You are experiencing financial problems and want to ask your landlord if you can pay your rent late. Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter: - explain Why you are writing to him - Why you cannot pay the rent - When you will pay the rent.
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am writing to you to ask you for a delay in my rental payment this month.
I’ve been your tenant for a couple of years and you know that I have always paid my rent on time. However, due to Covid-19, the hotel I have been working at is going bankrupt so currently, I’m jobless. As you already know, I live in Ho Chi Minh city alone with no financial support from my family, therefore leaving me quite short of money this month.
I applied for a part-time job as a waitress last week at a local restaurant and have been accepted. I will be starting to work tomorrow, so I can assure you that the rent will be completely paid in the next two weeks on May 10th.
I would be grateful if you take my case into consideration, and please contact me if there is any problem.
Best regards,
Amber Van
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. State the request clearly Original: ask you for a delay in my rental payment Suggested revision: ask whether I may pay my rent late Why it matters: This wording states the requested arrangement more directly and naturally.
- 2. Separate the clauses Original: a couple of years and you know Suggested revision: a couple of years, and you know Why it matters: A comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses.
- 3. Use a formal relative Original: the hotel I have been working at Suggested revision: the hotel where I have been working Why it matters: “Where” creates a smoother relative clause for this semi-formal letter.
- 4. Clarify the result Original: going bankrupt so currently, I’m jobless Suggested revision: going bankrupt, so I am currently unemployed Why it matters: The comma marks the result clause clearly, while “unemployed” better suits the letter's register.
- 5. Capitalize the place name Original: city Suggested revision: City Why it matters: “City” is part of the proper place name and requires a capital letter.
- 6. Fix the clause link Original: therefore leaving me Suggested revision: which has left me Why it matters: A relative clause correctly links the lack of family support to the resulting financial shortage.
- 7. Use a polite conditional Original: if you take Suggested revision: if you could take Why it matters: “Could” is the appropriate polite form after “I would be grateful.”
- 8. Separate the requests Original: , and please contact me Suggested revision: . Please contact me Why it matters: A new sentence separates the request for consideration from the invitation to respond.
- 9. Use formal wording Original: I’ve Suggested revision: I have Why it matters: Avoiding the contraction gives this request to a landlord a slightly more formal tone.
- 10. Standardize capitalization Original: Covid Suggested revision: COVID Why it matters: The standard written form capitalizes every letter in the abbreviation.
- 11. Soften the assumption Original: already Suggested revision: may Why it matters: “May know” avoids assuming how much the landlord knows about the writer's personal circumstances.
- 12. Clarify the coordination Original: alone with no financial support from my family Suggested revision: alone and receive no financial support from my family Why it matters: Adding a finite verb makes the two facts about the writer's situation parallel and clear.
Suggested Rewrites
- ask you for a delay in my rental payment ask whether I may pay my rent late
- a couple of years and you know a couple of years, and you know
- the hotel I have been working at the hotel where I have been working
- going bankrupt so currently, I’m jobless going bankrupt, so I am currently unemployed
- city City
- therefore leaving me which has left me
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter clearly explains the request, the financial circumstances, and the proposed payment date in a polite, appropriately formal manner. Its main limitation is that several grammatical and collocational choices sound awkward, while in the next two weeks on May 10th creates a small timing ambiguity; prioritize expressing the payment commitment with one precise date and polishing conditional structures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter achieves its purpose, covers every bullet point with relevant detail, and maintains a suitably respectful tone.
State the exact revised payment date without the competing two-week time reference and make the request for permission fully explicit.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is clearly organized by purpose, explanation, solution, and closing, with smooth overall progression.
Use punctuation or sentence division more carefully where several causal links are combined in the second paragraph.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied and generally appropriate for a formal request, including financial support and take my case into consideration.
Choose more natural collocations such as request an extension on my rent and pay the rent in full.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses a good mix of simple and complex sentences, though several non-impeding errors remain noticeable.
Improve conditional and clause control, especially I would be grateful if you took and the loosely attached therefore leaving phrase.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are experiencing financial problems and want to ask your landlord if you can pay your rent late. Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter:
- explain Why you are writing to him
- Why you cannot pay the rent
- When you will pay the rent.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.