Five months ago, you started renting an apartment on a six-month agreement. You now wish to stay in the apartment for longer than the six months you originally agreed with the owner. Write a letter to the owner of your apartment. In your letter: - Say how long you now want to rent the apartment for - Explain why your plans have changed - Tell the owner about a problem in the apartment
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Keylon,Mr. Keylon.
Approximately half a year ago,Approximately half of year, I started renting an accommodation, with agreement about staying here for six months. At present time I want to explain my current situation and the future of my tenancyfurther fate my living in this place.
At the start I want to emphasizeI want emphasize I would like to extend my rental agreement, because my study abroad programexchange standing abroud has been transferredbe transferred to the next year, so I need to discussneed discuss with you about an apartment and others not less important things.
Firstly, problem with balconybalkony, the floor there is very old,the floor there are too ancient, so I'm advising to change it for comfortable and, above all, safe use;comforting and mainly safely using; the issue with the sink in the kitchen, a clogged drain worried me from time to time, so it will be great if you could hire a specialist to look at it.if you will involve specialist for it.
Secondly, the problem with neighbours still existsexist, they drink a lot,and yell tooto loudly.
In the end, I honestly acknowledge, that I would like to staythat would be stay in this apartment for a long time, I look forward to your positive response. Thank you for your understanding!
Why this response received Band 5.5
The letter successfully addresses all the prompt requirements, but its impact is reduced by frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. While the organization of ideas is logical, improving grammatical accuracy and using more natural, precise vocabulary are the highest priorities for raising the overall standard.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed, though the exact duration of the requested extension could be stated more clearly and precisely.
Clearly state a specific timeframe for the extension, such as 'an additional six months', to fully satisfy the first prompt requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter is organized into paragraphs with a logical flow, though some transition words like 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' feel slightly mechanical for a personal letter.
Use more natural, letter-appropriate transitional phrases such as 'In addition to this' or 'Another issue is' instead of rigid list-like linkers.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is generally adequate to convey the message, but there are several spelling mistakes and awkward word choices like 'ancient floor' and 'fate my living'.
Focus on learning common housing collocations, such as 'worn-out flooring' instead of 'ancient floor', and double-check spelling for words like 'abroad' and 'balcony'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, particularly with verb tenses, prepositions, and missing infinitives, which occasionally obscure the meaning.
Practice basic sentence structures, ensuring verbs are correctly conjugated and that infinitives are properly formed, such as writing 'I want to emphasize' instead of 'I want emphasize'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Five months ago, you started renting an apartment on a six-month agreement. You now wish to stay in the apartment for longer than the six months you originally agreed with the owner. Write a letter to the owner of your apartment. In your letter:
- Say how long you now want to rent the apartment for
- Explain why your plans have changed
- Tell the owner about a problem in the apartment
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.