IELTS Grammar Guide: Navigate the Exam with Confidence

Overview
Why Should You Work On Your Grammar?
How to Improve Your Grammar for IELTS Success?
How is Grammar Marked in the IELTS Exam?
What are the Basics to Take Care of for Grammar-free Answers?
Conclusion

Overview

Start planning to unleash the untapped power of grammar and ace the IELTS exam with wit, charm, and linguistic prowess.

The IELTS exam scorecard is an essential document when you’re applying to study or work abroad. It’s a mandatory requirement as it assesses your English proficiency. So to succeed in the IELTS exam, you must primarily focus on improving your grammar.

Read this blog ahead to learn about the basic grammar rules and some tips for better improvement.

Why Should You Work On Your Grammar?

Before moving ahead, you should also understand why focusing on grasping English grammar is important. Despite overall language accuracy and enhancing coherence and cohesion, there are various reasons for you to work on your grammar.

Grammar plays a fantastic role in how we express ourselves, enjoy reading, and grasp language effortlessly! Even though the IELTS exam doesn't have a separate grammar section, understanding the basics of grammar will boost your success in the IELTS Writing and Speaking sections.

And guess what? It'll even sprinkle some extra sparkle on your Listening and Reading skills! So, let's embrace the joy of mastering grammar. It's like adding sprinkles to your language skills, making them more delightful and impressive.

With a cheerful grasp of grammar, you'll confidently breeze through the IELTS exam, spreading positivity all around.

How to Improve Your Grammar for IELTS Success?

Now that you’ve looked at why it is essential to grasp English grammar to succeed in the IELTS exam, get ready to look at some tips for improving academic and general training. Let’s start!

Grammar for IELTS Academic

When planning to study abroad, IELTS Academic will test your English language skills for the academic environment. Academic topics tend to be more formal than regular English, so focusing on your basics is good.

Ensure you understand how and when to use active/passive voice. Although the active voice is more concise, formal writing sometimes necessitates using the passive voice.
Punctuation is critical in academic writing. Be sure you know when and how to use colons, semicolons, apostrophes, parentheses, and other punctuation.
Employing the correct verb tense is critical for accurately communicating what has happened, what is about to happen, and what could happen - which is especially crucial in academic papers.

Grammar for IELTS General

Aside from IELTS academic, general training assesses your ability to speak, listen, write and read English in a practical, everyday context. Take a look at some of the basic tips of IELTS general training too.

Sentence structure might be tough to learn, yet using various and natural sentence forms can significantly affect how comfortable you appear with the language.
Ensure you grasp the arrangement of words in a phrase, vital in ordinary conversation.
Take note of idioms, which people frequently use in ordinary speech, such as "get the ball rolling" or "touch base."

How is Grammar Marked in the IELTS Exam?

Understanding how the examiner is assessing your paper will give you more clarity on where you must work on. The IELTS Writing and Speaking sections are scored using four distinct descriptors, one of which is grammar.

Writing Band Descriptors

Starting with Writing band descriptors, marked on four descriptors:

Task achievement (how well your response covers the task requirements)
Coherence and cohesion (the flow and layout of your text)
Lexical resource (vocabulary and spelling)
Grammatical range and accuracy (your grammatical ability)

The details of how the grammar part is graded can be found below.

Band	Grammatical range and accuracy
9	Within the scope of the assignment, a wide range of structures are used with complete flexibility and control. Punctuation and grammar are used correctly throughout. Small mistakes are relatively rare and have little effect on communication.
8	Within the scope of the assignment, a diverse set of structures is used flexibly and precisely. The bulk of sentences are error-free, and punctuation is well-managed. Occasional, non-systematic errors and omissions occur but do not affect communication.
7	With some flexibility and accuracy, various sophisticated structures are used. Grammar and punctuation are generally under control, and sentences with no errors are common. A few grammatical faults may persist, but they do not inhibit conversation.
6	The sentence forms are a combination of simple and complicated, although the flexibility is limited. More complicated structures do not have the same level of precision as simple structures. Grammar and punctuation errors occur, although they rarely hamper communication.
5	The variety of constructions available is minimal and fairly repetitious. When complicated sentences are attempted, they are often incorrect, and simple sentences attain the most accuracy. Grammatical errors can be common and confuse the reader. Punctuation may be incorrect.
4	A fairly limited number of structures are employed. Subordinate clauses are uncommon, while simple sentences are more common. Some structures are constructed correctly, but grammatical faults are common and may obstruct understanding. Punctuation is frequently incorrect or insufficient.
3	Sentence forms are tried, but grammatical and punctuation problems abound (except in memorised phrases or those taken from the input material). Much meaning is lost as a result of this. The length of the sentence may not be sufficient to demonstrate control of sentence forms.
2	There is scant evidence of sentence forms (except in memorised phrases).
1	Answers of 20 words or less get a Band 1 rating. There is no discernible language.

Speaking Band Descriptors

Coming up to the next section - IELTS speaking that is marked on four descriptors:

Fluency and coherence (how well your meaning can be understood)
Lexical resource (correct use of language and idioms)
Grammatical range and accuracy (the types of sentence structures used)
Pronunciation (how well your speaking can be understood)

The specifics of how the grammar part is graded are provided below.

Band	Grammatical range and accuracy
9	Structures are always precise and accurate, except for 'mistakes' typical of native speaker speech.
8	Structures of various types can be employed in various ways. The vast majority of sentences are devoid of errors. Inappropriacy and non-systematic errors occur on occasion. A few fundamental errors may persist.
7	A variety of structures are used flexibly. Sentences with no errors are common. Despite occasional faults, both simple and complicated language is used well. A few fundamental errors remain.
6	Produces a range of structures and a mix of short and sophisticated sentence forms with limited flexibility. Although faults are common in complicated structures, they rarely obstruct communication.
5	Basic sentence structures are generally carefully checked for accuracy. Complicated structures are attempted, but their range is limited; they almost always contain faults and may require reformulation.
4	Can generate basic sentence shapes, and some short utterances are error-free. Subordinate clauses are uncommon; overall, turns are brief, structures are repetitive, and errors are common.
3	Except for presumably memorised statements, basic sentence structures are attempted, although grammatical faults are prevalent.
2	There is no indication of basic sentence structures.
1	Unless memorised, there is no rateable language.

What are the Basics to Take Care of for Grammar-free Answers?

Now that you’ve complete knowledge of band descriptors in terms of grammar, the clarity of some basics will help you stand out in the IELTS exam. While having a thorough grasp of English grammar, in general, is a good idea, there are a few specific areas you may want to work on to master your grammar for the IELTS exam.

Subject-verb agreement refers to the employment of singular and plural nouns with verbs in phrases. When there is a single subject, the verb should be in its singular form, according to this grammatical rule.
A modal verb is an English auxiliary verb that implies possibility, duty, and permission.
Conditionals are used to provide examples, make comparisons or exceptions, express hypothetical scenarios, and many other things.
Gerunds are verbs ending in -ing, such as working, writing, and learning. They follow specific prepositions (in, on, at) and verbs (like enjoy). For example:
Proper tense usage will help you score higher on the Writing paper and improve your overall mark in the Speaking section. The key to successfully employing tenses is recognising which one best matches the context of your sentence or paragraph.
Active/Passive - When the subject of a sentence performs an action, it is called active voice; when the subject receives an action, it is called passive voice. Active sentences have a more direct structure and are commonly employed in regular English talks. Passive sentences, conversely, can make it difficult to determine who or what is carrying out the action in the sentence.
Correct word order entails employing the correct word structure to produce a sentence grammatically correct, allowing you to communicate your ideas clearly and accurately, making it easier for examiners to comprehend what you're trying to express.
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns, whereas adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Conjunctions connect words such as "but," "so," and "and." They connect two statements or clauses, providing for a more fluid flow. This can help you make your point more clearly and successfully in an essay or writing assignment.

Conclusion

In the long run, improving your grammar is the most important factor for achieving success in the IELTS exam. Having gone through this blog, you must have understood how you can work and improvise your grammar. Along with the tips mentioned earlier, you must keep the basics in mind and practise consistently for them.

We hope we have provided you with helpful insight for improving your grammar in the IELTS exam. If you need further guidance, please contact Prepare IELTS (PI) expert counsellors. Our team of education experts is dedicated to providing you with the best guidance in preparing for the IELTS Exam.

You can get on a one-to-one free counselling session online via our platform. Contact us at info@prepareieltsexam.com or call us at +91 9773398388.