A friend has agreed to look after your house and pet while you are on holiday. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - Give contact details for when you are away. - Give instructions about how to care for your pet. - Describe other household duties.
Sample Response
Dear John,
I feel overwhelmed with happiness that you have concurred to take sole responsibility for my home and my dog Scooby. My family and I will leave for vacation on Friday night and expect to arrive by 19th June. I’ll provide you with some suggestions when we are away and ensure that you’ll have a comfortable and convenient stay during our absence.
If Scoby is unwell all of a sudden or there are any other unprecedented circumstances with it, then please call the nearby vet clinic immediately without any second thoughts. They’re operational all the time. Please give a missed call to the toll-free number +1800900700, and they will respond immediately to book an appointment and visit us as soon as possible.
Furthermore, my pet has supper only twice a day. I kept the dog food in the pantry, and you can serve two portions in the food bowl. It is fond of vegetables. Therefore, an evening snack of a few chopped veggies should be fed, and those are available in the fridge.
In addition, I have the habit of watering plants in the garden at sunset. Hence, you can continue the same every day at dusk. There is a supermarket in the community, and you can refill the groceries according to your convenience.
Thank you in advance for your honorable gesture of taking care of my home and pet on behalf of my family, and I hope to see you soon.
Best Regards,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural gratitude Original: overwhelmed with happiness Suggested revision: very grateful Why it matters: This phrase sounds exaggerated for a friendly thank-you letter.
- 2. Match friendly tone Original: concurred Suggested revision: agreed Why it matters: This formal word sounds unnatural when writing to a friend.
- 3. Use direct wording Original: take sole responsibility for Suggested revision: look after Why it matters: This simpler phrase expresses the intended household arrangement more naturally.
- 4. Clarify return date Original: expect to arrive by 19th June Suggested revision: expect to return on 19 June Why it matters: The friend needs to know when the family will return, while “arrive” leaves the destination unclear.
- 5. Name the guidance Original: suggestions when we are away Suggested revision: instructions for while we are away Why it matters: The letter gives care instructions rather than optional suggestions.
- 6. Correct the name Original: Scoby Suggested revision: Scooby Why it matters: The dog's name is spelled differently from its first occurrence.
- 7. Use clear wording Original: unprecedented circumstances with it Suggested revision: unexpected problems with him Why it matters: The original phrase is unnatural and makes the possible problem unclear.
- 8. Use natural phrase Original: without any second thoughts Suggested revision: without hesitation Why it matters: This is the idiomatic expression for acting immediately.
- 9. State hours clearly Original: operational all the time Suggested revision: open 24 hours a day Why it matters: This wording gives the clinic's availability more naturally and precisely.
- 10. Use correct collocation Original: give a missed call Suggested revision: call Why it matters: A missed call does not clearly request an immediate conversation with the clinic.
- 11. Clarify visit location Original: visit us as soon as possible Suggested revision: visit the house as soon as possible Why it matters: The family will be away, so “us” gives the vet the wrong destination.
- 12. Name two meals Original: has supper only twice a day Suggested revision: eats only twice a day Why it matters: “Supper” refers to one evening meal and cannot occur twice a day in this context.
Suggested Rewrites
- overwhelmed with happiness very grateful
- concurred agreed
- take sole responsibility for look after
- expect to arrive by 19th June expect to return on 19 June
- suggestions when we are away instructions for while we are away
- Scoby Scooby
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter is easy to follow and gives useful detail about feeding the dog, contacting the vet, and watering the plants. Its main weakness is task fulfilment: the writer does not provide their own contact details while away, and the highly formal wording sounds unnatural for a close friend. Prioritise adding a phone number or other direct contact method and using warmer, simpler language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and pet care and household duties are developed, but the requested contact details for the writer are not supplied and the tone is overly formal for a friend.
Provide a personal phone number or email for emergencies and use a more natural friendly tone throughout.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically through separate paragraphs for the vet, feeding, and household duties, with clear referencing and linking.
Use fewer formulaic transition words so the practical instructions connect more naturally.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a good range of vocabulary, though several choices such as 'concurred,' 'unprecedented circumstances,' and 'honorable gesture' are awkward in this context.
Choose simpler, more idiomatic wording that fits an informal letter to a friend.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is used with generally clear meaning, but there are occasional tense, reference, and construction problems.
Check tense consistency and recast awkward structures such as 'a few chopped veggies should be fed' into natural active clauses.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A friend has agreed to look after your house and pet while you are on holiday. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- Give contact details for when you are away.
- Give instructions about how to care for your pet.
- Describe other household duties.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.