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 James, Hope this letter finds you in good health and jovial spirit. It's been almost a week since I left your place but the memories still linger as if it was just yesterday! I indeed enjoyed my stay at your place and had a great time together. If you had not been a great host, I definitely had to struggle to finish the professional seminar that I attended in Perth, Australia. I owe you a big one. I, however, must have been oblivious while I left for Perth Airport last week. I left a very important file at your house, in the room I stayed in. I possibly kept it in the wooden cabinet I used. It is a medium-size blue file-holder made of plastic and has my name inscribed on it. I have some important files in it including the certificate given by the seminar authority in Australia. I would really appreciate it if you could post it to my address, preferably via Australia Post, as soon as possible. I will bear the courier cost. Take care and see you soon. Warm wishes, Morshed
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the subject Original: Hope this letter Suggested revision: I hope this letter Why it matters: The sentence needs the subject “I” before the finite verb.
- 2. Use the fixed expression Original: jovial spirit Suggested revision: high spirits Why it matters: The conventional expression is “in good health and high spirits”.
- 3. Punctuate the conjunction Original: your place but Suggested revision: your place, but Why it matters: A comma is required before “but” when it joins two independent clauses.
- 4. Use the irrealis form Original: was Suggested revision: were Why it matters: “Were” is the standard form after “as if” for an unreal comparison.
- 5. Use friendly wording Original: indeed Suggested revision: really Why it matters: “Really” sounds more natural in an informal letter to a friend.
- 6. Add the shared subject Original: and had a great time together Suggested revision: and we had a great time together Why it matters: The original makes “I” the subject of “together,” so “we” is needed.
- 7. Use the standard idiom Original: I owe you a big one Suggested revision: I owe you one Why it matters: “I owe you one” is the conventional informal expression of gratitude.
- 8. Use a relative adverb Original: room I stayed in Suggested revision: room where I stayed Why it matters: “Where” connects the room and the stay more smoothly.
- 9. Express probability naturally Original: I possibly kept it Suggested revision: I probably left it Why it matters: “Probably left it” is the natural wording for an uncertain forgotten location.
- 10. Use the adjective form Original: size Suggested revision: sized Why it matters: The compound adjective describing the file-holder requires “-sized”.
- 11. Use the common noun Original: file-holder Suggested revision: folder Why it matters: “Folder” is the usual concise term for this type of document holder.
- 12. Name the contents accurately Original: files Suggested revision: documents Why it matters: The holder contains documents, not several other files.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope this letter I hope this letter
- jovial spirit high spirits
- your place but your place, but
- was were
- indeed really
- and had a great time together and we had a great time together
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly describes the blue file-holder, identifies the wooden cabinet as its likely location, and makes a polite, practical postal request in a friendly tone. Its main limitation is language accuracy: the opening is longer than necessary, and several phrases and conditional forms are awkward. Prioritise stating the lost-file purpose earlier, then use accurate past modals and conditionals while separating the social opening from the description and request.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully and clearly addressed with enough identifying detail and an appropriate friendly request for postal return.
State the postal address or confirm that the friend already has it to make the return request completely actionable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content moves sensibly from the social opening to the lost item, description, location and request, but it remains one dense paragraph.
Shorten the opening and create separate paragraphs for the file details and the postal request.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied and mostly natural, though "jovial spirit," "oblivious while I left" and "seminar authority" are awkward choices.
Prefer direct phrases such as "I must have been distracted," "the seminar organisers" and "important documents."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of structures communicates clearly, but the unreal past conditional and several clause constructions contain noticeable errors.
Write "If you had not been such a great host, I would have struggled" and revise "while I was leaving for Perth Airport."
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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.