Describe a gift you gave to someone
The full IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card, a band-8 model answer you can learn from, the Part 3 questions that follow, and examiner strategy. Free, no sign-up.
Describe a special gift you gave to someone.
You should say:
- who you gave it to
- what the gift was
- why you chose it
- and explain how the person felt about it
You will have one minute to prepare and should then speak for one to two minutes.
Band-8 model answer
The gift I'd like to describe is one I gave my father a couple of years ago for his sixtieth birthday. He's someone who genuinely doesn't want anything — you ask him what he'd like and he'll say 'nothing, really' — so I knew I had to think outside the box. What I ended up doing was putting together a photo book covering his life from childhood to the present. I spent about two months on it, quietly asking my mother and my aunts to dig out old photos, scanning them, arranging them chronologically, and adding short captions in his voice for the ones with stories behind them. I chose it because I felt it was something no shop could sell — it needed the whole family to make it, and it meant more than anything he could buy for himself. When I gave it to him on the day, he was quiet for a long time, which is quite unlike him. He kept flipping back to certain pages, and I could see he was genuinely moved, especially by the pictures of his own parents. My mother told me later that he takes it off the shelf every so often just to look through it, which is honestly the best reaction I could have hoped for.
Why this answer scores band 8
- ✓Sets up a real constraint ('genuinely doesn't want anything') that the gift then resolves — good narrative structure
- ✓Sensory reaction detail ('quiet for a long time, quite unlike him') instead of the generic 'he was happy'
- ✓Natural phrasal verbs: 'think outside the box', 'flipping back to', 'dig out'
Part 3 follow-up questions
After the cue card, the examiner discusses the topic in more depth. Practise these aloud too — Part 3 is where the highest bands are won or lost.
Examiner strategy for this cue card
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Describe a gift you gave to someone — FAQ
How do you answer the 'Describe a gift you gave to someone' IELTS cue card?
Spend your one minute of preparation noting a few keywords for each prompt (who you gave it to; what the gift was; why you chose it; and explain how the person felt about it), then speak for the full two minutes. Cover each point briefly but give most of your time to the final 'explain why' prompt, where the marks are. A full band-8 model answer is shown on this page.
How long should the IELTS Speaking Part 2 answer be?
You should talk for up to two minutes without stopping. It is better to keep going and cover the topic in depth than to finish early — the examiner will stop you when the time is up.
What Part 3 questions follow 'Describe a gift you gave to someone'?
Part 3 broadens the topic into a discussion. For this cue card, expect questions such as: Why do people give gifts to each other? Are homemade gifts more meaningful than expensive ones? Has the culture of giving gifts changed in your country?