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
Hi Surya, Hope you're doing well. Last week when we had met during Ravi's party, you'd told me that you're planning to buy a television. Well, I'm selling my television and I'm hoping that you might be interested to buy it. You might have heard that I'd got a full time job opportunity in Canada and I'll be migrating very soon. Since, I cannot go there carrying this television along with me, I want to sell it here, before I leave and you're the first one on the top of my head. You might have some questions about the product. Well, I'm here to clarify them for you. The product is MI Smart TV, 60 inches screen. It was bought two months ago at Bajaj Electronics and it has a two year product warranty. Coming to the specifications, It's a hd model with curved display and has all the HDMI, USB, AUX and other display ports. If you're interested and want to inspect the television, please do come over to my house on the weekend, as I'll be off work and I'll give you more details about it. Let me know your decision. Best Regards, Suresh Panduga.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use simple past Original: when we had met Suggested revision: when we met Why it matters: Use the simple past for this completed event because no earlier past event needs marking.
- 2. Remove unnecessary past perfect Original: you'd Suggested revision: you Why it matters: The simple past correctly reports what your friend said at the party.
- 3. Correct verb pattern Original: interested to buy it Suggested revision: interested in buying it Why it matters: Interested is followed by in and a gerund in this construction.
- 4. Use present perfect Original: I'd Suggested revision: I've Why it matters: The present perfect connects the recent job offer with the current plan to move.
- 5. Hyphenate compound adjective Original: full time Suggested revision: full-time Why it matters: Use a hyphen when full-time modifies the noun job opportunity.
- 6. Use natural wording Original: migrating Suggested revision: moving Why it matters: Moving is more natural than migrating when telling a friend about relocating to Canada.
- 7. Hyphenate age phrase Original: two year Suggested revision: two-year Why it matters: A compound adjective before warranty needs a hyphen and the singular form year.
- 8. Use smoother transition Original: Coming to the specifications Suggested revision: As for the specifications Why it matters: This transition introduces the technical details more naturally.
- 9. Lowercase after comma Original: It's Suggested revision: it's Why it matters: The word follows a comma within the same sentence and should not begin with a capital letter.
- 10. Correct article and capitals Original: a hd Suggested revision: an HD Why it matters: HD begins with a vowel sound and the abbreviation should be capitalized.
- 11. Add missing article Original: with curved display Suggested revision: with a curved display Why it matters: The singular countable noun display requires an article.
- 12. Clarify connection features Original: and has all the HDMI, USB, AUX and other display ports Suggested revision: and has HDMI, USB, AUX and other connection ports Why it matters: Connection ports is the more accurate collective term for these inputs.
Suggested Rewrites
- when we had met when we met
- you'd you
- interested to buy it interested in buying it
- I'd I've
- full time full-time
- migrating moving
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter communicates its purpose clearly, covers every requested point, and gives useful details about the television in an appropriately friendly voice. Its main limitation is recurring awkward grammar and word choice, compounded by presenting the whole message as one block; the highest-priority improvement is to divide the letter into purposeful paragraphs and edit collocations and sentence structures for greater naturalness.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, and the move to Canada, the television's features, and a weekend visit address and develop all three bullet points in a suitable informal tone.
Offer a specific day and time for the visit so the final bullet point is more precise and actionable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message progresses logically from the sale and its reason to product details and the proposed visit, with clear connective language.
Separate the opening, reason for selling, description, and invitation into paragraphs instead of presenting the entire letter as one block.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a useful range of vocabulary for relocation and television specifications, though several collocations and forms sound unnatural.
Replace awkward phrases such as 'interested to buy' and 'the first one on the top of my head' with natural expressions.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys the message clearly, but tense choice, articles, punctuation, and noun modifiers contain recurring errors.
Review tense consistency and noun phrases, especially forms such as 'when we met,' 'a 60-inch screen,' and 'a two-year warranty.'
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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.