You have recently moved to a different house. Write a letter to an English speaking Friend. In your letter: - Explain why you have moved - Describe the new apartment - Invite him to pay a visit
Sample Response
Dear John, It's been such a long time since we've written to each other. I hope you and your family are doing well. Today I'm writing to you for two reasons, first that we've moved to a new house and second to invite you to visit us. As you know, my son started to go to school, and the school was at one hour drive from our previous residence. So my husband and I decided to change our accommodation and moved to a new place yesterday. Our new apartment is on the sixth floor of ten story building situated on the main street in uptown. It has two bedrooms, and both are twice the size of our last one. Also, it has a huge hall which we turned into our living area, and yet it has enough space for my son to play, the kitchen has an inbuilt dishwasher, and that's not all the main attraction is the terrace which faced towards the beach and gives the apartment a spacious look. I can't wait to show you our new house, please come over this weekend for dinner and be our first guest, also bring your family with you so that we can all spend some quality time together. No excuses will be accepted, so see you soon. Best wishes, Rubab
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural tense framing Original: since we've written to each other Suggested revision: since we last wrote to each other Why it matters: Last wrote is the natural form for identifying the previous exchange.
- 2. Use concise phrasing Original: started to go to school Suggested revision: started school Why it matters: The shorter expression communicates the same event more naturally.
- 3. Keep the current tense Original: was Suggested revision: is Why it matters: The school's distance remains the current reason for the move.
- 4. Fix distance expression Original: at one hour drive Suggested revision: an hour's drive Why it matters: The possessive time expression is required before drive.
- 5. Keep verbs parallel Original: moved Suggested revision: move Why it matters: Both coordinated verbs should follow decided to in the base form.
- 6. Add article and hyphen Original: of ten story building Suggested revision: of a ten-storey building Why it matters: The singular noun needs an article, and the compound modifier should be hyphenated.
- 7. Remove wrong preposition Original: in uptown Suggested revision: uptown Why it matters: Uptown functions adverbially here and does not take in.
- 8. Clarify the comparison Original: both are twice the size of our last one Suggested revision: both are twice the size of those in our previous apartment Why it matters: The revised pronoun clearly compares the new bedrooms with the previous bedrooms.
- 9. Use consistent tense Original: hall which we turned Suggested revision: hall that we have turned Why it matters: The present perfect suits a recent change whose result is visible now.
- 10. Fix the connector Original: and yet it has Suggested revision: and it still has Why it matters: The revision links the additional benefit without implying an illogical contrast.
- 11. End the run-on Original: for my son to play, the kitchen Suggested revision: for my son to play. The kitchen Why it matters: These independent clauses need a full stop rather than a comma.
- 12. Use common wording Original: inbuilt dishwasher Suggested revision: built-in dishwasher Why it matters: Built-in is the more conventional term for an integrated appliance.
Suggested Rewrites
- since we've written to each other since we last wrote to each other
- started to go to school started school
- was is
- at one hour drive an hour's drive
- moved move
- of ten story building of a ten-storey building
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a warm, convincing voice and fully develops the reason for moving, the apartment’s features, and the invitation. Its main weakness is sentence control: several ideas are joined into very long comma-linked sentences, alongside recurring article, preposition, and tense errors. Break the description and invitation into shorter, properly punctuated sentences and paragraphs, then correct forms such as “an hour’s drive” and “faces the beach.”
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All required points are fully covered with relevant detail, and the warm informal register is well suited to a friend.
Keep the developed content while making the invitation details slightly more concise and direct.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from the reason for moving to the apartment description and invitation, but paragraphing is absent and some sentences are overloaded.
Create one paragraph for each main purpose and split the long apartment description into shorter idea units.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and suitably descriptive, though several combinations are awkward or imprecise.
Use more natural collocations such as “an hour’s drive,” “ten-storey building,” and “faces the beach.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of structures is attempted, but run-on sentences and recurring errors with articles, tense, and prepositions reduce control.
Prioritise complete sentence boundaries and check agreement and tense consistency before adding further complex clauses.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have recently moved to a different house. Write a letter to an English speaking Friend. In your letter:
- Explain why you have moved
- Describe the new apartment
- Invite him to pay a visit
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.