You want to sell your television. 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 the television - describe the television - suggest a date - when your friend can come and see it
Sample Response
Dear Alfred, I hope you are doing great. It's been a while since we have last met. Hope you are enjoying your new job. I am writing today regarding a television set that I want to sell and I think you might be interested to own it. I am excited to tell you that I have been accepted to join the University of Berkshire for the Masters in Business program. Hopefully, I will be leaving for the UK next month. Since I will be living in the UK for the next 3 years, I am hoping to sell all my belongings that I will not be able to take with me. My one such possession is a TV set. It is a 40 inch Sony Smart TV with the Android operating system, and it is equipped with Wi-Fi and many other rich features such as the 3D view and surround sound system. I am willing to sell it to you at a cheap price as a token of my gratitude for your loyal friendship. As I will be departing from Lahore on 10th July, I hope you can drop by on 1st July and see the TV to figure out whether you want to buy it or not. Hoping to see you soon. Warm wishes, Sam
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct time clause Original: since we have last met Suggested revision: since we last met Why it matters: The simple past is used after “since” to identify the last meeting.
- 2. Correct verb pattern Original: interested to own it Suggested revision: interested in buying it Why it matters: “Interested” takes “in” followed by a gerund in this context.
- 3. Use admission collocation Original: accepted to join the University of Berkshire Suggested revision: accepted into the University of Berkshire Why it matters: “Accepted into” is the natural expression for university admission.
- 4. Correct degree form Original: the Masters in Business program Suggested revision: a master's program in business Why it matters: The singular possessive form “master's” is required for this type of degree program.
- 5. Hyphenate measurement Original: a 40 inch Sony Smart TV Suggested revision: a 40-inch Sony Smart TV Why it matters: A compound measurement used before a noun should be hyphenated.
- 6. Improve feature description Original: rich Suggested revision: useful Why it matters: “Useful features” is a more natural collocation for a television.
- 7. Use neutral price wording Original: cheap Suggested revision: low Why it matters: “Low price” sounds more natural and avoids suggesting poor quality.
- 8. Sentence rewrite Original: Hope you are enjoying your new job. Suggested revision: I hope you are enjoying your new job. Why it matters: Adding the subject turns the fragment into a complete sentence.
- 9. Use friendly paragraphs Suggested revision: Divide the greeting, reason for selling, television description, viewing arrangement, and sign-off into short paragraphs. Why it matters: The single-block format makes the informal letter’s stages less easy to scan.
- 10. State asking price Suggested revision: Add the exact price you would like your friend to pay near the television description. Why it matters: A specific price would make the offer more useful than describing it only as cheap.
Suggested Rewrites
- since we have last met since we last met
- interested to own it interested in buying it
- accepted to join the University of Berkshire accepted into the University of Berkshire
- the Masters in Business program a master's program in business
- a 40 inch Sony Smart TV a 40-inch Sony Smart TV
- rich useful
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter covers every prompt point with specific, useful details about the sale, the television, and a viewing date, while maintaining a friendly relationship with the reader. Its main limitation is uneven naturalness: the wording sometimes becomes overly formal for a friend, and several collocations and grammatical forms are awkward. The key improvement is to use more conversational, idiomatic phrasing while preserving the clear progression and detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All required points are fully addressed with clear reasons, a detailed description, and a specific viewing date, while the tone remains friendly overall.
Adopt a more consistently informal register by replacing ceremonial phrases such as 'as a token of my gratitude for your loyal friendship'.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from the greeting and reason for selling to the television's features, price, and viewing arrangement, although paragraphing is absent.
Divide the letter into short paragraphs for the personal news, product details, and proposed visit.
Lexical Resource
The letter shows a good range of relevant vocabulary, but several choices such as 'interested to own', 'rich features', and 'cheap price' are unnatural.
Use more idiomatic combinations, such as 'interested in buying it', 'useful features', and 'a low price'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a varied range of sentence forms with generally secure control, though noticeable errors occur in tense and a few noun phrases.
Correct forms such as 'since we last met', 'a 40-inch television', and 'one possession I need to sell'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You want to sell your television. 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 the television
- describe the television
- suggest a date
- when your friend can come and see it
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.