Your next-door neighbour often listens to loud music late at night, which causes you problems sleeping. Write a letter to the authority of the building. In your letter: - describe the situation - explain the problems it is causing you - propose a solution
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I live on the north side of your Daffodil apartment complex, Building 4, flat 5-D, next to the lake, and I am writing this letter to inform you about a problem that I have been facing lately.
Actually, the issue is that one of my next-door neighbours has been causing this problem by playing loud music till very late at night. I do not exactly mind this kind of noise once in a while, especially if they are heard during the weekend or holidays. But it has become a cause of concern, to say the least, as it pretty much an every night thing and prevents me from having a good-night sleep. And, as you perhaps know, how sloppy and slow one becomes at work without proper sleep at night. I, of course, have tried to reason with my neighbour on multiple occasions by telling him about my sleep problem, but he just does not seem to care about my concern at all.
Therefore, I would like to request you to intervene to solve this problem as a person of authority so that I can have some good sleep, at least, during the weekdays.
Yours faithfully,
Jimmy Falon
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use formal building name Original: your Daffodil apartment complex Suggested revision: the Daffodil Apartment Complex Why it matters: The definite article and capitalization present the building name formally.
- 2. Remove informal opener Original: Actually, Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: The issue follows directly from the purpose paragraph, so this conversational opener is unnecessary.
- 3. Use formal time wording Original: till Suggested revision: until Why it matters: Until is more appropriate in a formal complaint letter.
- 4. Correct pronoun agreement Original: if they are heard Suggested revision: if it is heard Why it matters: The pronoun must agree with the singular noun noise.
- 5. Correct time prepositions Original: during the weekend or holidays Suggested revision: at weekends or on holidays Why it matters: At weekends and on holidays are the natural prepositional phrases.
- 6. Use possessive expression Original: good-night sleep Suggested revision: good night's sleep Why it matters: The fixed expression requires the possessive night's.
- 7. Avoid repeated concern wording Original: care about my concern at all Suggested revision: take my concern seriously Why it matters: The replacement is more concise and natural in a formal complaint.
- 8. Sentence rewrite Original: But it has become a cause of concern, to say the least, as it pretty much an every night thing and prevents me from having a good-night sleep. Suggested revision: However, it has become a serious concern because it now occurs almost every night and prevents me from getting a good night's sleep. Why it matters: The rewrite supplies the missing verb, removes informal phrasing, and corrects the sleep expression.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: And, as you perhaps know, how sloppy and slow one becomes at work without proper sleep at night. Suggested revision: As you may appreciate, insufficient sleep leaves me tired and less productive at work. Why it matters: The original is a sentence fragment with an unnecessary initial conjunction and awkward wording.
- 10. Make the solution specific Suggested revision: Ask the building authority to contact the neighbour and enforce quiet hours on weeknights. Why it matters: A specific requested action would develop the solution bullet more clearly than asking generally for intervention.
Suggested Rewrites
- your Daffodil apartment complex the Daffodil Apartment Complex
- Actually, Delete
- till until
- if they are heard if it is heard
- during the weekend or holidays at weekends or on holidays
- good-night sleep good night's sleep
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its complete and relevant coverage of the recurring noise, its impact on sleep and work, and the request for intervention, all in a generally appropriate formal tone. Its main limitation is uneven language control, with a sentence fragment, a missing verb, and some overly conversational wording. Prioritise making the proposed action more specific and proofreading every sentence for completeness and professional phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are developed with relevant detail, and the tone is generally suitable for building management.
Propose a more concrete action, such as asking management to issue a formal noise warning or enforce quiet hours.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter is logically paragraphed and progresses clearly from context to problem, consequences, prior action, and request.
Reduce the number of discourse markers within the main paragraph so the progression feels more direct.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficiently varied and mostly appropriate range for complaint and impact, with a few informal or awkward choices.
Replace phrases such as ‘pretty much an every night thing’ and ‘sloppy’ with more professional wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex structures is handled effectively, though a missing verb and a sentence fragment are noticeable lapses.
Correct ‘as it pretty much an every night thing’ and rewrite the fragment beginning ‘And, as you perhaps know’.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your next-door neighbour often listens to loud music late at night, which causes you problems sleeping. Write a letter to the authority of the building. In your letter:
- describe the situation
- explain the problems it is causing you
- propose a solution
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.