Free courses / Prompt Engineering Basics / Lesson 1
The pattern
Context, task, format, limits, uncertainty.
Use this shape: “I am [context]. Help me [task]. Return [format]. Keep within [limits]. Tell me what you are unsure about.” Five parts, in plain words.
Context tells the model who the answer is for. Task tells it what to do. Format tells it what shape to return. Limits keep it from wandering. Uncertainty gives it permission to be honest, and you a place to look first.
Try it on a low-risk task first, so you can judge the result and see what each part changed.
- Context, task, format, limits, uncertainty.
- Plain words, no special syntax.
- Practise on low-risk tasks.
DOT / THE TRANSLATOR
Context, task, format, limits, uncertainty. Five things, and not one of them is a magic word. I am sorry if you were hoping for magic words.
Try it
Write one prompt using all five parts for something you genuinely need this week. Run it, then keep it. You have just made yourself a template.
Role, task, context, format, limits. Ask me for each one in turn for a job I need doing this week, then write the finished prompt back to me before you attempt it.
Then paste it into whichever assistant you use — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot. Not sure which? Meet them all.
Progress is saved on this device.
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