You have recently purchased a gift item for one of your friends. Write a letter to this friend. In your letter: - tell him/her about the gift - tell how you want to send the gift to this friend - explain why you chose this gift for your friend
Sample Response
Dear Niro, Hope you're in good health and spirit. I felt so happy to receive your letter last week. Anyway, you'll be glad to know that I've bought a nice gift, actually, a wristwatch for you when I went to visit Switzerland about a couple of weeks ago. I know how you've always loved to wear a wristwatch, especially one from Europe. So I've bought one for you, which is gorgeous and classy in my taste. Housed in a beautiful platinum case, this watch has a shiny, dark silver colour strap. Besides, its crystal perfectly matches with its hour markers inside which illuminate nicely in the dark. It is made by "Tissot", one of the renowned watch brands in Switzerland. I chose this gift because not only it'll look good on you, but also because it won’t get damaged quickly due to excessive sweating, especially, when I know how profusely you sweat during the summer. I also thought it would be a good gift from my tour for you. I think I'm going to mail this watch in a courier service which should be delivered to you in the next couple of days. Please let me know whether I should courier to your home or office address. Take care and stay fine. Warm wishes, Martin
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Greeting break Original: Dear Niro, Hope Suggested revision: Dear Niro, I hope Why it matters: Start the message on a new line and include the subject.
- 2. Idiomatic greeting Original: in good health and spirit Suggested revision: in good health and spirits Why it matters: In good spirits is the standard expression.
- 3. Cleaner apposition Original: a nice gift, actually, a wristwatch Suggested revision: a nice gift for you—a wristwatch Why it matters: The dash introduces the specific gift more smoothly.
- 4. Natural travel phrase Original: when I went to visit Switzerland Suggested revision: during my visit to Switzerland Why it matters: This is more concise and idiomatic.
- 5. Wrong collocation Original: classy in my taste Suggested revision: stylish, in my opinion Why it matters: In my taste is not idiomatic here.
- 6. Unclear modifier Original: its crystal perfectly matches with its hour markers inside which illuminate Suggested revision: its crystal complements the hour markers, which glow Why it matters: The original relative clause ambiguously modifies inside.
- 7. Natural quantifier Original: one of the renowned watch brands Suggested revision: one of Switzerland's best-known watch brands Why it matters: This is more specific and idiomatic.
- 8. Parallel structure Original: because not only it'll look good on you, but also because Suggested revision: not only because it will look good on you, but also because Why it matters: Both halves of the correlative structure must match.
- 9. Remove comma Original: especially, when Suggested revision: especially when Why it matters: No comma is needed between especially and its clause.
- 10. Natural souvenir phrase Original: a good gift from my tour Suggested revision: a meaningful souvenir from my trip Why it matters: Tour is not the natural noun in this context.
- 11. Courier phrase Original: mail this watch in a courier service Suggested revision: send this watch by courier Why it matters: Use by for the delivery method.
- 12. Pronoun reference Original: which should be delivered Suggested revision: so it should be delivered Why it matters: The original which may refer to the courier service rather than the watch.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Niro, Hope Dear Niro, I hope
- in good health and spirit in good health and spirits
- a nice gift, actually, a wristwatch a nice gift for you—a wristwatch
- when I went to visit Switzerland during my visit to Switzerland
- classy in my taste stylish, in my opinion
- its crystal perfectly matches with its hour markers inside which illuminate its crystal complements the hour markers, which glow
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully covers the gift, the reasons for choosing it, and the intended delivery method in a friendly tone, with vivid descriptive detail. Its effectiveness is reduced by the absence of paragraphing and by several awkward or inaccurate expressions, especially around the watch design and courier arrangements. Organise the letter into clear stages and simplify the more strained sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are clearly developed and the informal purpose is achieved.
Make the delivery plan more definite by stating when it will be sent after the address is confirmed.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a sensible order, but the entire letter is compressed into one paragraph.
Separate greeting, gift description, reasons, delivery plan, and closing into short paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response shows good descriptive range, but several collocations are unnatural.
Prefer idiomatic phrases such as stylish to me, send by courier, and souvenir from my trip.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex forms are used, though correlative structure, modifiers, and relative clauses contain noticeable errors.
Check not only...but also parallelism and ensure modifiers refer to the intended noun.