You bought a music concert ticket. However, you are unable to go. So you want to offer the ticket to your friend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - say about the concert - say why you are unable to go - inform how your friend can receive the ticket
Sample Response
Dear Paul, Hope you are doing fine and things are good at your side. Anyway, if I remember correctly when we were talking a few weeks ago, you expressed your interest to go to a concert by the "Living Loud" music band, if time permits. I think here is your chance to go to a concert by this music band and they will rock the fans at Trivision Stadium on the evening of 27th July. You would be glad to know that I am going to offer you the ticket for this music concert. Actually, I bought this ticket for myself, but, unfortunately, after a few days of purchasing that ticket, one of my cousins requested me to visit his hometown and not to mention, of course, I decided to accompany him to stay at his hometown for a couple of days. But that would also mean that my concert ticket would go wasted as our timing to travel intersects the concert schedule. So, I am offering this ticket to you and I hope you will enjoy the concert. Please visit anytime at my home or meet me at the college library so that I can hand over the ticket to you. Warm wishes, Lucas
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the missing subject Original: Hope you are doing fine Suggested revision: I hope you are doing well Why it matters: A complete sentence requires the subject I, and doing well is the natural greeting.
- 2. Use natural greeting language Original: things are good at your side Suggested revision: things are going well with you Why it matters: The revised phrase is the idiomatic way to ask about a friend's circumstances.
- 3. Introduce the memory directly Original: Anyway, if I remember correctly Suggested revision: You may remember that Why it matters: Anyway is unnecessary, and the revision creates a clear reference to the earlier conversation.
- 4. Use simple past Original: when we were talking a few weeks ago Suggested revision: when we spoke a few weeks ago Why it matters: Simple past is sufficient for the completed conversation.
- 5. Use gerund after interest Original: expressed your interest to go Suggested revision: expressed your interest in going Why it matters: Interest takes in followed by a gerund.
- 6. Use the demonstrative subject Original: here Suggested revision: this Why it matters: This correctly identifies the opportunity being offered.
- 7. Avoid repeating the band Original: to go to a concert by this music band Suggested revision: to see them in concert Why it matters: The pronoun clearly refers to Living Loud and removes repeated wording.
- 8. Use a clear performance verb Original: rock the fans Suggested revision: perform Why it matters: Perform accurately describes what the band will do at the stadium.
- 9. Use concise date format Original: 27th Suggested revision: 27 Why it matters: The ordinal suffix is normally omitted in formal written dates.
- 10. Make the offer directly Original: going to offer you Suggested revision: offering you Why it matters: The present continuous states the current purpose of the letter more directly.
- 11. Remove redundant wording Original: for this music concert Suggested revision: for this concert Why it matters: Concert already implies a musical event.
- 12. Fix the time expression Original: after a few days of purchasing that ticket Suggested revision: a few days after purchasing it Why it matters: A few days after is the correct structure for sequencing the two events.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope you are doing fine I hope you are doing well
- things are good at your side things are going well with you
- Anyway, if I remember correctly You may remember that
- when we were talking a few weeks ago when we spoke a few weeks ago
- expressed your interest to go expressed your interest in going
- here this
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully explains the concert, the conflicting trip with a cousin, and two convenient ways to collect the ticket, while maintaining a warm and appropriately informal tone. Its strongest feature is the clear, generous purpose supported by specific venue and date details. The main limitation is wordiness and awkward phrasing in the explanation of the travel conflict; prioritise shorter sentences and natural conversational expressions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All required information is clearly provided, and the friendly tone and closing are well suited to writing to a friend.
Add a simple collection deadline or suggested meeting time so the practical handover arrangement is completely settled.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter follows a logical path from recalling the friend's interest to offering the ticket, explaining the conflict, and arranging collection.
Break the long explanation about the cousin into shorter sentences and reduce repetition of 'ticket' and 'concert'.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied and appropriately informal, but several expressions about interest, travel, and availability sound unnatural.
Use 'interested in going', 'the ticket would go to waste', 'our trip clashes with the concert', and 'drop by my house'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is attempted, but punctuation, clause control, prepositions, and some verb patterns are inconsistently accurate.
Separate the longest sentence after 'for myself' and use clear structures such as 'My cousin invited me to visit his hometown that weekend'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You bought a music concert ticket. However, you are unable to go. So you want to offer the ticket to your friend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- say about the concert
- say why you are unable to go
- inform how your friend can receive the ticket
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.