Commonly used words to write a negative review in English (and still sound credible)

Imagine this: you’ve been looking forward to a weekend away for months. But when you arrive at your dream destination, it’s a disaster. The rental property you booked isn’t clean, it has none of the advertised amenities, and there’s no hot water!

Since your host isn’t helpful, you decide to write a negative review when you get home. This can be harder to do in English than in your own language, so it’s useful to know some commonly used words and phrases.

With that in mind, here are some helpful suggestions to guide your writing and make sure you keep your ‘trusted reviewer’ status.

How to structure a negative review

Good reviews often follow a simple, clear format with a title, short introduction, the main problem (with specific examples) and a brief conclusion. This makes reviews impactful and easy to follow.

Here are seven steps to write your negative review.

1. Think about what you want to achieve

When you’re clear on your goals, it helps you decide which details to include and what tone to take. For example, do you want your money back, an apology or a replacement? Maybe you just want to warn other customers, so they don’t have the same experience?

Some useful phrases to indicate your objectives include:

• ‘I’m writing this review to/so……’ Example sentence: ‘I’m writing this review to avoid others losing their money’.
• ‘I hope this feedback helps…’. Example sentence: ‘I hope this feedback helps to improve the service’.

2. Choose a good title

Your title is usually the first thing people see, and may affect where your review appears in searches. It should summarise your experience in one word or short phrase. This lets people immediately know whether your review is positive or negative, and whether they should read it.

Effective titles are also usually specific, like ‘Long wait times’, rather than vague or emotional ones like ‘Terrible!’

Some commonly used words in English for titles include:

• ‘Disappointed with [product/service/experience]…’ – this shows you are unhappy, but is less emotional than ‘angry’ or ‘furious’.
• ‘Did not meet my expectations’ – focuses on performance.
• ‘Mixed experience’ – indicates there were positives and negatives, showing balance and objectivity.
• ‘Not recommended for/if…’ – focuses on suitability for a specific person or need. Example sentence: ‘Not recommended for families/older travellers/if you need fast delivery’.

3. Write a strong opening statement

Start your review with a sentence that summarises your overall experience. This gives people an idea of what they can expect from your review.

For example:

• ‘I would not recommend this because….’ – explains the problem upfront. Example sentence: ‘I would not recommend this app because it crashes all the time’.
• ‘I had a bad experience with….’ – immediately sets out the problem. Example sentence: ‘I had a bad experience with the hotel staff, who were very rude’.

4. Add supporting information

Next, think about what information people need to know and what will help achieve your objective. For example, a property review might include details about the price, location, comfort, host responsiveness, etc. For product reviews, people generally want to know how well something works. By contrast, a restaurant review should focus on quality, service, atmosphere and value for money, among other things.

Include factual information like dates, times and specific examples. For example, where and when you paid for the product or service, what you expected and what actually happened. For instance, ‘The delivery arrived three days late’ or ‘It broke after one week.’ Try to include the main points rather than listing every single thing that went wrong. This keeps your review focused and easier to follow. It also sounds less like a rant.

Finally, describe how what happened affected you; this shows why the problem matters.

Useful vocabulary/phrases here are:

• ‘The main issue was…’ – introduces the central problem. Example sentence: ‘The main issue with the hotel was that the room had not been cleaned before we arrived.’
• ‘In particular,’ – highlights one important detail among several. Example sentence: ‘The bathroom in particular was very dirty.’
• ‘For example,’ / ‘For instance,’ – introduces a specific example to support your opinion. Example sentence: ‘For example, the bath was full of dirty towels.’
• ‘As a result…’ – shows the consequence of the problem. Example sentence: ‘As a result, we had to wait in the lobby for two hours while the room was cleaned’.

5. Keep it balanced and constructive

You might feel angry, but try to be honest, objective and constructive. Include the positives as well as the negatives, where possible, as this helps you sound more credible. Describe things in concrete terms, rather than attacking people or using dramatic or emotional language, sarcasm or insults. If a review sounds too negative or extreme, people may dismiss it and assume you are just an angry person. By contrast, being constructive makes your review solution-oriented rather than just a way to express your frustration.

Useful phrasing includes:

• ‘It would be helpful if…’ / ‘I suggest that…’ / ‘I believe this could be resolved/improved by…’ – indicate suggestions for a solution. Example sentence: ‘I believe this could be improved by better communication with guests’.

You can also use calm language and ‘softening’ phrases to sound polite but honest:

• ‘I’m afraid…’ – polite way to introduce bad news. Example sentence: ‘I’m afraid to say that the food was cold when it arrived’.
• ‘I was hoping for… but….’ – balances a negative comment with a reasonable expectation. Example sentence: ‘I was hoping for a sea view, but all we could see was the car park’.
• ‘To be honest,’ – signals a personal but sincere opinion. Example sentence: ‘To be honest, I would not come back here’.

6. Keep it brief

Keep your review as brief as possible, using short, direct sentences. This makes you sound more like an expert in what you’re writing about, and your review will be taken more seriously.

After concisely stating your case, end with a summary of your main point using rounding off language like:

• ‘In short,’ ‘To summarise,’ ‘In summary,’ ‘Overall,’ – Example sentence: ‘In summary, this was not worth the price I paid’.

7. Proofread and format

Before publishing your review, read it to check you have included all the necessary information and that it doesn’t sound too emotional. Check your adjectives are in the right order and swap strong adjectives like ‘awful’, ‘disgusting’ or ‘terrible’ for more neutral ones like ‘poor’, ‘unsatisfactory’, or ‘unacceptable’.

Finally, check your grammar and spelling. A well-written review is easier to understand and much more credible than one with mistakes.

Writing a negative review: Think of it as a public service

Nobody likes to have a bad experience, but negative reviews serve a very useful purpose. They can help other people avoid making the same mistakes or help businesses improve products and services.

Whatever your reasons for writing a negative review, the above commonly used words and phrases will help you express yourself clearly and consistently – and may lead to the compensation you deserve!

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