Some people say that people remember special gifts or presents that they receive. Why do you think that is?
Sample Response
Usually, we get gifts on several occasions like birthdays, festivals and special moments in our lives but we remember only a few of them because of the special person who offered it and certain moment on which we have received. I will elucidate the reasons, why we commemorate the special gifts in our life, in the following paragraphs.
These presents inspire us towards our goals in life. For example, I got a wrist watch from my grandfather on my first day of college. I studied very hard to get admission in that institution. I rarely put on this watch and treat it as sovereign of my grandfather. It encourages me towards my goals and energises me when I depress due to some failure. In addition, it makes me feel that my grandpa is with me even he passed away five years back. There is one more very special gift in my life from my university friends.
Some gifts maintain lifetime bondage between the people. For instance, in the final year of my university studies, my friends gave me a computer laptop on my birthday. Even they have settled in different corners of the world but I am still in touch with them because of this gift, whenever I see it, I recall my college days and this instigates me to phone them. In this way, our friendship has become forever.
To sum up, presents show a specific affection from the givers to their recipients and they have a mysterious power which can encourage people.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use a direct verb Original: elucidate Suggested revision: explain Why it matters: 'Explain' is clearer and more natural for introducing reasons.
- 2. Remove incorrect comma Original: reasons, why Suggested revision: reasons why Why it matters: No comma should separate the noun 'reasons' from its defining 'why' clause.
- 3. Use remember accurately Original: commemorate the special gifts Suggested revision: remember special gifts Why it matters: People commemorate events or people, whereas the prompt concerns remembering gifts.
- 4. Match plural people Original: life Suggested revision: lives Why it matters: The plural possessive phrase agrees with the plural pronoun 'our'.
- 5. Use motivate collocation Original: inspire us towards our goals Suggested revision: motivate us to pursue our goals Why it matters: The natural pattern is 'motivate someone to pursue a goal'.
- 6. Use received and wristwatch Original: got a wrist watch from my grandfather Suggested revision: received a wristwatch from my grandfather Why it matters: 'Received' is more precise than 'got', and 'wristwatch' is written as one word.
- 7. Use admission collocation Original: get admission in Suggested revision: gain admission to Why it matters: The standard phrase is 'gain admission to' an institution.
- 8. Use wear for duration Original: rarely put on this watch Suggested revision: rarely wear this watch Why it matters: 'Wear' describes having the watch on, while 'put on' describes the single action.
- 9. Clarify sentimental value Original: treat it as sovereign of my grandfather Suggested revision: treasure it as a memento of my grandfather Why it matters: A memento is an object kept because it recalls a loved person.
- 10. Use motivate pattern Original: encourages me towards my goals Suggested revision: motivates me to pursue my goals Why it matters: The natural verb pattern is 'motivate someone to pursue goals'.
- 11. Use adjective depressed Original: when I depress Suggested revision: when I feel depressed Why it matters: The writer's emotional state requires the adjective 'depressed', not the transitive verb 'depress'.
- 12. Use natural setback phrase Original: due to some failure Suggested revision: after a setback Why it matters: This describes a discouraging failure more naturally and concisely.
Suggested Rewrites
- elucidate explain
- reasons, why reasons why
- commemorate the special gifts remember special gifts
- life lives
- inspire us towards our goals motivate us to pursue our goals
- got a wrist watch from my grandfather received a wristwatch from my grandfather
Why this response received Band 6.5
The essay gives a clear answer through two relevant personal examples showing how gifts preserve emotional ties and motivate recipients. Its main limitation is frequent inaccurate wording and grammar, which makes several sentences awkward and occasionally blurs the intended relationship between ideas; prioritise using natural collocations and checking verb forms, articles, and clause boundaries before adding further detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly explains two relevant reasons and develops each with a specific personal example.
Explain the causal link in each example more precisely and avoid broad claims such as gifts making friendship permanent.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay has clear overall progression and purposeful paragraphing, but some references and transitions are loose and several long sentences are weakly connected.
Keep each example within one focused paragraph and split long causal chains into clearly linked sentences.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range to discuss emotion, motivation, and relationships, but frequent inaccurate word choices and collocations reduce precision.
Replace unnatural expressions such as commemorate the gifts, sovereign of my grandfather, and lifetime bondage with idiomatic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts varied complex sentences, but errors in verb forms, articles, subordination, and sentence boundaries occur regularly.
Check every complex sentence for complete clause structure and correct forms such as feel depressed and although he passed away.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people say that people remember special gifts or presents that they receive. Why do you think that is?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.