You want to sell some of your furniture. You think a friend of yours might like to buy it from you. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - explain why you are selling - describe the furniture - suggest a date - when your friend can come and see the furniture
Sample Response
Dear Zhao,
I hope you are doing well. I'm writing to let you know that I'm selling some of my furniture, and I thought you might be interested before I advertise it elsewhere.
The reason I am selling some of my furniture is that I'm moving to a smaller apartment next month, and unfortunately, I won’t have enough space for all my current furniture. Instead of storing it, I would rather sell it to someone who could make good use of it.
I have a wooden dining table with four matching chairs, a comfortable two-seater sofa in excellent condition, and a modern glass coffee table. All the pieces are in great shape, and I’m happy to offer them to you at a reasonable price.
If you’re interested, you’re welcome to come and have a look. Would this Saturday afternoon work for you? Let me know what time suits you best.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Warm wishes,
Chen
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. State the reason directly Original: The reason I am selling some of my furniture is that Suggested revision: I am selling some of my furniture because Why it matters: The direct clause is more concise while preserving the reason for the sale.
- 2. Remove redundant wording Original: all my current furniture Suggested revision: all my furniture Why it matters: ‘Current’ adds no useful distinction because the furniture already belongs to the writer.
- 3. Use direct future meaning Original: could Suggested revision: will Why it matters: ‘Will’ more directly expresses the intended future use by the buyer.
- 4. Avoid repeated description Original: All the pieces are in great shape Suggested revision: The chairs and tables are also in great shape Why it matters: This wording avoids repeating the sofa’s condition and clarifies that the remaining pieces are well maintained.
- 5. Match multiple items Original: at a reasonable price Suggested revision: at reasonable prices Why it matters: The plural ‘prices’ is clearer because several separate pieces are being offered.
- 6. Make the invitation direct Original: you’re welcome to come and have a look Suggested revision: please come and have a look Why it matters: The direct invitation is concise and remains warm and appropriate for a friend.
- 7. Sentence rewrite Original: I'm writing to let you know that I'm selling some of my furniture, and I thought you might be interested before I advertise it elsewhere. Suggested revision: I'm writing to let you know that I'm selling some furniture and to ask whether you might be interested before I advertise it elsewhere. Why it matters: The parallel infinitive structure makes the purpose of the letter clearer.
- 8. Narrow the visit time Suggested revision: Offer a short time window on Saturday afternoon while still inviting Zhao to suggest another time. Why it matters: A more precise viewing window would make the proposed arrangement easier to act on.
Suggested Rewrites
- The reason I am selling some of my furniture is that I am selling some of my furniture because
- all my current furniture all my furniture
- could will
- All the pieces are in great shape The chairs and tables are also in great shape
- at a reasonable price at reasonable prices
- you’re welcome to come and have a look please come and have a look
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter fully covers the reason for selling, the items available and a clear invitation to view them, while maintaining a warm and natural tone throughout. Its greatest strength is the concise specificity of the furniture descriptions and proposed Saturday visit; the only meaningful limitation is that the exact viewing time is left for the friend to choose. The priority is simply to preserve this precision and efficiency in future letters.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The communicative purpose is fully achieved through clear reasons, specific furniture details and a suitably friendly viewing invitation.
For maximum practical precision, offer one exact Saturday time while still inviting Zhao to suggest an alternative.
Coherence and Cohesion
Purposeful paragraphs organise the reason, description and proposed visit in a natural sequence with unobtrusive linking.
Maintain this concise paragraph structure and direct progression in future personal letters.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, natural and precise, especially in descriptions such as "matching chairs", "two-seater sofa" and "excellent condition".
Continue selecting concrete descriptive language while avoiding unnecessary elaboration in short transactional letters.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A flexible range of structures is used with strong control, and the response is almost entirely error-free.
Preserve the same accurate control of contractions, conditionals and relative clauses under timed conditions.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You want to sell some of your furniture. You think a friend of yours might like to buy it from you. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- explain why you are selling
- describe the furniture
- suggest a date
- when your friend can come and see the furniture
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.