You have recently heard that a friend of yours has had some problems as a result of some unusual weather. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - express your concern (i.e. - say you are sorry to hear what has happened) - tell him/her about a similar experience that you once had - give some advice, or - offer help
Sample Response
Dear Rachel, I'm horrified to learn from your letter about the storm that hit your city recently. I'm so sorry that it even damaged your house. How awful to come home from a holiday with your child to find the damaged house! I wish it did never happen. I understand how you must feel, as I had a similar experience a few years ago when a sudden storm hit our city. I came home from a trip to find that the windows of the house were broken and the rainwater had damaged my floor and the carpet. It was very upsetting and I had to spend a large sum of money to replace the window glasses and to buy a new carpet. If I can do anything for you I’d be happy to help. I can come over the weekend and help you in any way possible. Please don't be upset by the event as you had nothing to do about it. Better concentrate on getting the insurance money and redecorate the house. See you soon. Take care. Best wishes, Sophia
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Tone control Original: I'm horrified to learn Suggested revision: I was shocked to hear Why it matters: Horrified is very strong and slightly unnatural here.
- 2. Article use Original: find the damaged house Suggested revision: find your house damaged Why it matters: This is the natural structure.
- 3. Past wish Original: I wish it did never happen Suggested revision: I wish it had never happened Why it matters: Use past perfect after wish for a past event.
- 4. Natural noun Original: the rainwater Suggested revision: rainwater Why it matters: The article is not needed when speaking generally.
- 5. Parallel nouns Original: damaged my floor and the carpet Suggested revision: damaged my floor and carpet Why it matters: Use parallel noun phrases.
- 6. Wrong noun Original: window glasses Suggested revision: window panes Why it matters: Window panes is the correct term.
- 7. Comma needed Original: If I can do anything for you I’d Suggested revision: If I can do anything for you, I’d Why it matters: Use a comma after the introductory if-clause.
- 8. Clarify timing Original: come over the weekend Suggested revision: come over at the weekend Why it matters: This is clearer in British English.
- 9. Natural phrase Original: by the event Suggested revision: about what happened Why it matters: This sounds warmer and less abstract.
- 10. Wrong expression Original: you had nothing to do about it Suggested revision: you could not have done anything about it Why it matters: This is the correct structure for lack of control.
- 11. Missing subject Original: Better concentrate Suggested revision: It would be better to concentrate Why it matters: The sentence needs a subject in standard written English.
- 12. Parallel form Original: getting the insurance money and redecorate Suggested revision: getting the insurance money and redecorating Why it matters: Both actions should use the same -ing form.
Suggested Rewrites
- I'm horrified to learn I was shocked to hear
- find the damaged house find your house damaged
- I wish it did never happen I wish it had never happened
- the rainwater rainwater
- damaged my floor and the carpet damaged my floor and carpet
- window glasses window panes
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The letter expresses concern, gives sympathy, describes a similar storm experience, and offers both advice and help. The task is fully covered and the tone is friendly.
Keep the warm support, but make the advice more tactful and polish grammar in the emotional opening.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is easy to follow, moving from sympathy to similar experience and then help. It would benefit from paragraph breaks and slightly smoother transitions.
Separate the sympathy, similar experience, and advice or help into short paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is expressive and mostly natural, with useful words such as storm, damaged, upsetting, insurance, and redecorate. Some phrases are too strong or unnatural.
Use caring but natural expressions such as I was shocked to hear, I wish it had never happened, and focus on your insurance claim.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is clear, but there are errors in perfect tense, articles, modal wording, and parallel verb forms.
Check past wishes, articles before house, and parallel verbs after advice phrases.