IELTS General Writing Task 1: Informal Letter
IELTS Informal Letter, also known as a personal letter, is an informal type of letter that is usually written to a friend, a family member or someone you know personally.
When it says "write a letter to a friend", make sure you always use informal language. Even if the task asks you to write about work-related topic.
Here is an example how the task may look like:
WRITING TASK 1 (General)
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Write a letter to your friend from a different country. Invite him/her to a party at your home and include the following:
- what the party is about
- give directions on how to get to your place
- suggest how to accommodate him/her
Write at least 150 words.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear ... ,
Note! You will find the IELTS Informal Letter Sample with grammar corrections and estimated band score down below.
IELTS Informal Letter Structure & Vocabulary
For writing an IELTS Informal Letter, we have listed the letter structure with a wide selection of useful vocabulary and phrases.
INFORMAL LETTER
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1Dear John, / My dearest Julianne,
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2Apologise, give purpose, else
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3More details
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4Informal ending, name, signature
- Dear John, / My dearest Julianne,
- Apologise, give purpose, else
- Apologise
- I am sorry I haven't written for so long. My work keeps / studies keep me so busy, that I never have a minute to myself
- I am really sorry it has taken me so long to write but I have ...
- Give purpose
- I am writing to thank / tell / ask / apologise / wish / congratulate …
- I regret to inform you that
- Else
- Hello Sofia! Do you remember me? I'm the girl you met ...
- It was really great hearing from you
- More details
- Expressing congratulations
- Marvellous to hear that ... / What a surprise to hear that!
- I am happy for you / Good for you!
- How wonderful that you are getting married!
- You should be so proud of yourself
- Expressing regret
- Unfortunately, I've got some bad news for you
- I find it hard to tell you that
- I can't find an easy way to tell you this
- Words can't express how much I regret
- If you need anything, I'd be glad to ...
- Expressing thanks
- How nice of you to think of me / Thanks again!
- I won't forget your kind gesture
- Giving advice
- If I were you I'd ... / ... how about doing this
- Why don't you ... / Let me give you some advice
- Hope this helped / Let me know how it went
- Letters of invitation / accepting or refusing an invitation
- I'd love it if you could come to
- I hope you will be able to make it
- I hope we can get together some other time. How about next week instead?
- Informal ending, name, signature
- With best wishes, Jo
- Yours, Jo
- With love and many thanks from me, Jo
- With love, Jo
Be careful when you are writing to your manager/trainer. Many people are friends with their managers/trainers, but please disregard this when writing an IELTS letter. In this case, "manager/trainer" is the same as colleague or co-worker and the letter will, therefore, be a semi-formal type of letter.
Informal tone doesn't mean you can write like you would in a text message to your friend. Therefore, avoid using abbreviations (see ya) and don't use acronyms (OMG). But it's a good idea to use contractions. Using academic language would be inappropriate and will reduce your score.
