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Articles, countable nouns, adjective order, and the four structures Band 7 asks for. Written around the errors that actually appear in IELTS scripts. 32 pages, free.
This is the grammar book from the IELTSforFREE set, and it is deliberately the shortest. It does not try to teach English grammar. It covers the specific points that cost marks in IELTS writing and speaking, which is a much smaller list than a grammar course would suggest.
The content came from marking. Articles, countable and uncountable nouns, adjective order and subject verb agreement account for a large share of the errors that appear in real scripts, and they appear at every band including high ones.
The other half of the book is about Grammatical Range. Band 7 asks for a variety of complex structures used with accuracy, and there are four structures that do most of that work.
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What is inside
Six sections, in the order they appear.
A, an, the and no article. The single most common error in IELTS writing, and one that persists well into Band 7 scripts.
Information, advice, research, equipment. The nouns that behave differently in English from almost every other language.
Native speakers do this without thinking and notice immediately when it is wrong. It is a short chapter with a large effect.
Relative clauses, conditionals, the passive and complex noun phrases. Enough range to satisfy the criterion without reaching for structures you cannot control.
Especially after a long noun phrase, where the subject and the verb end up far apart and the agreement slips.
Band 7 wants both. The book explains why accuracy is the one to protect when you cannot have both.
Method
Six things worth doing, and one worth avoiding.
It is the highest yield section in the book by some distance, and it does not stick on one reading.
Reading a draft for everything at once catches nothing. Read it once for articles, once for agreement.
Four structures used accurately beat eight used shakily. Grammatical Range and Accuracy is one criterion, not two.
A complex sentence with an error scores lower than a simple sentence without one. Reaching beyond your control is penalised.
The Band 5 answer with corrections in the writing book shows these errors in a real script, which makes them easier to recognise in your own.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy is a speaking criterion as well, weighted exactly the same.
Practice
Five questions on the errors that recur in real scripts.
Band 7 asks for a variety of complex structures used with accuracy. Both words matter.
A complex sentence with an error scores lower than a simple one without.
Articles are the most common error in IELTS writing, at every band.
1Which is correct?
I need some advice. Advice is uncountable in English, so it takes no article and has no plural. Information, research and equipment behave the same way.
2Which adjective order is correct?
A big red car. Size comes before colour. Native speakers never think about this rule and always notice when it is broken.
3Grammatical Range and Accuracy is:
One criterion covering both, in writing and in speaking. That is why a complex sentence containing an error can score lower than a simple correct one.
4Which is correct?
The number of students is increasing. The subject is number, which is singular. The long noun phrase between subject and verb is exactly where agreement slips.
5You are unsure whether a complex structure is correct. What should you do?
Write it as two accurate simple sentences. Accuracy is protected within the same criterion, so an error cancels out the range you were reaching for.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy is one of four criteria in writing and one of four in speaking. The errors in this book are the ones that show up in real scripts, repeatedly, at every band.
The complete course on IELTStestONLINE covers these points in video lessons and then marks your own writing and speaking against the criterion. Take a look at the complete course
A book can show you the rule. Finding the rule broken in your own writing is the harder part.
IELTStestONLINE marks your writing and speaking against all four criteria and keeps every score in one place. See what full membership includes
Yes. It downloads directly with no signup, no email address and no account.
No, deliberately. It covers the points that cost marks in IELTS specifically, which is a much shorter list than a general grammar course.
32 pages, the shortest book in the set, because it only covers what affects your band.
Articles. It is the most common error in IELTS writing and it persists well into high band scripts.
Yes. Grammatical Range and Accuracy is one of the four speaking criteria as well, weighted equally with the other three.
Full membership
Every candidate who makes article errors knows the article rules. The difficulty is seeing the error in your own writing, where you read what you meant rather than what you wrote.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It carries no advertising.
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