Your neighbours have a dog that is noisy at night. You can’t sleep due to this. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - describe the problem with the dog - explain why it is important for you to sleep outline - what your neighbours could do about the situation
Sample Response
Dear Mr and Mrs Donald, I am Beth Scarlet, your next-door neighbour, writing to express my concern about the noise your dog makes at night. I intended to write to you a few days ago but waited patiently with the hope that the dog would stop barking loudly at night and will save me from writing a letter that sounds like a complaint letter. I am hoping that you would resolve the issue. For more than a week your dog has been yelping aloud at night and I have no idea why! Just when I send my daughter to her bed, who is a school-goer and try to close my eyes, I can hear the deafening noise and this deters me from falling asleep. I have to get up before 6.00 am to prepare breakfast for my family, then take my daughter to her school and finally drive to my office. Interrupted sleep or lack of sound sleep leaves me dizzy the next day and this hurts my performance in my office. You are great neighbours in every aspect and I am sure you will feel my stress regarding this. I do not own a pet and cannot advise you what should be done but I guess taking the dog to a specialist might be a good idea. Yours sincerely, Beth Scarlet
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Separate the greeting Original: Dear Mr and Mrs Donald, I am Suggested revision: Dear Mr and Mrs Donald, I am Why it matters: The salutation should be separated from the opening sentence.
- 2. Use past perfect Original: I intended to write Suggested revision: I had intended to write Why it matters: Past perfect shows that the intention preceded the later decision to wait.
- 3. Keep tense consistent Original: would stop barking loudly at night and will save me Suggested revision: would stop barking loudly at night and save me Why it matters: Both coordinated verbs depend on would and should use the base form.
- 4. Avoid repeated letter Original: a letter that sounds like a complaint letter Suggested revision: what might sound like a complaint Why it matters: The revision removes repetition while preserving the writer's concern about tone.
- 5. Use clear request form Original: I am hoping that you would resolve Suggested revision: I hope that you can resolve Why it matters: Can expresses a direct present request more naturally than conditional would.
- 6. Add introductory comma Original: For more than a week your dog Suggested revision: For more than a week, your dog Why it matters: A comma should follow the introductory time phrase.
- 7. Use natural adverb Original: aloud Suggested revision: loudly Why it matters: Loudly describes the volume of the dog's yelping more naturally than aloud.
- 8. Use measured punctuation Original: I have no idea why! Suggested revision: I have no idea why. Why it matters: A full stop maintains a calm, neighbourly tone in this complaint.
- 9. Format the time Original: 6.00 am Suggested revision: 6:00 a.m. Why it matters: The proposed form uses standard English time punctuation.
- 10. Remove extra possessive Original: take my daughter to her school Suggested revision: take my daughter to school Why it matters: Go or take someone to school normally omits the possessive determiner.
- 11. Use natural destination Original: drive to my office Suggested revision: drive to work Why it matters: Drive to work is the natural expression for the daily commute.
- 12. Avoid repeated sleep Original: Interrupted sleep or lack of sound sleep Suggested revision: Interrupted or insufficient sleep Why it matters: The revision removes repetition and states the two sleep problems concisely.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Mr and Mrs Donald, I am Dear Mr and Mrs Donald, I am
- I intended to write I had intended to write
- would stop barking loudly at night and will save me would stop barking loudly at night and save me
- a letter that sounds like a complaint letter what might sound like a complaint
- I am hoping that you would resolve I hope that you can resolve
- For more than a week your dog For more than a week, your dog
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response’s strongest feature is clear, courteous task coverage: it describes the persistent barking, explains the effect of poor sleep on family and work, and proposes professional help for the dog. Its main limitation is sentence control and the limited specificity of the remedy, with one heavily tangled sentence and several awkward phrases. Prioritise a direct, actionable request supported by shorter, more controlled paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter addresses all three bullet points in relevant detail and balances a clear complaint with a respectful neighbourly tone and a plausible suggestion.
Ask the neighbours explicitly to keep the dog indoors at night or seek professional advice by a stated date so the requested action is unambiguous.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content progresses sensibly from the complaint to its effects and a solution, but the one-block format and some long sentences blur the stages of the request.
Use separate paragraphs for the barking problem, the need for sleep and the proposed action, with one main point per sentence.
Lexical Resource
There is a useful range of complaint vocabulary, including “deafening noise,” “interrupted sleep” and “performance,” but phrases such as “yelping aloud” and “feel my stress” are unnatural.
Prefer natural expressions such as “barking loudly,” “understand my concern” and “affects my performance at work.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter attempts varied complex structures, but tense consistency, relative-clause attachment and coordination errors are noticeable and occasionally strain readability.
Rewrite the sentence beginning “Just when” with the daughter reference separated, and keep past intentions and expected outcomes in consistent tense forms.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your neighbours have a dog that is noisy at night. You can’t sleep due to this. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter:
- describe the problem with the dog
- explain why it is important for you to sleep outline
- what your neighbours could do about the situation
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.