You stayed at your friend’s house when you participated in a business seminar in Australia. You left a file with important documents in the room where you stayed. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - describe the file - say where you left it - ask your friend to return it to you by post
Sample Response
Dear Farah, It was great to see you after such a long time. I would also like to thank you again for being such an awesome host by offering me to stay at your house during my business seminar. Anyway, the reason, for which I am bugging you again with this letter, is that while I left your home last Friday, I believe that I accidentally left a file with some important documents in it. I came to know about this file only after arriving at my home yesterday morning. If I remember it correctly, I think that I may have left the file in the bottom drawer of your TV stand in the living room where I was sleeping. I am pretty sure that you won’t miss the file since it is a standard size, yellow colour file envelope that has my name tag on it. By the way, the file contains some important financial documents. Please mail this file to me in courier service as soon as possible because, without these documents, I won’t be able to prepare my next quarterly report for my company CEO. Stay fine and have fun. Yours sincerely, Claudia
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix verb pattern Original: offering me to stay Suggested revision: offering to let me stay Why it matters: The verb pattern requires 'offer to let someone do something'.
- 2. Use natural phrasing Original: came to know about this file Suggested revision: realised that the file was missing Why it matters: This wording expresses the discovery more naturally and precisely.
- 3. Remove unnecessary pronoun Original: If I remember it correctly Suggested revision: If I remember correctly Why it matters: The fixed expression is 'if I remember correctly' without an object pronoun.
- 4. Clarify intended meaning Original: won’t miss the file Suggested revision: should have no trouble identifying the file Why it matters: 'Won't miss' suggests absence rather than ease of recognition.
- 5. Fix adjective forms Original: a standard size, yellow colour file envelope Suggested revision: a standard-sized yellow file envelope Why it matters: Compound adjectives should be correctly formed and ordered before the noun.
- 6. Use correct preposition Original: mail this file to me in courier service Suggested revision: send this file to me by courier Why it matters: 'By courier' is the natural expression for this delivery method.
- 7. Add possessive form Original: company Suggested revision: company's Why it matters: The possessive form is needed to show that the CEO belongs to the company.
- 8. Use friendly closing Original: Yours sincerely Suggested revision: Best wishes Why it matters: A warmer closing better suits a personal letter to a friend.
- 9. Refine friendly wording Original: such an awesome host Suggested revision: such a generous host Why it matters: 'Generous' conveys appreciation clearly while keeping the friendly tone.
- 10. Use concise phrasing Original: after such a long time Suggested revision: after so long Why it matters: The shorter expression sounds more natural in a personal letter.
- 11. Use natural arrival phrase Original: only after arriving at my home yesterday morning Suggested revision: when I arrived home yesterday morning Why it matters: English normally uses 'arrive home' without the preposition 'at'.
- 12. Link details directly Original: By the way, the file contains Suggested revision: The file also contains Why it matters: This transition connects the contents directly to the preceding description.
Suggested Rewrites
- offering me to stay offering to let me stay
- came to know about this file realised that the file was missing
- If I remember it correctly If I remember correctly
- won’t miss the file should have no trouble identifying the file
- a standard size, yellow colour file envelope a standard-sized yellow file envelope
- mail this file to me in courier service send this file to me by courier
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter communicates its purpose clearly and gives useful, specific details about the file, its location, and the need for its return. Its main limitation is the recurring awkward phrasing and preposition choice, alongside a closing that is more formal than the friendly opening. The highest-priority improvement is to use more natural collocations and consistently informal language while preserving the clear detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are fully covered, and the details make the request easy to act on.
Maintain a consistently friendly register, including an informal closing that matches the relationship with the recipient.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically from context and discovery to location, description, and the request, although it is presented as one dense block.
Separate the opening, file details, and request into short paragraphs and reduce unnecessary transitional phrases.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied and specific, but several collocations sound unnatural, such as asking to send something in courier service.
Use natural combinations such as send it by courier and let me stay to make the language more precise.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is attempted successfully, though recurring article, preposition, and clause-construction errors reduce control.
Review complex clauses and prepositional phrases, especially constructions such as when I left and if I remember correctly.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You stayed at your friend’s house when you participated in a business seminar in Australia. You left a file with important documents in the room where you stayed. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- describe the file
- say where you left it
- ask your friend to return it to you by post
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.