Whether you like it or not, grammar is crucial to both IELTS Writing and Speaking because grammar range and accuracy is the criterion that makes up 25% of your score. Obviously, you have to avoid making mistakes while writing and speaking to the examiner. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult and unlikely for you to achieve a higher band. We have selected the most frequent mistakes candidates make on the IELTS exam, and we will also suggest how to mend them.
Some mistakes can be made because of the influence of your mother tongue while others crop up regardless of the language you speak as the first language, and students around the world have these common issues. What are they?
Mistake #1. Subject-Verb Agreement
This is a very common mistake even upper-intermediate and advanced students make in their speaking and writing. However, it’s a very basic one and very noticeable. What is considered to be a subject-verb agreement mistake?
- Missing 3rd person ‘s’ when talking about the present.
WRONG: A person I really admire is my friend Randy. He live in Thailand and he work as a teacher, and he also run a travel blog.
CORRECT: A person I really admire is my friend Randy. He lives in Thailand and he works as a teacher, and he also runs a travel blog.
Don’t forget to add ‘s’ in Present Simple, when talking about ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’ as well as change ‘have’ to ‘has’ for the 3rd person singular.
- Using certain pronouns with a plural verb instead of the singular.
WRONG: There are two possible solutions. Each have its advantages and disadvantages.
CORRECT: There are two possible solutions. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Remember pronouns that always take a singular verb:
each, either, neither, one, no one, nobody, nothing, anyone, anybody, anything, somebody, something, someone, everyone, everybody everything.
However, there are pronouns that always take a plural verb:
both, few, many, several.
For example:
There are two possible solutions. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
- Using the wrong form of the verb with the expressions of quantity.
WRONG: One of my friends are coming to visit me on holiday.
CORRECT: One of my friends is coming to visit me on holiday.
You should remember that the verb agrees with the subject, i.e. the quantity, as in:
Two of my friends are coming to visit me on holiday.
However, for some quantity phrases you have to pay attention to the noun in the prepositional phrase to decide if the verb is singular or plural:
A lot of people (plural) cycle to work.
A lot of sugar (uncountable) is not healthy.
All of the numbers (plural) are rising insignificantly.
All of the food (uncountable) is homemade and fresh.
Some of the adults (plural) travel to work by car.
Some of the local food (uncountable) is very spicy.
One-fourth of the commuters (plural) drive to work.
One-fourth of the space (uncountable) is occupied by freelancers.
Here are the pronouns that take a singular or a plural verb: some, all, any, most, a lot.
- Changing the number of the subject after the clause or a prepositional phrase.
WRONG: The number of bicycles which were stolen remain stable.
CORRECT: The number of bicycles which were stolen remains stable.
In your writing or speaking, you can use relative clauses or prepositional phrases to give more information, and thus separate the subject and the verb in the sentence. What happens then is that candidates in such cases often forget about the subject of the sentence and use the wrong number of the verb. Do not agree the last noun in the phrase or clause with the verb. Make sure you agree the verb with the subject of the sentence.
READ ABOUT: How to work on your IELTS grammar
Mistake #2. Using Present Tenses instead of Past.
This often happens in the Speaking section of the exam, particularly in Part 2 where you are often asked to describe some past events or experiences. For example:
“I’m going to tell you about an achievement that I am very proud of. It’s pretty recent so I can still distinctly remember lots of details and my own impressions related to it. It is just a couple of months ago when my boyfriend and I go to Bali on holiday and it is my long-cherished and also long-delayed dream to try scuba diving.”
Why does this happen? More often than not it is the problem lies in forgetting. The thing is that in IELTS Speaking candidates become so focused on their vocabulary, pronunciation, and demonstrating their fluency that they forget about using proper grammar.
How can you fix it? Practice before the exam, record yourself. It’s a good idea to only focus on using the past tenses. Remember, that in the second part of the exam, you are often asked to talk about past experiences. So, when you’re given a card with the task, read it carefully, and while planning your answer, think about grammar you’re going to use to give a response.
Another very common mistake is using Past Simple instead of Present Perfect and vice versa.
WRONG: Over the last 10 years, the number of bicycle commuters increased dramatically.
CORRECT: Over the last 10 years, the number of bicycle commuters has increased dramatically.
WRONG: There have been considerable fluctuations in the number of bike commuters between 2002 and 2005.
CORRECT: There were considerable fluctuations in the number of bike commuters between 2002 and 2005.
The rule is very simple. If we are talking about events that started and finished in the past, e.g. between 2002 and 2005, we use Past Simple. If we are talking about something that started in the past but continues until the present or something that happened in the past but the result is in the present (e.g. “over the last ten years” means that it started 10 years ago and the results are related to present), use Present Perfect.
READ ABOUT: How to organize your responses on the IELTS speaking exam?
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Mistake #3. Placing ‘will’ for the future wrongly.
Have a look at the following example sentence taken from the cause and effect essay:
- If ice will continue to melt, many species will become extinct.
Many people think we use ‘will’ for the future, and they are right, but not most of the time.
CORRECT: If ice continues to melt, many species will become extinct.
The part of the sentence that starts with ‘if’ is the condition. The main clause says. ‘many species will become extinct’, and these are the things to happen.
The rule for 1st Conditional is: If+Present Simple, will+verb.
For example:
- If the temperature rises, more ice will melt. NOT If the temperature will rise, more ice will melt.
OR
Will+verb if+Present Simple:
- More ice will melt if the temperature rises.
Put a comma after if-clause and before the main clause.
When you imagine a situation, use a different type of conditional:
If+Past Simple, would/could/might/should+verb.
For example:
- If all these steps were taken, it would be possible to alleviate the issue.
- If the government introduced state control on licensing websites which provide medical information, people could get both quick and efficient recommendations from specialists on the internet.
We have looked at the most common mistakes made even by advanced learners. Remember, the more you practice, the better your grammar becomes. The good news, you still have time to prepare for IELTS and you can do it thoroughly by taking our online IELTS preparation course.
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