IELTS writings: Task 1 Letter tips: Making the letter more informal

Friday 13 February 2015

Task 1 Letter tips: Making the letter more informal

Making the letter more informal

Here are some tips on how to make your letters more informal. The general idea is that your more informal writing should look a little like speech:

Short forms

In more formal academic writing, you should never use short forms, but you can (and perhaps should) in this type of letter. So

I have = I’ve

I am = I’m

I will = I’ll

It is/It has = It’s

Pronouns – being personal

In more formal/academic writing, we normally avoid using first and second person pronouns and tend to use more impersonal language. In more informal letters, it is generally best to be as personal as possible:

It seems like a sensible idea = I think it’s a good idea

One thing to do would be = You should try

Sentence length and direct questions

In more formal/academic writing, you should avoid very short sentences. In this type of writing, you can use some very short sentences – often this works best with direct questions. Be a little careful with this, however. You also need to include longer and more complex sentences as well to show that you variety of grammar. Here are some possibilities for you to consider:

How about it?

What do you think?

Idioms and phrasal verbs

Normally, when we are writing more formally, we avoid using idioms and phrasal verbs as they are more typical of spoken language. It is, however, quite possible to use some idioms and phrasal verbs in less formal letters. Here are some phrasal verbs you could use:

visit = drop by or come round

investigate = look into

manage = get by

meet/find = come across

Vocabulary choice

In more formal/academic writing, there are some words we normally avoid using, but which you can use in this less formal type of writing. These words are either very simple general use words or imprecise words:

get = more formally “become” or “receive” or “obtain”

great = “excellent”

really = “extremely”

thing = object/activity

sort of = “type of”

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Read other available IELTS Writings :

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IELTS writings

Friday 13 February 2015

Task 1 Letter tips: Making the letter more informal

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Read other available IELTS Writings :

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Task 1, Letters:

Task 1, Graph descriptions:

Task 2, Essays:

IELTS writing tips:

IELTS Speaking:

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