Letter to a friend inviting them to dinner

The task

You made a friend when you visited another city a few months ago. This friend has come to your city for some work and will stay for another week. You want to invite this friend to your home for dinner.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:

→express how you feel about him/her visiting your city
→invite the friend to your home for dinner
→give location and date when you would want him/her to come

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear ...,

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8181 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Mark,

It was such a fantastic surprise to hear that you are in town for business this week! I still have such fond memories of our time exploring the city center when I visited you back in the spring, so I am absolutely thrilled that you are finally getting to experience my home turf.

Since you are only here for another week, it would be wonderful if you could come over to my place for dinner. I would love to catch up properly and hear all about your current projects over a home-cooked meal.

Are you free this coming Thursday evening? I live in a quiet apartment complex just off High Street, which is quite close to the financial district where you are staying. I plan to start cooking around 7:00 pm, so feel free to drop by anytime after that.

I really hope you can make it, as it has been far too long. Let me know if that date works for you or if you have any specific dietary requirements I should keep in mind.

Best wishes,

Alex

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

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Examiner's view

Why this scores well

A Band 8 response fully addresses all three bullet points with a natural, consistent tone and appropriate paragraphing. A common Band 6 mistake is failing to provide specific location details or dates, resulting in an underdeveloped response that lacks the necessary functional information.

→Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.
→Contractions, phrasal verbs and a warm opening line are expected; a stiff formal tone loses marks here.
→Still cover every bullet in its own paragraph; friendly does not mean unstructured.

6 phrases

Useful phrases from the letter

home turf
the area or place where someone lives
catch up
to talk to someone you have not seen
fond memories
happy thoughts about events from the past
home-cooked meal
food prepared at home rather than at restaurants
dietary requirements
special needs regarding what a person can eat
thrilled
extremely pleased and excited about something

Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?+

Informal. Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.

How many words should an IELTS General Training letter be?+

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

What does the examiner look for?+

Keep practising

More invitation letters

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