Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your houseflat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - explain the reasons for the noise - apologise - describe what action you will take
Sample Response
Dear Mr and Mrs Smith, Earlier today, I received your complaint letter regarding the loud commotions from my flat. It is a real shame that you had to suffer due to my oversight. I sincerely apologise for the incident and assure you that it will not happen again. Last Wednesday I hired a firm to redecorate my place. The decorators had to relocate all my furniture to complete their work. They also used some heavy machinery to complete their endeavour. That is why you have been catching all these loud noises. I understand that I owe you an apology as all these ruckuses were caused due to me and I should have informed you beforehand. Anyway, I do apologize, and I will owe you a cup of coffee for this. I hope we will still be on friendly terms after this incident. About the sound problem, I have already instructed the personnel to tone down the noise level, so your apartment should already be relatively silent. I hope this measure is enough to appease you. By the way, the work will be completed tomorrow. Thanks for your patience on this matter. Please come by tomorrow evening and I will show you around my freshly revamped flat. Yours Sincerely, Lisa Moon
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Start a new line Original: Dear Mr and Mrs Smith, Earlier today Suggested revision: Dear Mr and Mrs Smith, Earlier today Why it matters: The body should begin on a new line after the salutation.
- 2. Natural noun Original: loud commotions Suggested revision: loud noise Why it matters: Commotions is too dramatic for renovation noise.
- 3. Natural apology Original: suffer due to my oversight Suggested revision: be disturbed because I failed to warn you Why it matters: The revision is more direct and specific.
- 4. Avoid overpromise Original: assure you that it will not happen again Suggested revision: assure you that I will minimise any further disturbance Why it matters: The work continues until tomorrow, so promising no further noise is unrealistic.
- 5. Overformal wording Original: complete their endeavour Suggested revision: complete the work Why it matters: Endeavour is unnecessarily formal in this context.
- 6. Wrong collocation Original: catching all these loud noises Suggested revision: hearing all this noise Why it matters: People hear noise; catching noise is not natural here.
- 7. Use neutral register Original: all these ruckuses Suggested revision: all this disturbance Why it matters: Ruckuses is informal and exaggerated for building work.
- 8. Faulty cause phrase Original: caused due to me Suggested revision: caused by me Why it matters: Caused takes by, not due to, before the agent.
- 9. Dismissive linker Original: Anyway, I do apologize Suggested revision: Once again, I apologise Why it matters: Anyway can sound as though the complaint is being brushed aside.
- 10. Natural offer Original: I will owe you a cup of coffee Suggested revision: I would like to invite you for a cup of coffee Why it matters: The conditional invitation is more courteous and natural.
- 11. Smoother transition Original: About the sound problem Suggested revision: To reduce the disturbance Why it matters: This directly links the action to the complaint.
- 12. Specific noun Original: instructed the personnel Suggested revision: asked the decorators Why it matters: Decorators is already established and sounds more natural than personnel.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Mr and Mrs Smith, Earlier today Dear Mr and Mrs Smith, Earlier today
- loud commotions loud noise
- suffer due to my oversight be disturbed because I failed to warn you
- assure you that it will not happen again assure you that I will minimise any further disturbance
- complete their endeavour complete the work
- catching all these loud noises hearing all this noise
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully addresses the complaint with a clear explanation, sincere apology, and concrete action, while maintaining a friendly relationship with the neighbours. The main limitations are overstatement, a few awkward collocations, and an occasionally flippant or overly formal tone. Refine the register, organise the three purposes into paragraphs, and replace exaggerated vocabulary with natural neighbour-to-neighbour language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully developed, the purpose is immediately clear, and the friendly tone is generally appropriate, though a few phrases weaken the sincerity.
Keep the apology direct and respectful and remove wording that could sound dismissive or overly dramatic.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a sensible order from apology to explanation and action, but the entire letter appears as one block and some conversational linkers are abrupt.
Use separate paragraphs for the opening apology, reasons, remedial action, and friendly close.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and communicates precisely overall, but several words are unnecessarily dramatic or unnatural for noise from renovation.
Choose natural collocations such as noise, renovation work, hear, and caused by rather than inflated alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of sentence structures is used accurately, with only minor preposition, capitalisation, and punctuation issues.
Proofread fixed expressions, closing conventions, and sentence punctuation after the salutation.