Five months ago, you started renting an apartment on a six-month agreement. You now wish to stay in the apartment for longer than the six months you originally agreed with the owner. Write a letter to the owner of your apartment. In your letter: - Say how long you now want to rent the apartment for - Explain why your plans have changed - Tell the owner about a problem in the apartment
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Keylon.
Approximately half of year, I started renting an accommodation, with agreement about staying here for six months. At present time I want to explain my current situation and further fate my living in this place.
At the start I want emphasize I would like to extend my rental agreement, because my exchange standing abroud be transferred to the next year, so I need discuss with you about an apartment and others not less important things.
Firstly, problem with balkony, the floor there are too ancient, so I'm advising to change it for comforting and mainly safely using; the issue with the sink in the kitchen, a clogged drain worried me from time to time, so it will be great if you will involve specialist for it.
Secondly, the problem with neighbours still exist, they drink a lot,and yell to loudly.
In the end, I honestly acknowledge, that would be stay in this apartment for a long time, I look forward to your positive response. Thank you for your understanding!
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Incorrect salutation punctuation Original: Mr. Keylon. Suggested revision: Mr. Keylon, Why it matters: A salutation in a formal letter should end with a comma rather than a full stop.
- 2. Incorrect time expression Original: Approximately half of year, Suggested revision: Approximately half a year ago, Why it matters: The phrase requires the indefinite article 'a' and the adverb 'ago' to establish the past time frame correctly.
- 3. Unnatural vocabulary choice Original: further fate my living Suggested revision: the future of my tenancy Why it matters: The word 'fate' is overly dramatic and inappropriate for a formal business letter about renting.
- 4. Missing infinitive marker Original: I want emphasize Suggested revision: I want to emphasize Why it matters: The verb 'want' must be followed by a to-infinitive when introducing another verb.
- 5. Spelling and phrasing error Original: exchange standing abroud Suggested revision: study abroad program Why it matters: 'Abroud' is misspelled, and 'exchange standing' is not a standard English collocation.
- 6. Incorrect verb tense Original: be transferred Suggested revision: has been transferred Why it matters: The bare infinitive 'be' is grammatically incorrect here; the present perfect passive is required.
- 7. Missing infinitive 'to' Original: need discuss Suggested revision: need to discuss Why it matters: The semi-modal or main verb 'need' requires 'to' before the following infinitive verb.
- 8. Spelling error Original: balkony, Suggested revision: balcony, Why it matters: The word 'balcony' is spelled with a 'c' rather than a 'k'.
- 9. Subject-verb agreement error Original: the floor there are too ancient, Suggested revision: the floor there is very old, Why it matters: The singular noun 'floor' requires the singular verb 'is', and 'ancient' is too extreme for a floor.
- 10. Awkward phrasing Original: comforting and mainly safely using; Suggested revision: comfortable and, above all, safe use; Why it matters: The gerund phrase is unnatural; using parallel adjectives to modify 'use' is much clearer.
- 11. Incorrect conditional structure Original: if you will involve specialist for it. Suggested revision: if you could hire a specialist to look at it. Why it matters: In a conditional clause expressing a request, 'will' is incorrect, and 'involve specialist' lacks an article.
- 12. Subject-verb agreement error Original: still exist, Suggested revision: still exists, Why it matters: The singular subject 'problem' requires the singular verb form 'exists'.
Suggested Rewrites
- Mr. Keylon. Mr. Keylon,
- Approximately half of year, Approximately half a year ago,
- further fate my living the future of my tenancy
- I want emphasize I want to emphasize
- exchange standing abroud study abroad program
- be transferred has been transferred
Why this response received Band 5.5
The letter successfully addresses all the prompt requirements, but its impact is reduced by frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. While the organization of ideas is logical, improving grammatical accuracy and using more natural, precise vocabulary are the highest priorities for raising the overall standard.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed, though the exact duration of the requested extension could be stated more clearly and precisely.
Clearly state a specific timeframe for the extension, such as 'an additional six months', to fully satisfy the first prompt requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter is organized into paragraphs with a logical flow, though some transition words like 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' feel slightly mechanical for a personal letter.
Use more natural, letter-appropriate transitional phrases such as 'In addition to this' or 'Another issue is' instead of rigid list-like linkers.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is generally adequate to convey the message, but there are several spelling mistakes and awkward word choices like 'ancient floor' and 'fate my living'.
Focus on learning common housing collocations, such as 'worn-out flooring' instead of 'ancient floor', and double-check spelling for words like 'abroad' and 'balcony'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, particularly with verb tenses, prepositions, and missing infinitives, which occasionally obscure the meaning.
Practice basic sentence structures, ensuring verbs are correctly conjugated and that infinitives are properly formed, such as writing 'I want to emphasize' instead of 'I want emphasize'.
Use this task for your next draft
Feedback is more useful when you actively apply it in a draft, rather than only recognising improvements on the page.
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.
The question will be loaded automatically.