Your friend is celebrating her birthday and has invited you to a party. You cannot attend because you have an important meeting that day. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - thank him/her for the invitation - explain why you cannot come - propose meeting on another day
Same question Compare all 2 answers See different approaches and band scores for this IELTS task.Sample Response
Dear Martha, Hope you and your family are doing great. It's been a long since we last saw each other. It was great to get your postcard from Dallas yesterday and I'm thrilled to learn that you're going to celebrate your birthday on 20th June. Happy birthday, Martha. I am so happy for you and wish you a prosperous life and a joyful birthday celebration. I would like to profoundly thank you for your invitation. Martha, I'm so sorry that I can't attend your birthday party as I will be in Manhattan the whole week for my professional responsibility. My company asked me to be there on 18th June to resolve some problems with an accounting system we have in Manhattan. You will be in my thoughts and I owe you a birthday present! I'll meet you after I return from my official trip - perhaps during the first week of July. Many thanks for your invitation and happy birthday to you. Warm wishes, Fadi
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the subject Original: Hope you and your family Suggested revision: I hope you and your family Why it matters: The sentence needs the subject “I” before the verb “hope.”
- 2. Complete the time phrase Original: It's been a long since Suggested revision: It's been a long time since Why it matters: The fixed expression is “a long time since,” not “a long since.”
- 3. Use a natural wish Original: a prosperous life Suggested revision: a happy and fulfilling year ahead Why it matters: This wording is more natural and specific for a birthday wish to a friend.
- 4. Improve the collocation Original: profoundly Suggested revision: sincerely Why it matters: “Sincerely thank you” is a more natural expression of gratitude in a personal letter.
- 5. Clarify the work commitment Original: for my professional responsibility Suggested revision: for a work commitment Why it matters: The original phrase is an unnatural way to describe an obligation connected with work.
- 6. Specify the location Original: we have in Manhattan Suggested revision: at our Manhattan office Why it matters: The revision expresses the location of the accounting system more naturally.
- 7. Make a genuine proposal Original: I'll meet you Suggested revision: Could we meet Why it matters: A question proposes an alternative meeting instead of assuming the friend's availability.
- 8. Use a proper dash Original: trip - perhaps Suggested revision: trip—perhaps Why it matters: An em dash without surrounding spaces is the appropriate punctuation for this interruption.
- 9. Identify the meeting conflict Suggested revision: State explicitly that an important work meeting falls on the party date, rather than only mentioning a week-long trip. Why it matters: The explanation should directly reflect the stated reason for being unable to attend the birthday party.
- 10. Create clear letter sections Suggested revision: Separate the opening news, the apology and reason, and the alternative meeting proposal into short paragraphs. Why it matters: The single block makes the three communicative purposes less easy to scan.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope you and your family I hope you and your family
- It's been a long since It's been a long time since
- a prosperous life a happy and fulfilling year ahead
- profoundly sincerely
- for my professional responsibility for a work commitment
- we have in Manhattan at our Manhattan office
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a friendly personal tone and covers the invitation, reason for absence, and a later meeting, with enough specific context to communicate clearly. Its main limitation is uneven naturalness, including some overly formal collocations and one conspicuous grammatical omission. Use more idiomatic language for a close friend and suggest a more definite alternative date to make the response both warmer and more practical.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed with relevant detail and a generally suitable personal tone, although the alternative meeting remains somewhat vague.
Offer Martha a specific day or two in early July instead of only proposing a broad week.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message progresses clearly from birthday wishes and thanks to the reason for declining and the later meeting proposal, despite limited paragraphing and some repetition.
Group the thanks, explanation, and alternative arrangement into short paragraphs and remove repeated birthday wishes.
Lexical Resource
The response shows enough range for an informal letter, but expressions such as "profoundly thank you" and "professional responsibility" sound unnecessarily formal or unnatural.
Prefer conversational wording such as "thanks so much" and "a work commitment" for a more consistent friendly register.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Most simple and complex sentences are accurately formed, with only occasional errors such as the missing noun in "It's been a long since."
Proofread fixed time expressions and complete them accurately, for example "It's been a long time since we last met."
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your friend is celebrating her birthday and has invited you to a party. You cannot attend because you have an important meeting that day. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- thank him/her for the invitation
- explain why you cannot come
- propose meeting on another day
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.