Core grammar the test assumes you know

You don't need to memorise grammar textbooks to do well in IELTS. But examiners do reward a handful of structures used accurately. This lesson covers the essentials so your meaning is always clear - get these right and you remove the small, repeated errors that quietly cap a Writing or Speaking band.

1. The tenses you'll use most

Three tenses cover the vast majority of what you need:

• Present simple - for facts and habits: "Water boils at 100 degrees." "I work in a hospital."
• Past simple - for finished actions: "I visited London last year."
• Present perfect - for experiences or things still relevant now: "I have lived here for five years." (and I still do).

A common slip is mixing past simple and present perfect. Use past simple with a finished time word (yesterday, in 2019, last week) and present perfect with for, since, already, never.

Wrong: I have visited Paris last year.

Right: I visited Paris last year. / I have visited Paris twice.

2. Articles: a, an, the

• Use a/an for one non-specific thing the listener doesn't yet know: *"I saw a dog."*
• Use the when both you and the reader know which one: *"The dog was barking."* (the one I just mentioned).
• Use no article for general plurals and uncountable ideas: "Dogs are loyal." "Information is useful."

Articles are small but examiners notice them. Getting them roughly right lifts your accuracy noticeably.

3. Subject-verb agreement

The verb must match the subject:

Wrong: *The students is ready.*

Right: *The students are ready.*

Watch out for words between the subject and verb: *"The box of chocolates is on the table." (the subject is box, not chocolates*).

4. Simple vs complex sentences

To reach higher bands you need a mix of sentence types:

• Simple: one idea - "Cities are growing."
• Compound: two ideas joined by and / but / so - "Cities are growing, so housing is expensive."
• Complex: one idea depending on another, using words like because, although, which, when - "Although cities are growing, public transport has not kept pace."

The complex sentence is your friend. Although, because, while, and which let you connect ideas the way confident writers do.

Worked example 1: fixing a weak sentence

Start with a flat, error-filled sentence:

People uses car everyday and it cause pollution.

Fix it step by step:

1. Agreement: uses → use.
2. Article/number: car → cars.
3. Spelling/agreement: cause → causes (the subject it is singular).
4. Combine into a complex sentence with which:

Improved: People use cars every day, which causes pollution.

Cleaner, accurate, and more sophisticated - without any rare "big" grammar.

Worked example 2: choosing the right tense in one paragraph

Beginners often slide between tenses inside a single answer. Watch how three different tenses each do a specific job here:

*"I come from a small town in the north. (present simple - a permanent fact) Five years ago I moved to the capital to study. (past simple - finished action, with 'ago') Since then I have worked for two different companies, (present perfect - started in the past, still true) and I am much happier here now." (present simple - current state)

Why each tense is correct: come is an unchanging fact, so present simple; moved is finished and tied to five years ago, so past simple; have worked spans from the past up to now (signalled by since), so present perfect; and am happier describes how things are today. If you wrote "Since then I worked for two companies" it would sound finished and disconnected - the present perfect is what links your past to your present.

Common beginner mistakes

• Only writing simple sentences. Safe, but it caps your band. Add one or two complex sentences per paragraph.
• Forcing complexity and losing control. A correct simple sentence beats a broken complex one. Build up gradually.
• Dropping articles ("I went to shop") or plural -s ("three cat"). These small errors add up fast.
• Comma splices: "Cities grow, housing is expensive." Join with and/so/but or a linking word, or use two sentences.
• Mixing tenses with no reason ("Yesterday I go to the shop"). Match the tense to the time.

Try it

Take this sentence and improve it: "Many student study english because they wants good job." Fix every error you can spot (there are four), then rewrite it once more as a single complex sentence. Compare your two versions and notice what changed - then test the same skill on a real prompt at **/ielts/learn**.