Dear Dr. Lindqvist, I am writing about the departmental field trip on Saturday, for which I registered last month. I am sorry to say that I will no longer be able to attend: a close relative is being married that day, and the date was confirmed only this week. As I know the places were limited, I would be glad for mine to be offered to someone on the waiting list. If it would help, I am happy to contact the two classmates who asked me about the trip and let them know a place has become free. Could I also ask whether the department expects to run the trip again later in the term? I would very much like to join the next one. Thank you for your understanding. Yours sincerely, [Your name]
Writing: Write an Email
Writing: Write an Email belongs to the Writing component of TOEFL iBT. The task gives you 7 minutes to write. ETS scores the response from 0 to 5 with its published Write an Email scoring guide, using AI scoring.
- Time
- 7 minutes
- Prompts here
- 22 published
Build the functional email vocabulary this task rewards — requesting, explaining, apologising and proposing, in a register that fits the person you are writing to.
The prompt names your reader and your purpose. Matching register to that reader is scored, so learn each function in both its neutral and its polite form.
Sample answer
One strong response to this prompt, written by ExamStep to show what the task asks for. It is not an ETS answer and not a scored benchmark: ETS scores this task from 0 to 5 with its published scoring guide.
Try one yourself, under the clock
A sample answer shows you the target. It cannot tell you whether your own writing hits it — that is an estimated 0–5 score for each task, with feedback on what earned it.
Start with a free account
Practise on questions built like the 2026 test, have your Writing and Speaking scored out of 5 by AI, and see an estimated band on the 1–6 scale.
Create your free account →Common questions
- How is this task scored?
- ETS scores the email from 0 to 5 against its published Write an Email scoring guide, using AI scoring, and that task score feeds the 1 to 6 Writing section score. ETS states that varied grammar and vocabulary is part of what is assessed.
- How formal should the email be?
- It depends on the reader the prompt gives you. Every entry below is tagged with its register so you can match the tone deliberately.
21 more Email prompts in the bank2 free
- ·Write an Email — Test 1
- ·Write an Email — Test 2
- ·Write an Email — Test 3
- ·Write an Email — Test 4
- ·Write an Email — Test 5
- ·Write an Email — Test 6
- ·Write an Email — Test 7
- ·Write an Email — Test 8
- ·Write an Email — Test 9
- ·Write an Email — Test 10
- ·Write an Email — Test 1
- ·Write an Email — Test 2
- ·Write an Email — Test 3
- ·Write an Email — Test 4
- ·Write an Email — Test 5
- ·Write an Email — Test 6
- ·Write an Email — Test 7
- ·Write an Email — Test 8
- ·Write an Email — Test 9
- ·Write an Email — Test 10
- ·Write an Email — Library finefree