You play a team sport with some friends. Last week a member of the team had an accident and wasn’t able to play with you at the weekend. You decide to write to him in the hospital, telling him about the match. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - tell him which team won - describe the conditions on the day - say how you felt about the match
Sample Response
Dear Jim,
I hope this letter finds you in brighter spirits. Anticipating for your return into our football team as soon as possible, and I heard as it’s just a ligament tear so, you will be discharged soon.
Firstly, I know it’s disappointing news for you; we lost the last Sunday match to our opponent Solaris team. As you were aware, this interoffice football tournament started last month and was conducted as per the scheduled league matches. However, the semi-final between us and the Solaris team was a tie-breaker match. Finally, we could not win this time.
Last Sunday was a very humid day to start the match. Consequently, our players were sweating and gasping throughout the day by noon we were exhausted. During the last half-time, we could not score any goal, eventually leading us to our defeat.
Even though we are a sportsman and should possess the team-spirit, I felt I missed my staunchest ally that day to back me up. Hence, I wish you a speedy recovery and would like to see in the field soon.
See you soon,
Best regards,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add clear subject Original: it’s disappointing news for you Suggested revision: this is disappointing news for you Why it matters: This needs a demonstrative subject referring to the match result.
- 2. Fix time phrase Original: the last Sunday match Suggested revision: last Sunday’s match Why it matters: The possessive time expression naturally identifies the match played last Sunday.
- 3. Fix opponent phrase Original: our opponent Solaris team Suggested revision: our opponents, the Solaris team Why it matters: The plural noun and appositive structure correctly identify the opposing team.
- 4. Use current awareness Original: As you were aware Suggested revision: As you know Why it matters: The present form suits information the friend already knows.
- 5. Clarify tournament format Original: was conducted as per the scheduled league matches Suggested revision: followed the scheduled league format Why it matters: This replacement expresses the tournament structure clearly and concisely.
- 6. Name both teams Original: between us and the Solaris team Suggested revision: between our team and Solaris Why it matters: Both sides of the match should be expressed as teams rather than mixing a pronoun with a team name.
- 7. Fix tie-breaker phrasing Original: was a tie-breaker match Suggested revision: went to a tie-breaker Why it matters: A match goes to a tie-breaker when the regular play ends level.
- 8. Fix weather structure Original: was a very humid day to start the match Suggested revision: was very humid when the match started Why it matters: This structure links the humid conditions clearly to the start of the match.
- 9. Use match term Original: During the last half-time Suggested revision: During the second half Why it matters: Second half refers to the final playing period, while half-time is the interval.
- 10. Use plural noun Original: goal Suggested revision: goals Why it matters: The plural is the natural form after any when referring generally to scoring.
- 11. Clarify result link Original: eventually leading us to our defeat Suggested revision: which led to our defeat Why it matters: A relative clause connects the failure to score with the resulting defeat more clearly.
- 12. Fix number agreement Original: we are a sportsman Suggested revision: we are sportspeople Why it matters: The plural subject we requires a plural complement.
Suggested Rewrites
- it’s disappointing news for you this is disappointing news for you
- the last Sunday match last Sunday’s match
- our opponent Solaris team our opponents, the Solaris team
- As you were aware As you know
- was conducted as per the scheduled league matches followed the scheduled league format
- between us and the Solaris team between our team and Solaris
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response follows a clear sequence and communicates the match result, difficult weather, and the writer’s disappointment in a suitably friendly letter. However, frequent grammatical and collocational errors make several sentences awkward, while the feelings about the match receive limited direct development. Prioritise complete, accurately structured sentences and state the emotional reaction to the defeat more explicitly.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter addresses all three bullet points and maintains an appropriate friendly purpose, though the writer’s feelings are only briefly conveyed.
Explain the emotional response to the defeat more directly and add a little detail about why the friend’s absence mattered.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is divided into relevant paragraphs and has a broadly logical sequence, although some linking is mechanical and one sentence runs together.
Use fewer formulaic connectors and separate closely packed ideas into clearly punctuated sentences.
Lexical Resource
There is enough vocabulary to describe the match and relationship, but awkward collocations occur frequently despite generally clear meaning.
Choose more natural phrases for returning to the team, describing the second half, and expressing team spirit.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts varied structures, but frequent errors in sentence formation, agreement, articles, and prepositions reduce control.
Prioritise writing complete clauses and checking subject–verb agreement and missing objects before adding complex structures.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You play a team sport with some friends. Last week a member of the team had an accident and wasn’t able to play with you at the weekend. You decide to write to him in the hospital, telling him about the match. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- tell him which team won
- describe the conditions on the day
- say how you felt about the match
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.