Grammatical structures
The term grammatical structures refers to the range of grammatical structures you are able to use to express your ideas and how accurately the structures are spoken.
During the Speaking test, the examiner listens for:
- the number or range of different structures (e.g. the range of tenses and other structures such as
conditionals, modals and so on)
- how accurate the structures are (e.g. subject-verb agreement, incorrect omission or inclusion of
articles) and whether those errors occur more in complex structures
- the length and complexity of sentence structures (simple sentences, sentences with subordinate
clauses and so on)
- how appropriate the structures are for the context (use of different structures to vary levels of
formality)
- errors are assessed on the basis of how easy it is to follow what you are saying (communicative
ability).
Grammatical range
How many different grammatical structures do you know to express what you want to say? Structures
are grammatical forms, or ways of expressing meaning. T hey have specific names to identify them,
which helps you to talk about them and to know what to look up in a grammar book.
Tenses and associated structures
Tenses put actions (verbs) in a time context. From the tense, we know exactly when an action
occurred. Unlike languages without tenses, we don't necessarily need a date or time. For example, I
want to express whether an action is:
Grammar Range Activity: Structures
Look at the following situations and work out the main structures from those listed above that you will need in order to talk about them:
- the job I currently do
- jobs I did previously
- a job I want to do
- a plan I have
- an incident from my childhood
- my wish list
- something I regret doing
- how well I can draw in relation to my neighbour
- saying what I think would be a good idea
- giving someone advice
- advising someone against doing something
- saying why something happens
- talking about something that happened without specifying who was involved.
Grammatical accuracy
Knowing what structure is needed is a good start. Next, you need to know how to form the structure.
This is the more technical aspect. You are assessed on how accurate your structures are. Try to aim for
as few errors as possible. You need to be aware of how to form common structures, and candidates
often make mistakes with some particular structures. Be aware of where your main errors in form are
and try to practise the correct form.
To form tenses accurately, you need to know the auxiliary verb, if needed, and possibly the past or
present participle. You may also need the infinitive form. These technical names are explained in any
good grammar book. A good grammar book will give you a comprehensive list of forms, including
participle lists.
When you know what tense you need, you can check what you need to put that tense together.
You won't need to know the definition of infinitive, just that it's something you might need to form
a tense.
The main tenses are the present, past and future, but within these divisions are other tenses you
will need to use.
You need to know how to form the more complex tenses correctly.
Examples of tense structures
Other structures
The following structures often cause difficulties for candidates. Try to master the correct forms and
refer to a good grammar book for more activities.
The active and passive tenses
Active: The builders built the house.
Passive: The house was built by the builders.
Articles
It's important to know when and when not to use articles. If you leave them out by mistake, your
speech can sound immature to a native speaker. One of the first things to consider is whether the
noun is countable or not, which means: can you put a number with the word?
Take the words bird and computer. These are words you can count. A bird just landed on that tree
over there.Which bird? The bird on the second branch. (You can put an 'a' or 'the' in front of these words
to mean 'any' or 'specific'.)
- Birds have wings (no article-meaning all or any of that thing; used, in the plural, with an 's').
Bird
has wings. (A singular, countable noun must have an article. This example is not only wrong; it also
sounds 'immature'.)
- I didn't like the computers they sold in that shop. To be honest, I don't really like computers (no article meaning all or any of that thing; used, in the plural, with an 's').
- I like
computer. (Remember singular countable nouns need articles. Again, this sounds 'immature'.)
Take the words information and advice.These are called uncountable.You cannot count these
words. You cannot have one or one hundred 'advices'. Never add an 's' to these words.
- Can you help me? I need advice. Thanks so much. The advice that you gave me was so helpful. (You never
add an 'a' to uncountable nouns. You can add a 'the' depending on whether the word refers to a
specific example of that thing.)
- Welcome to IELTS Airways. You have a lot of luggage, sir. You can only take 20 kg of luggage. When you
have taken some items out, please put the luggage on the belt.
Note that some nouns can be either countable or uncountable, depending on meaning, as in these
examples:
- I love those little lambs skipping in the fields. I don't like to think about eating lamb for dinner tonight!
- My favourite drink is coffee. I think I'll order a coffee right now!
Agreement
You have to consider whether nouns are countable or not, then which form of the verb they agree
with.
- I go/he goes/they go.
- Children (they) are wonderful.
- Luggage (it) is sometimes heavy to carry.
- Accommodation (it) is not cheap.
- The coach and his team (they) are doing well.
- The coach (he), not the team, is responsible for the win.
- Fish and chips (it) is my favourite meal.
- No one (not one person) is going to be there.
Infinitive and gerund ... to go or going?
In general, the infinitive with to is used:
- to express a purpose:
- We went to see and to look at the ships.
- after certain verbs: hope, expect, plan, decide, learn, want, need, pretend and so on:
- I hope to go to Italy. I plan to visit my mother.
The gerund or'-ing' form is used:
- as a noun form as the subject of a sentence:
Playing football is good. Swimming is good for you.
- after verbs of liking and hating and some other common verbs:
I love getting up early in the morning.
I loathed working in that place.
- after such verbs as admit, avoid, come, consider, deny, finish, go, miss, risk, suggested:
I suggested travelling to France.
He finished working in Australia.
Sometimes both of these forms can be used, but they have different meanings.
Verbs include regret, stop, forgot, remember, try:
- She stopped to buy a newspaper (interrupted her journey).
- She stopped buying expensive clothes (didn't continue to buy certain things).
Adjectives ending in -ed and -ing
Are you bored or boring? Hopefully, you are bored,because something has made you feel that way,
and not because you are a boring person!
Sentence length and complexity
You are assessed on how complex your sentences are. What makes a sentence 'complex'? It means
saying a little bit more about something but still using one sentence. To understand this, it helps to
know about clauses. Clauses are the basic units of meaning in English, and they are used to make
sentences.
Sentences can be either simple (with an independent clause) or complex (with both an independent
and a dependent clause), and to get higher scores in IELTS you need to show that you can use
complex sentences.
Independent clauses make sense on their own.
- The driver stopped ...
- I won't get a good score in IELTS ...
- The student was given extra time to do his test ...
You can give more information about what you want to say by making another sentence, and this
is fine. For example:
- The driver stopped. He saw a dog in the middle of the road.
- I don't study enough. I won't get a good score in IELTS.
- The student arrived late. He was given extra time to do his test.
However, it's better to try to make one sentence by joining them together to make a complex
sentence. We use a dependent clause to do this.
Dependent clauses are incomplete on their own and need to be joined-using a subordinating
conjunction, relative pronoun or participle-to a dependent clause to make sense.
- ... because he saw a dog in the middle of the road.
- ... unless I study hard.
- ... the student who arrived late.
These clauses make no sense on their own, but when joined with the dependent clauses from the
first example, we can understand what is going on.
- The driver stopped because he saw a dog in the middle of the road.
- I won't pass IELTS unless I study hard.
- The student who arrived late was given extra time to do his test.
Examples of subordinating conjunctions include how, since, when, where, why, while, unless, although,
if, because, until, as, despite, in case, as soon as, in order to, provided that, in spite of.
Examples of relative pronouns include who, which, that, whom.
Grammar Activity 2: Making simple sentences complex
Try joining these pairs of sentences by using a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun.
- I lent some money to my brother. He probably won't return it.
Answer
I lent some money to my brother, who probably won't return it.
- My sister is older than I am. She lives in Melbourne.
Answer
My sister, who is older than I am, lives in Melbourne./My sister who is older than I am lives in Melbourne. Note that these sentences have slightly different meanings.
- John is married. Did you know?
Answer
Did you know that John is married?
- It might rain today. The ground will become very wet.
Answer
If it rains today, the ground will become very wet.
- English is not our first language. We need to do an IELTS test.
Answer
Because English is not our first language, we need to do an IELTS test.
- I have a cat. She has nice soft fur. She likes to drink milk.
Answer
My cat, which has nice soft fur, likes to drink milk.
- I was having a shower yesterday evening. The phone rang at the same time.
Answer
I was having a shower yesterday evening when the phone rang.
Communicative ability
Some people speak English with 'mistakes'. They might not speak completely accurately, but they
have a go. Generally, we can understand them.
For example, someone might say, 'Yesterday, I go shopping.' Although we know they have made a
mistake, we can still understand them. Problems occur, however, when we make so many mistakes
that it is hard for others to understand. Sometimes this happens when we attempt more complex
structures.
In the IELTS Speaking test, the examiner is listening for how much the mistakes interfere with
communication. It is an important benchmark for higher-level scores. Try the following activity to
check whether you can make yourself understood. It is best to do this activity with a native speaker
or someone whose English is quite good.
Grammar Awareness Activity: Communicative practice
- Choose one of the topics from Speaking Unit 3 below in this book.
- Brainstorm some words and ideas about the topic.
- Choose an issue to discuss, preferably something where you are asked to state your opinion.
- Now practise discussing the issue with someone else.
Don't worry about correctness at this stage. If the other person has difficulty understanding you,
they will ask you to clarify what you are saying. This will indicate to you how much you can be
understood by others. Get the others to pinpoint where your sentences do not make sense and see
if you can correct yourself.
It's a good idea to record yourself and see if you can notice where you are not making sense.
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