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Grammar Essentials

IELTS GrammarComplete Guide to Band 7-9

Master the grammar essentials for IELTS Writing. Learn verb tenses, articles, conditionals, and sentence structures that help you achieve a high band score.

25% of Writing Score
10 Essential Topics
Real Examples

Why Grammar Matters in IELTS

Grammatical Range and Accuracy is one of the four scoring criteria, worth 25% of your IELTS Writing score.

Band 4-5

Limited range, frequent errors

"The population increase. It have many reason."

Band 6

Mixed accuracy, some errors

"The population has increased. This is because many people have migrated."

Band 7-8

Good range, mostly accurate

"The population has increased significantly due to migration patterns and birth rates."

Band 9

Full range, rare minor errors

"The population has increased substantially, a trend that can be attributed to both migration and natural growth."

Essential Grammar Topics

Master these 10 essential grammar topics to boost your band score.

1

Verb Tenses

IELTS requires you to use a variety of tenses appropriately, especially when describing trends and changes over time.

Common Tenses in IELTS:

Present SimplePast SimplePresent PerfectPast PerfectFuture Simple

✅ Correct:

"The population has increased significantly over the past decade."

❌ Incorrect:

"The population increased significantly over the past decade."

2

Articles (a, an, the)

Article errors are among the most common in IELTS. Understanding when to use definite and indefinite articles is crucial.

✅ Correct:

"The population of the UK has reached 67 million."

❌ Incorrect:

"Population of UK has reached 67 million."

💡 Tip:

Use "the" when both speaker and listener know what is being referred to, or when there is only one of something.

3

Conditionals

Conditionals are essential for discussing possibilities, predictions, and hypothetical scenarios in Task 2 essays.

ZeroFirstSecondThird

Example (Second Conditional):

"If governments invested more in public transport, cities would become less polluted."

4

Passive Voice

Using passive voice appropriately shows grammatical maturity and is particularly useful in Task 1 for describing processes.

✅ Passive Voice:

"The data was collected from a survey of 500 participants."

✅ Active Voice:

"Researchers collected the data from a survey."

5

Subject-Verb Agreement

The verb must match the subject. This is a fundamental rule that errors can significantly impact your score.

❌ Error:

"The number of students increase every year."

✅ Correct:

"The number of students increases every year."

6

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses help you add information without breaking sentence flow. Use them to create complex sentences.

Example:

"The city, which is located in the south, has grown significantly."

7

Prepositions

Prepositions are commonly tested and often confused. Learn common prepositional phrases for IELTS topics.

Increase: increase by / to

Compare: compare with / to

Focus: focus on

8

Conjunctions & Linking Words

Use conjunctions to connect ideas and show relationships. Essential for coherence and cohesion.

althoughhoweverthereforefurthermoremoreoverconsequently

Common Grammar Mistakes in IELTS

Avoid these frequent errors that can lower your band score.

Subject-Verb Agreement with 'The number/The amount'

❌ Wrong:

The number of students increase every year.

✅ Right:

The number of students increases every year.

Use singular verb with 'the number' and 'the amount'

Article Usage with Plurals

❌ Wrong:

Students should study more hours.

✅ Right:

The students should study more hours. / Students should study more hours. (both acceptable)

Use 'the' for specific groups, no article for general statements

Mixing Tenses

❌ Wrong:

Last year, the population increases.

✅ Right:

Last year, the population increased.

Use past tense for completed actions in the past

Preposition Errors

❌ Wrong:

Depends of the government.

✅ Right:

Depends on the government.

Learn common collocations and prepositional phrases

Double Negatives

❌ Wrong:

Not uncommon to see this.

✅ Right:

It is common to see this.

Avoid using two negative words in the same clause

Essential Sentence Structures

Demonstrate grammatical range by using a variety of sentence structures.

Simple

Subject + Verb + Object

"The population increased."

Stating facts clearly

Compound

Simple + Coordinating conjunction + Simple

"The population increased, and the economy grew."

Showing equal importance

Complex

Main clause + Subordinate clause

"Although the population increased, the birth rate declined."

Showing cause/effect, contrast

Compound-Complex

Multiple clauses combined

"The population increased, but the birth rate declined, which caused concern."

Sophisticated expression

Practice Your Grammar

Use our AI-powered essay checker to identify grammar errors and get instant feedback on your grammatical accuracy.