Dear Sir/Madam

Problems with my accommodation

I am writing to you because I have a problem with my accommodation . I have a shared room in college. The room is comfortable and the facilities are fine but unfortunately my room mate is causing me a lot of problems. He spends a lot of his time listening to the radio or watching television, then at night he often invites friends round for a small party. The noise makes it impossible for me to study.

I have a final year project to complete by next month and at the end of this year I have my final exams. I have tried going to the library. But I often need to work at times when it is closed. I have also tried talking to my room mate about the noise but he doesn’t seem to take what I say very seriously.

I would really appreciate it if I could be given a single room or be moved to a shared room with a quiet student . I really must be able to study for my course.

A

You use this expression when you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to, nor their gender. In the IELTS exam, candidates are given the opening.

B

You need to write this above their address and under their name. You are not required to write addresses in the IELTS Writing Task 1.

C

This is always stated at the beginning of a semi-formal/formal letter.

D

This sentence contains a request for action. These requests always occur after the description of the situation and before signalling that the letter is ending.

E

You need to put the name of the receiver here – if you know it.

F

These paragraphs show the usual sequence of information in a semi-formal/formal letter: general description of situation → further details of situation → request for action.

G

You always finish a letter with this expression if you have started it with ‘Dear Sir/ Madam’.

H

It is always placed above the date and the letter and often blocked to the left.

I

It always goes in this position. It can be written in numbers or in full. As American and English ways of writing dates as numbers are different it is better to write the date in full to avoid confusion. Candidates are not required to write dates in the IELTS Writing Task 1.

J

It is often used in this kind of letter to make the topic of the letter immediately clear to the reader. It can be omitted. It is often written in bold or underlined. It is not required in the IELTS Writing task 1.

K

This is a very common and polite signalling of the end of a semi-formal/formal letter.