Writing Task: A Formal Complaint That Must Persuade
You are asked to write a 250-word formal letter in Hebrew to a municipal authority. The facts: your neighbourhood's only playground was closed for repairs in March; it is now November; the fence has been removed and left in a pile; two children have been injured on exposed bolts; you have phoned the council three times (in April, July and October) and received no written reply; 60 residents signed a petition in September. The council's published service standard promises a written response within 21 working days. You must be firm but must not damage the chance of a cooperative resolution, because the same department controls a separate grant your community group has applied for.
1. Plan the letter: state the structure, the tone strategy, and what you deliberately leave out.
Read the worked answer
Structure (four parts):
- Purpose and facts - date of closure, current state (fence removed, exposed bolts), two injuries. Factual, dated, no adjectives of blame.
- Record of contact - three calls (April, July, October), no written reply, September petition with 60 signatures.
- The standard breached - quote the 21-working-day written-response commitment and note that eight months have passed.
- Specific request and offer - a written reply within 14 days, a dated repair schedule, and an interim safety measure (barrier or bolt covers). Offer the community group's help (e.g., volunteers for a temporary barrier).
Tone strategy: firm on facts, neutral on motive. Avoid words like 'negligent' or 'unacceptable'; use 'we have not yet received' and 'we are concerned'. Attribute the delay to circumstances, not to individuals. Close with a cooperative sentence referencing the shared goal of safe public space.
Deliberately left out:
- Any mention of the grant application - raising it would look like leverage and could poison the negotiation.
- Threats of legal action or media - they close down cooperation.
- The names of staff phoned - personalising blame invites defensiveness.
- Emotional language about the injured children beyond the bare facts; one factual sentence is more persuasive than a paragraph of indignation.
2. Write the opening and closing paragraphs in English, then explain two register choices that a Hebrew version would need to reflect.
Read the worked answer
Opening: 'I am writing on behalf of residents of [neighbourhood] about the playground on [street], closed for repairs in March and still unusable in November. The perimeter fence has been removed and left in a pile, and exposed bolts have caused injuries to two children. Despite three telephone calls (April, July, October) and a petition of 60 residents in September, we have received no written reply.'
Closing: 'Your published service standard promises a written response within 21 working days. We would be grateful for a written reply within 14 days, a dated repair schedule, and an interim safety measure such as a temporary barrier. Our community group would gladly help with a temporary barrier while repairs are scheduled. We would welcome the opportunity to resolve this cooperatively.'
Two register choices for the Hebrew version:
- Address form. Use the formal plural or the appropriate formal singular consistently; mixing forms signals carelessness in a formal complaint and undermines the writer's credibility. The choice should match the addressee's title.
- Request language. Hebrew formal requests are softened with conditional and plural forms rather than direct imperatives. 'We would be grateful' style phrasing preserves firmness while leaving the addressee room to respond without loss of face - essential given the separate grant relationship.
A third point: avoid high-register literary vocabulary that reads as sarcasm in a complaint; plain formal Hebrew is firmer and safer.