How to turn OET case notes into full sentences (with before-and-after examples)
To turn OET case notes into letter English, add the missing grammar (subjects, verbs and articles), write abbreviations in full, choose the right tense (past simple for what happened, present for the current situation, future for plans), and combine related notes into one sentence instead of one sentence per note. For example, 'Mobs c ZF. Independent ADLs except shower' becomes 'She mobilises with a walking frame and is independent with daily activities, apart from showering.'
Why this skill matters
Every OET Nursing letter starts from case notes written in note form. Selecting the right notes is half the job (see selecting relevant case notes); the other half is expanding them into sentences a colleague can read quickly. Copied fragments hurt Genre & Style, missing grammar shows up under Language, and one-note-per-sentence writing makes Conciseness & Clarity and Organisation & Layout weaker.
Five steps from notes to sentences
| Step | What to do | Notes | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Add a subject and verb | Every sentence needs both | "Wound healing well" | "Her wound is healing well." |
| 2. Add articles and small words | a, an, the, of, with, to | "Lives alone in 2-storey house" | "He lives alone in a two-storey house." |
| 3. Write abbreviations in full | No shorthand | "BGL 4–8 mmol/L" | "Her blood glucose levels have been between 4 and 8 mmol/L." |
| 4. Choose the tense | Past, present, present perfect or future | "Commenced on insulin 12/5" | "She was started on insulin on 12 May." |
| 5. Combine related notes | Group by topic, not by date | "Mobs c ZF. Needs assist stairs. Independent toileting." | "He walks with a frame and is independent with toileting, but needs help on the stairs." |
The abbreviations guide has a full conversion table for step 3.
Getting the tense right
Tense errors are among the most frequent Language slips in OET letters, because case notes rarely show tense at all.
| Information | Tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A finished event with a time | Past simple | "Mr Osei was admitted on 4 April." |
| The situation now | Present simple / continuous | "He mobilises independently and is eating well." |
| A change whose result matters now | Present perfect | "His breathing has improved since he started the antibiotics." |
| Something that started in the past and continues | Present perfect | "She has had diabetes for 15 years." |
| Plans and arrangements | Future / "is due to" | "He will be discharged tomorrow." / "She is due to see the surgeon on 20 May." |
A common slip is "He is admitted on 4 April" (present for a past event) or "She had diabetes since 2010" (past simple with "since"). Read every sentence with a time expression and check its tense.
Combining notes: three patterns
1. Linking with "and", "but" or "although"
Notes: Appetite poor. Weight 52 kg (↓ 3 kg in 1 month).
Letter: Her appetite has been poor, and she has lost 3 kg in the past month.
2. Using a relative clause ("who", "which")
Notes: Daughter visits daily. Daughter administers evening meds.
Letter: His daughter, who visits daily, gives him his evening medication.
3. Using a reason or result linker ("as", "so", "due to")
Notes: Unsteady on feet. High falls risk. Lives alone.
Letter: As she lives alone and is unsteady on her feet, she is at high risk of falls.
Pattern 3 is especially useful because it shows the reader why a detail matters, which supports your Purpose.
Worked example
The patient and details below are fictional.
Case notes (extract):
Mr Samuel Adeyemi, 62 y.o. Adm 9/9 — chest pain. Dx: NSTEMI. Angioplasty + stent 10/9. New meds: aspirin 100 mg daily, ticagrelor 90 mg bd, atorvastatin 80 mg nocte. Smoker 20/day × 40 yrs. Keen to quit. Wife — supportive. Works as taxi driver. D/C 13/9. Cardiac rehab referral sent.
Note-form letter (weak):
Mr Adeyemi 62 y.o. adm 9/9 with chest pain. Dx NSTEMI. Had angioplasty and stent 10/9. New meds aspirin daily, ticagrelor bd, atorvastatin nocte. Smoker 20/day for 40 yrs, keen to quit.
Full sentences (strong):
Mr Adeyemi, aged 62, was admitted on 9 September with chest pain and was diagnosed with a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The following day, he underwent a procedure to insert a stent in one of his coronary arteries. He has been started on aspirin, ticagrelor and atorvastatin. He has smoked 20 cigarettes a day for 40 years but is keen to stop, and his wife is supportive.
What changed:
- Grammar added throughout; every abbreviation written out.
- Dates written as "9 September", not "9/9".
- Tenses: past simple for the admission and procedure, present perfect for the new medication, present for his motivation.
- Doses left out because this paragraph's job is to tell the reader what changed and what matters; whether to include doses depends on the reader and the task.
- "Works as taxi driver" was left out here; in a letter about returning to driving it might be essential. Relevance always depends on the reader and the purpose.
Mistakes to watch for
- Fragments: "Pain well controlled." needs "His pain is well controlled."
- Missing articles: "She lives in nursing home" should be "She lives in a nursing home."
- Over-long chains: joining five notes with "and" makes a sentence hard to follow. Two or three ideas per sentence is usually enough.
- Changing the meaning: when you paraphrase, keep clinical facts exact. "Occasional chest pain" is not "chest pain".
- Dates and numbers in note style: write "two weeks", not "2/52"; "14 March", not "14/3".
Practise and check
Pick a case from the practice case notes and write the background paragraph only, then the whole letter. When you're done, check your letter: medEmu marks note form, tense and grammar errors on your own sentences with the corrected version and the reason, and lists the case notes you missed or could have left out. Your first letter is graded free without an account. Grades are estimates for practice, not official OET results, and medEmu is not affiliated with OET.
Related guides: OET Nursing referral letter structure · OET Writing criteria explained.
Sources
This guide is medEmu's writing advice; it is not official OET guidance. For OET's official information on the Writing sub-test and its assessment criteria, see oet.com.