fits the task and can be understood. If it fails either check, treat the whole task as 0 and rewrite it before counting language points. E-mails, notes, and short texts use five practice checks and a 10-point scale; forms use three checks and a 7-point scale.

Use this table when you check your own writing. The right-hand column gives examples of clear A2 answers; other answers can also meet the task.

Reserve a few minutes at the end for the checks below.

• 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 when the answer is clear instead of adding a difficult sentence.

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.