You have just rented an unfurnished flat and a friend has told you that the Opportunity Shop in the shopping centre has cheap second-hand furniture. Write to the shop owner. In your letter: - describe what furniture you need - ask whether the shop has these items - ask what the items cost
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I have just rented an unfurnished flat after arriving in this town about two weeks agoabout a couple of weeks ago. DeleteWell, as you can understand that since I am new in this town, I don’t really know many places or shops here where I would be able to purchase some affordable second-hand furniturecheap or second-hand furniture. Luckily, however, one of my friends, who lives in this town, advised me to visitadvised me that I visit "Naomi Furniture", an Opportunity Shop, to find what I have been looking for. DeleteNeedless to say, I liked what my friend had suggested after seeing your collection online. DeleteAnyway, I am looking to buy a standard single bed, a couple of sofa chairs, a wardrobe, a bedside table, and a medium-sizedsize dining table along with 4 chairs. I could also use a standard office desk and a desk chair. I think that’s all the furniture I need for now. So, if you please let me know whether you have them or not, and how much they could possibly cost me, I would really appreciate it. Yours faithfully, Larry Nixon
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a clear purpose, gives a specific and useful furniture list, and directly asks about both availability and prices. Its main limitation is register and focus: conversational markers and extended background about being new in town make the request less concise and less consistently formal. Prioritise grouping the requested items and questions into focused paragraphs, while replacing chatty phrases with polite business-letter wording.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully addressed with relevant detail, though the formal tone is weakened by several conversational asides.
Retain the specific furniture list but remove unnecessary background and make the availability and price request more directly formal.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a sensible progression from context to requested items and questions, but the single paragraph and filler transitions weaken organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for the purpose, furniture list, and final availability-and-cost enquiry.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise for furniture and purchasing, with only occasional awkward or overly conversational choices.
Replace expressions such as "about a couple of weeks" and "Anyway" with concise formal alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of complex structures is mostly accurate, although a few overextended sentences and conditional forms are faulty.
Simplify the sentence beginning "Well" and use a correct polite request such as "I would appreciate it if you could let me know".
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 have just rented an unfurnished flat and a friend has told you that the Opportunity Shop in the shopping centre has cheap second-hand furniture. Write to the shop owner. In your letter:
- describe what furniture you need
- ask whether the shop has these items
- ask what the items cost
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.