You have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the newspaper to publish an advert. In your letter: - describe your apartment and the facilities available - what kind of tenant you would prefer - when you want the advertisement to be published and how you would pay the fee
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to publish an advertisement in your newspaper's classified section. I am interested in renting out a room to a tenant, preferably a student, and would like you to publish the advert on 24th and 25th May in your daily newspaper. The room I intend to rent out is fully furnished, currently vacant and comes with an attached bathroom and a balcony. The apartment is on the 4th floor, approximately 185 square feet and is located on Raspberry street. The rent per month would be $580 including the utility bills. The occupant of the room would be free to use the kitchen and the common room and can move into the apartment at the beginning of June. I would like to rent it out to a university student who is a non-smoker, would have less frequent visitors and like to live quietly. If this is not possible, I can rent it out to a service holder but he or she has to be single and fulfil other criteria. A deposit of two months has to be made and I must mention that I can not assure a car parking in the garage. As I have mentioned, I would like to have the advert published in your newspaper's classified section on 24th and 25th May. I have written the exact text of the advertisement in a separate paper and it does not exceed the word limit of 200. Please publish it on a 4X6 inch box with general format and text. I would be ready to pay once you approve the advert to be published. I can pay using my credit card or send you an account payable check. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Yours faithfully, Tesla Johnson
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Clarify publication request Original: to publish an advertisement Suggested revision: to request publication of an advertisement Why it matters: The newspaper will publish the advert, while the writer is requesting that service.
- 2. Capitalize street name Original: street Suggested revision: Street Why it matters: Both words in a proper street name require capital letters.
- 3. Use concise rent phrase Original: The rent per month Suggested revision: The monthly rent Why it matters: This is the natural concise expression for the recurring charge.
- 4. Use concise utilities phrase Original: including the utility bills Suggested revision: including utilities Why it matters: ‘Utilities’ naturally refers to the included household services without ‘bills’.
- 5. Keep conditional form Original: can Suggested revision: could Why it matters: ‘Could’ is parallel with the preceding conditional form ‘would be free’.
- 6. Use natural occupation term Original: service holder Suggested revision: working professional Why it matters: ‘Service holder’ is not a standard term for an employed tenant in general English.
- 7. Link alternative tenant Original: but he or she has to be single and fulfil other criteria Suggested revision: who would also need to be single and meet the other criteria Why it matters: The relative clause connects the requirements smoothly and uses the natural verb ‘meet’.
- 8. Specify deposit amount Original: A deposit of two months Suggested revision: A deposit equivalent to two months’ rent Why it matters: A deposit is measured in months of rent, not months alone.
- 9. Use one-word form Original: can not Suggested revision: cannot Why it matters: The standard spelling of the negative modal is one word.
- 10. Correct parking phrase Original: assure a car parking Suggested revision: guarantee a parking space Why it matters: ‘Guarantee a parking space’ is the natural expression for availability.
- 11. Correct writing medium Original: in a separate paper Suggested revision: on a separate sheet of paper Why it matters: Text is written ‘on’ a sheet of paper.
- 12. Correct format phrase Original: on a 4X6 inch box Suggested revision: in a 4 × 6-inch box Why it matters: An advert appears ‘in’ a box, and the compound measurement needs a hyphen.
Suggested Rewrites
- to publish an advertisement to request publication of an advertisement
- street Street
- The rent per month The monthly rent
- including the utility bills including utilities
- can could
- service holder working professional
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter covers every requested point in considerable detail, providing facilities, tenant preferences, publication dates, and two payment options in an appropriately formal tone. Its main limitation is excessive length and repetition, particularly the repeated publication request and several unnecessary administrative details, while some phrases are unnatural. The priority is to group the three requested areas into clear paragraphs and remove information that does not help the newspaper place the advert.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points are thoroughly addressed with specific, mostly relevant details and a suitable formal tone.
Keep the room, tenant, date, and payment details but remove repeated or unnecessary information about the separate advert text and approval process.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically through the room, preferred tenant, and publication arrangements, but the single long paragraph and repeated date reduce cohesion.
Create one paragraph for each bullet point and state the requested publication dates only once.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, though expressions such as 'service holder,' 'assure a car parking,' and 'account payable check' are unnatural.
Use standard terms such as 'working professional,' 'guarantee a parking space,' and 'pay by cheque.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses varied sentence structures with generally clear meaning, but errors in coordination, articles, comparison, and verb patterns recur.
Maintain parallel grammar in lists, for example 'is a non-smoker, has few visitors, and prefers a quiet home.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the newspaper to publish an advert. In your letter:
- describe your apartment and the facilities available
- what kind of tenant you would prefer
- when you want the advertisement to be published and how you would pay the fee
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.