IELTS WRITING TASK 1 GRAMMAR & VOCABULARY
Verb Tenses
The choice of which tense to use will be determined by whether or not the graphic contains dates and, if it does, whether the dates are in the past or the future.
- No date – use the present tense: present simple, present perfect or present perfect continuous
- Dates in the past – use the past tense: past simple
- Dates in the future – use the future tense: future simple or the future perfect
Most graphics will require you to compare data from two or more time periods, for example, past and present or present and future predictions, so you will need to use a range of different tenses in your essay, as appropriate.
The key word in the sentence above is ‘appropriate’. Whilst you will gain marks for using a good range of tenses in your Writing IELTS Task 1 essay, you should never do so just to show that you know many different tenses. Only use the tense that is 100% correct for expressing a specific piece of information. It is accuracy that the examiner is looking for.
Key Sentence Structures
>> The two most useful grammatical structures for describing trends are:1) Noun phrase + verb + adverb
Ex: The number of unemployed women fell significantly.2) There + be + adjective + in + noun phrase
Ex: There was a dramatic improvement in the percentage of people in employment.
>> The two most useful grammatical structures for describing increases and decreases are:
1) Noun phrase + verb + adverb
The popularity of social media climbed steadily.2) There + be + noun + in + noun phrase
There was a fluctuation in university applications.
There is now a swimming pool in the location of the old factory.
>> Useful vocabulary for making comparisons includes:
1) More/fewer/less + noun + than
More teenagers play computer games than a sport.
2) Most/least + adjective
The most common childhood illness in 1979 was chickenpox.
3) More/less + adjective + than
Cruises were more popular than beach holidays in 2012.
4) High/low/few -er + than
A lower number of teenagers play a sport than play computer games.
5) High/low/large/small -est
The largest proportion of immigrants came from Mexico.
Common Grammatical Errors
>> There are two specific prepositions that you will probably use numerous times in your Task 1 essay when reporting change – ‘in’ and ‘of’. They are easy to get wrong.
Follow this general rule:
- When stating the specific value of the change (number, amount, percentage etc.) – use ‘of’.
- When stating what has changed – use ‘in’.
For example:
- An increase of 20%.
- An increase in the number of over 60’s taking exercise classes.
- A drop of almost a half.A drop in house prices.
- An improvement of 45 units per week.
- An improvement in retail sales from April to June.
>> Of’ is also used after a value. You will probably want to use proportional values in your Task 1 essay so here are some examples.
- a small percentage of
- just under a quarter of
- exactly a half of
- roughly three quarters of
- a significant majority of
- a high number of
>> Another preposition to learn is ‘between’ which you will need to make comparisons. The price of houses went into sharp decline between 1980 and 1985 but increased significantly from 1986 to 1990.-----------------------------------
In English, there are three articles – the, a, and an. Each is used in specific instances.
1) With singular and plural nouns:
>> Use the before singular and plural nouns when the noun is a specific thing. For example,
The bar graph illustrates how many male and female students were studying full-time and part-time in Britain during the years 1970/1971, 1980/1 and 1990/1.>>Use a or an before a singular noun or noun phrase when the noun is non-specific and could be any one of a group or type.
>> Use a before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a consonant. Use an before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a vowel.
Less than 30% of the population took a foreign holiday between 1975 and 1985.
There was an upward trend in families taking an annual holiday abroad after 1990.
2) Noun combinations:
Also, use a/an before adjective singular noun combinations such as these from our preposition list:
a small percentage of
an insignificant minority of
a high number of.
The choice of which tense to use will be determined by whether or not the graphic contains dates and, if it does, whether the dates are in the past or the future.
- No date – use the present tense: present simple, present perfect or present perfect continuous
- Dates in the past – use the past tense: past simple
- Dates in the future – use the future tense: future simple or the future perfect
Most graphics will require you to compare data from two or more time periods, for example, past and present or present and future predictions, so you will need to use a range of different tenses in your essay, as appropriate.
The key word in the sentence above is ‘appropriate’. Whilst you will gain marks for using a good range of tenses in your Writing IELTS Task 1 essay, you should never do so just to show that you know many different tenses. Only use the tense that is 100% correct for expressing a specific piece of information. It is accuracy that the examiner is looking for.
Key Sentence Structures
>> The two most useful grammatical structures for describing trends are:1) Noun phrase + verb + adverb
Ex: The number of unemployed women fell significantly.2) There + be + adjective + in + noun phrase
Ex: There was a dramatic improvement in the percentage of people in employment.
>> The two most useful grammatical structures for describing increases and decreases are:
1) Noun phrase + verb + adverb
The popularity of social media climbed steadily.2) There + be + noun + in + noun phrase
There was a fluctuation in university applications.
There is now a swimming pool in the location of the old factory.
>> Useful vocabulary for making comparisons includes:
1) More/fewer/less + noun + than
More teenagers play computer games than a sport.
2) Most/least + adjective
The most common childhood illness in 1979 was chickenpox.
3) More/less + adjective + than
Cruises were more popular than beach holidays in 2012.
4) High/low/few -er + than
A lower number of teenagers play a sport than play computer games.
5) High/low/large/small -est
The largest proportion of immigrants came from Mexico.
Common Grammatical Errors
>> There are two specific prepositions that you will probably use numerous times in your Task 1 essay when reporting change – ‘in’ and ‘of’. They are easy to get wrong.
Follow this general rule:
- When stating the specific value of the change (number, amount, percentage etc.) – use ‘of’.
- When stating what has changed – use ‘in’.
For example:
- An increase of 20%.
- An increase in the number of over 60’s taking exercise classes.
- A drop of almost a half.A drop in house prices.
- An improvement of 45 units per week.
- An improvement in retail sales from April to June.
>> Of’ is also used after a value. You will probably want to use proportional values in your Task 1 essay so here are some examples.
- a small percentage of
- just under a quarter of
- exactly a half of
- roughly three quarters of
- a significant majority of
- a high number of
>> Another preposition to learn is ‘between’ which you will need to make comparisons. The price of houses went into sharp decline between 1980 and 1985 but increased significantly from 1986 to 1990.-----------------------------------
In English, there are three articles – the, a, and an. Each is used in specific instances.
1) With singular and plural nouns:
>> Use the before singular and plural nouns when the noun is a specific thing. For example,
The bar graph illustrates how many male and female students were studying full-time and part-time in Britain during the years 1970/1971, 1980/1 and 1990/1.>>Use a or an before a singular noun or noun phrase when the noun is non-specific and could be any one of a group or type.
>> Use a before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a consonant. Use an before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a vowel.
Less than 30% of the population took a foreign holiday between 1975 and 1985.
There was an upward trend in families taking an annual holiday abroad after 1990.
2) Noun combinations:
Also, use a/an before adjective singular noun combinations such as these from our preposition list:
a small percentage of
an insignificant minority of
a high number of.
Ex: The number of unemployed women fell significantly.
2) There + be + adjective + in + noun phrase
Ex: There was a dramatic improvement in the percentage of people in employment.
>> The two most useful grammatical structures for describing increases and decreases are:
The popularity of social media climbed steadily.
2) There + be + noun + in + noun phrase
There was a fluctuation in university applications.
There is now a swimming pool in the location of the old factory.
>> Useful vocabulary for making comparisons includes:
1) More/fewer/less + noun + than
More teenagers play computer games than a sport.
2) Most/least + adjective
The most common childhood illness in 1979 was chickenpox.
Cruises were more popular than beach holidays in 2012.
4) High/low/few -er + than
A lower number of teenagers play a sport than play computer games.
5) High/low/large/small -est
The largest proportion of immigrants came from Mexico.
Common Grammatical Errors
>> There are two specific prepositions that you will probably use numerous times in your Task 1 essay when reporting change – ‘in’ and ‘of’. They are easy to get wrong.
Follow this general rule:
- When stating the specific value of the change (number, amount, percentage etc.) – use ‘of’.
- When stating what has changed – use ‘in’.
For example:
- An increase of 20%.
- An increase in the number of over 60’s taking exercise classes.
- A drop of almost a half.A drop in house prices.
- An improvement of 45 units per week.
- An improvement in retail sales from April to June.
>> Of’ is also used after a value. You will probably want to use proportional values in your Task 1 essay so here are some examples.
- a small percentage of
- just under a quarter of
- exactly a half of
- roughly three quarters of
- a significant majority of
- a high number of
>> Another preposition to learn is ‘between’ which you will need to make comparisons. The price of houses went into sharp decline between 1980 and 1985 but increased significantly from 1986 to 1990.-----------------------------------
In English, there are three articles – the, a, and an. Each is used in specific instances.
1) With singular and plural nouns:
>> Use the before singular and plural nouns when the noun is a specific thing. For example,
The bar graph illustrates how many male and female students were studying full-time and part-time in Britain during the years 1970/1971, 1980/1 and 1990/1.>>Use a or an before a singular noun or noun phrase when the noun is non-specific and could be any one of a group or type.
>> Use a before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a consonant. Use an before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a vowel.
Less than 30% of the population took a foreign holiday between 1975 and 1985.
There was an upward trend in families taking an annual holiday abroad after 1990.
2) Noun combinations:
Also, use a/an before adjective singular noun combinations such as these from our preposition list:
a small percentage of
an insignificant minority of
a high number of.
>> There are two specific prepositions that you will probably use numerous times in your Task 1 essay when reporting change – ‘in’ and ‘of’. They are easy to get wrong.
Follow this general rule:
- When stating the specific value of the change (number, amount, percentage etc.) – use ‘of’.
- When stating what has changed – use ‘in’.
For example:
- An increase of 20%.
- An increase in the number of over 60’s taking exercise classes.
- A drop of almost a half.A drop in house prices.
- An improvement of 45 units per week.
- An improvement in retail sales from April to June.
>> Of’ is also used after a value. You will probably want to use proportional values in your Task 1 essay so here are some examples.
- a small percentage of
- just under a quarter of
- exactly a half of
- roughly three quarters of
- a significant majority of
- a high number of
-----------------------------------
In English, there are three articles – the, a, and an. Each is used in specific instances.
>> Use the before singular and plural nouns when the noun is a specific thing. For example,
The bar graph illustrates how many male and female students were studying full-time and part-time in Britain during the years 1970/1971, 1980/1 and 1990/1.
>>Use a or an before a singular noun or noun phrase when the noun is non-specific and could be any one of a group or type.
>> Use a before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a consonant. Use an before a noun or noun phrase beginning with a vowel.
Less than 30% of the population took a foreign holiday between 1975 and 1985.
There was an upward trend in families taking an annual holiday abroad after 1990.
2) Noun combinations:
Also, use a/an before adjective singular noun combinations such as these from our preposition list:
a small percentage of
an insignificant minority of
a high number of.
Komentar
Posting Komentar