Your new neighbours have recently invited you to a party they are holding next Saturday. However, you have other plans on Saturday evening and cannot attend the party. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - thank them for the invitation - mention what plans you already have - suggest when you can meet them
Sample Response
Dear Mr and Mrs Arthur, I would like to thank you for inviting us to the party you are holding at your home next Saturday. We are honoured to be invited. However, a prescheduled plan deters us from attending this much-welcomed party, and I am hoping that we can meet some other day. We will have to be at the local airport to receive our uncle and his family on that very Saturday evening. They are travelling from Italy to meet us, and they are expected to land at the airport at 7.30 pm. We have assured them that we will be at the airport, and I am afraid we can not change the schedule. They will be visiting Canada for the first time and expecting us to escort them to our house. I wish we could have been at your home to enjoy the party and get to know some of your relatives. Hopefully, we will do that some other time. We can meet you on a weekend and have some quality time together. Please let me know when you can do that. Wishing you a grand party and quality time with your guests. Sincerely yours, Martin Cammy
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Match friendly register Original: honoured Suggested revision: delighted Why it matters: Delighted sounds warmer and more natural in a letter to new neighbours.
- 2. Use natural commitment phrase Original: a prescheduled plan Suggested revision: a prior commitment Why it matters: The original phrase is awkward and less precise than the standard collocation.
- 3. Choose accurate verb Original: deters us from attending Suggested revision: prevents us from attending Why it matters: Deter means discourage, whereas the airport commitment makes attendance impossible.
- 4. Use direct reference Original: this much-welcomed party Suggested revision: your party Why it matters: The original modifier is unnatural and unnecessarily formal.
- 5. Use concise present form Original: I am hoping Suggested revision: I hope Why it matters: The simple present is the natural form for this polite wish.
- 6. State obligation directly Original: will have to be Suggested revision: need to be Why it matters: This is more concise while preserving the unavoidable airport commitment.
- 7. Use airport collocation Original: receive our uncle Suggested revision: meet our uncle Why it matters: People normally meet arriving relatives at an airport rather than receive them.
- 8. Remove unnecessary emphasis Original: on that very Saturday evening Suggested revision: that Saturday evening Why it matters: Very adds emphasis that is not needed for the time reference.
- 9. Use concise arrival phrase Original: expected to land Suggested revision: due to land Why it matters: Due to land is a concise and natural way to report the scheduled arrival.
- 10. Use standard spelling Original: can not Suggested revision: cannot Why it matters: Cannot is written as one word in this construction.
- 11. Clarify reference Original: change the schedule Suggested revision: change these plans Why it matters: These plans refers more clearly to the promised airport collection.
- 12. Use future counterfactual Original: could have been Suggested revision: could be Why it matters: The party is still in the future, so the past perfect form is incorrect.
Suggested Rewrites
- honoured delighted
- a prescheduled plan a prior commitment
- deters us from attending prevents us from attending
- this much-welcomed party your party
- I am hoping I hope
- will have to be need to be
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully addresses the invitation, the airport commitment, and a future meeting, with a warm and courteous tone throughout. Clear sequencing and mostly accurate complex sentences support communication, but the single-block presentation and several over-formal or unnatural word choices make the message less natural for new neighbours. Use distinct paragraphs and simpler, more idiomatic social language while offering a more specific meeting time.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The response fulfils all three points and clearly explains the unavoidable airport plan, though the suggested meeting remains vague and the tone is occasionally over-formal.
Suggest a specific day or weekend and use a more naturally friendly tone for new neighbours.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas progress logically from thanks to the reason for declining and then to another meeting, but the entire letter is presented as one paragraph.
Use separate paragraphs for the invitation response, existing plans, and proposed alternative meeting.
Lexical Resource
There is a sufficient range for the situation, but combinations such as ‘a prescheduled plan deters us’ and ‘this much-welcomed party’ sound forced.
Prefer direct, idiomatic social expressions instead of overly elaborate wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied sentence forms with generally good control, and the few awkward constructions do not impede meaning.
Refine parallel verb forms and shorten cumbersome coordinated sentences for more natural accuracy.
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