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 Rajib, Hope you are doing great. I'm writing to let you know that I have decided to sell some of my furniture. I will move to a new city soon and my new apartment is not big enough to accommodate all of my furniture. I thought you might be interested to buy some of the furniture I have planned to sell. You know that I've recently been transferred to Rajshahi. It's great news for me because I have wished to live there for a long. However, there's a problem- the new flat is smaller than my current one and I will need to sell some of my furniture. More specifically, I want to sell my dining and sofa set. Last month, you came to my house on the occasion of my younger daughter's birthday. I remember you inquiring about the dining table and the sofa set and I thought you might want to have those. Nevertheless, it's a large dining table including six chairs made of mahogany wood. Besides, the sofa I own is a modern fabric Scandinavian sofa set that was placed in my living room. I would rather sell the furniture to someone whom I know than an unknown person, and I'm willing to offer a reasonable price. You can come anytime you want and inspect the furniture. If you feel that they are perfect for you, you can buy those. Don't worry about the price. No more today, speak to you soon. Warm wishes, Rahim
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct verb pattern Original: interested to buy Suggested revision: interested in buying Why it matters: The adjective 'interested' takes 'in' followed by a gerund.
- 2. Use natural verb Original: wished Suggested revision: wanted Why it matters: 'Have wanted' naturally expresses a continuing desire to live somewhere.
- 3. Complete time phrase Original: for a long. Suggested revision: for a long time. Why it matters: The duration expression needs the noun 'time' here.
- 4. Clarify the items Original: my dining and sofa set Suggested revision: my dining set and sofa Why it matters: The original coordination makes it unclear whether both pieces form one set.
- 5. Use natural description Original: including Suggested revision: with Why it matters: 'With' describes the table-and-chair set more naturally than 'including'.
- 6. Remove false contrast Original: Nevertheless, it's Suggested revision: It's Why it matters: 'Nevertheless' signals a contrast that does not exist between recalling the furniture and describing it.
- 7. Complete comparison Original: someone whom I know than an unknown person Suggested revision: someone I know rather than a stranger Why it matters: The comparison requires the paired form 'rather than'.
- 8. Use object pronoun Original: those Suggested revision: them Why it matters: 'Them' is the natural pronoun for previously identified pieces of furniture.
- 9. Use natural closing Original: No more today Suggested revision: That's all for now Why it matters: This phrase is a more idiomatic informal-letter closing.
- 10. Use planned future Original: I will move to a new city soon Suggested revision: I'm moving to a new city soon Why it matters: The present continuous naturally expresses this settled future arrangement.
- 11. Use concise wording Original: accommodate all of my furniture Suggested revision: fit all my furniture Why it matters: 'Fit' is a more natural and concise verb for furniture in an apartment.
- 12. Simplify the tense Original: have planned to sell Suggested revision: plan to sell Why it matters: The simple present clearly expresses the writer's current intention.
Suggested Rewrites
- interested to buy interested in buying
- wished wanted
- for a long. for a long time.
- my dining and sofa set my dining set and sofa
- including with
- Nevertheless, it's It's
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a clear informal purpose, relevant detail about the move and furniture, and enough vocabulary and sentence variety to communicate smoothly. Its main limitation is task coverage: it invites the friend to come anytime but never suggests the requested date, while several awkward collocations and the single-block presentation reduce polish. Add a specific day and time, then proofread prepositions and natural word combinations.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose, reason for selling, and furniture description are clear and suitably developed, but the requested date is omitted.
Suggest a precise day and time when the friend can inspect the furniture.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically from the move to the items and proposed sale, although the entire letter is presented as one block.
Divide the letter into short paragraphs for the reason, furniture details, and visit arrangements.
Lexical Resource
A good range of specific vocabulary, including mahogany, Scandinavian, and inspect, supports clear communication despite some awkward collocations.
Use more natural combinations such as interested in buying and have wanted to live there for a long time.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied simple and complex structures are generally well controlled, with occasional article, preposition, and punctuation errors.
Proofread articles, prepositions, and sentence punctuation while retaining the current structural range.
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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.