You have just spent a week with a friend on holiday. When you got home, you realized you had left your wallet there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - Thank your friend for the holiday - Explain that you left your wallet in their house - Give them instructions on how to send it back to you
Sample Response
Dear Adam,
I hope you are doing great like always! I’m writing this letter to let you know that I have left my wallet in your home.
Firstly, I’d like to thank you for the wonderful time I spent in your place. The trip to the countryside mountain was awesome, and it would be etched in my memory for a long time. Also, the morning we spent tenting, and fishing was fantastic. I’d love to see the photos taken on your camera. My friends and parents are eagerly waiting to see them, so send them as soon as possible. By this time, you would have noticed that I had left my wallet in your home. I remember taking it to the grocery on the last day of my stay and somehow forgot about it. This wallet has some important documents like an ID card, driving license, and Credit card apart from the cash. I wouldn’t bother with the money, but you know that the other papers in the wallet are necessary.
I’d ask you to give the wallet to Roger, who lives in Richard’s town. He is my old friend, and I have already told you that he is coming back to his home this month. I have already asked him to call you soon. He will be travelling on 28th, and you can hand over the wallet to him on the 27th evening near the Sofia mall. I can’t wait to see you again!
All the best,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural expression Original: doing great like always Suggested revision: doing great, as always Why it matters: “As always” is the idiomatic expression in this greeting.
- 2. Fix place preposition Original: in Suggested revision: at Why it matters: “At your place” is the natural prepositional phrase.
- 3. Clarify the destination Original: countryside mountain Suggested revision: mountains in the countryside Why it matters: The original noun combination is not natural English.
- 4. Use suitable future form Original: it would be etched Suggested revision: it will remain etched Why it matters: The writer is making a confident prediction about the memory.
- 5. Use natural activity noun Original: tenting, and fishing Suggested revision: camping and fishing Why it matters: “Camping” is the standard word for this holiday activity, and no comma is needed.
- 6. Fix camera collocation Original: on Suggested revision: with Why it matters: Photographs are taken with a camera.
- 7. Soften the request Original: so send them as soon as possible Suggested revision: so please send them when you can Why it matters: This phrasing keeps the friendly request polite rather than commanding.
- 8. Use clear time reference Original: By this time Suggested revision: By now Why it matters: “By now” clearly refers to the time when the friend reads the letter.
- 9. Complete the place noun Original: taking it to the grocery Suggested revision: taking it to the grocery store Why it matters: “Grocery store” names the place, whereas “grocery” usually refers to goods.
- 10. Clarify what was forgotten Original: and somehow forgot about it Suggested revision: but somehow forgot to take it home Why it matters: The revision completes the verb pattern and clarifies the forgotten action.
- 11. Use lowercase common noun Original: Credit Suggested revision: credit Why it matters: This common noun should not be capitalized mid-sentence.
- 12. Make a direct request Original: I’d ask you Suggested revision: Could you Why it matters: This modal question forms a natural request to a friend.
Suggested Rewrites
- doing great like always doing great, as always
- in at
- countryside mountain mountains in the countryside
- it would be etched it will remain etched
- tenting, and fishing camping and fishing
- on with
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the three requested points with a warm, appropriate tone and especially clear, practical instructions for returning the wallet. Its main limitation is occasional awkward phrasing and some unnecessary detail about photographs, which makes the middle section less focused; the highest-priority improvement is to streamline that paragraph and use more natural collocations while preserving the strong personal detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully developed, and the friendly register suits a letter to a friend.
Keep supporting details tightly connected to the holiday, wallet, and return arrangements so the request remains fully focused.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a logical sequence and are linked effectively, although the long central paragraph contains several distinct topics.
Separate the holiday thanks from the wallet explanation to make the progression easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally effective, with a few unnatural collocations such as 'countryside mountain' and 'spent tenting.'
Use more idiomatic combinations, for example 'trip to the mountains' and 'morning spent camping and fishing.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of sentence forms is used with generally strong control, despite occasional tense, article, and punctuation slips.
Review tense consistency and remove unnecessary commas in coordinated phrases to improve accuracy further.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have just spent a week with a friend on holiday. When you got home, you realized you had left your wallet there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- Thank your friend for the holiday
- Explain that you left your wallet in their house
- Give them instructions on how to send it back to you
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.