Making Complaints Politely - Functional Language
Practise making complaints politely at A2–B1 level with useful phrase patterns and short situation-based responses. A separate page of suggested answers supports checking and discussion of other appropriate responses.
What’s in the worksheet?
- Useful phrase patterns
- Situation-based response practice
- Space for written responses
- Suggested answers on page 2
State an everyday problem politely and make a useful request for help.
Worksheet preview
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Page 1 of 2 · A4 printable PDF
Page 2 of 2 · Answer key · A4 printable PDF
A simple way to teach it
Before the lesson
Give learners page 1; use the suggested answers on page 2 after they have written and compared their own responses.
- Separate the problem from the desired action in the cold-food, wrong-drink and hot-water examples.
- Write complaints for all eight situations, naming the actual mismatch or fault rather than only saying the service is bad.
- Role-play one complaint and a clarifying question, keeping the tone calm and the details consistent.
Support and extension
Offer problem plus Could you…? stems. Extend with a desired remedy. The wrong-drink prompt leaves the order unspecified, so invented consistent details are acceptable; politeness need not weaken a legitimate concern.
Suggested approach. Adjust the pace and number of questions to suit your class.
