# IELTS Essential Grammar

## 🎯 Grammar for Higher Band Scores

IELTS rewards **variety** and **accuracy** in grammar usage. Using the same simple structures repeatedly will limit your band score, regardless of how accurate they are.

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## 📝 Verb Tenses

### Present Tenses

**Simple Present**
- Facts, habits, routines: "I work in marketing."
- General truths: "Water boils at 100°C."

**Present Continuous**  
- Actions happening now: "I am studying for IELTS."
- Future arrangements: "I'm meeting my tutor tomorrow."

**Present Perfect**
- Past actions with present relevance: "I have lived here for five years."
- Recent actions: "I've just finished my homework."

**Present Perfect Continuous**
- Actions starting in past, continuing now: "I've been learning English for two years."

### Past Tenses

**Simple Past**
- Completed actions: "I graduated in 2020."
- Past habits: "When I was young, I played football every day."

**Past Continuous**
- Actions in progress in past: "I was studying when you called."
- Background actions: "It was raining when I left home."

**Past Perfect**
- Action before another past action: "I had finished dinner before the movie started."
- Past experiences: "I had never seen such a beautiful sunset."

**Past Perfect Continuous**
- Ongoing action before past point: "I had been working for three hours when he arrived."

### Future Tenses

**Simple Future (will)**
- Predictions: "It will rain tomorrow."
- Spontaneous decisions: "I'll help you with that."

**Be going to**
- Plans/intentions: "I'm going to study abroad."
- Predictions with evidence: "Look at those clouds - it's going to rain."

**Future Continuous**
- Actions in progress at future time: "This time tomorrow, I'll be taking my IELTS test."

**Future Perfect**
- Actions completed by future time: "By 2025, I will have graduated."

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## 🔗 Conditionals

### Zero Conditional (General truths)
**Structure:** If + present simple, present simple
**Example:** "If you heat water to 100°C, it boils."

### First Conditional (Real future possibilities)
**Structure:** If + present simple, will + base verb
**Example:** "If I study hard, I will pass the test."

### Second Conditional (Unreal present situations)
**Structure:** If + past simple, would + base verb
**Example:** "If I had more time, I would travel more."

### Third Conditional (Unreal past situations)
**Structure:** If + past perfect, would have + past participle
**Example:** "If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam."

### Mixed Conditionals
**Past condition, present result:**
"If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now."

**Present condition, past result:**
"If I were more organized, I wouldn't have missed the deadline."

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## 🗣️ Modal Verbs

### Ability
- **Can/Could:** "I can speak three languages." / "I could swim when I was five."
- **Be able to:** "I wasn't able to attend the meeting."

### Permission
- **Can/May:** "Can I leave early?" / "May I ask a question?"
- **Be allowed to:** "Students are allowed to use dictionaries."

### Obligation
- **Must/Have to:** "I must finish this today." / "I have to work late."
- **Should/Ought to:** "You should exercise regularly."

### Possibility
- **Might/May/Could:** "It might rain later." / "She may be late."
- **Must (deduction):** "He must be tired after that long journey."

### Advice
- **Should/Ought to:** "You should see a doctor."
- **Had better:** "You'd better leave now or you'll be late."

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## 📖 Passive Voice

### When to Use Passive
- Focus on action, not doer: "The report was completed yesterday."
- Unknown doer: "My car was stolen last night."
- Obvious doer: "The criminal was arrested."
- Formal/academic writing: "The experiment was conducted carefully."

### Formation
**Structure:** Object + be + past participle (+ by + agent)

**Examples:**
- Present: "English is spoken worldwide."
- Past: "The building was constructed in 1995."
- Present Perfect: "The homework has been completed."
- Future: "The results will be announced tomorrow."

### Common Passive Structures in IELTS
- "It is believed that..." (impersonal passive)
- "The data shows that..." (reporting verbs)
- "Measures should be taken to..." (recommendations)

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## 🏗️ Complex Sentence Structures

### Relative Clauses

**Defining (no commas)**
- Who: "The person who called you is waiting outside."
- Which: "The book which I borrowed is very interesting."
- That: "The movie that we watched was excellent."
- Where: "The place where I grew up has changed a lot."
- When: "The day when I graduated was unforgettable."

**Non-defining (with commas)**
- "My brother, who lives in London, is visiting next week."
- "The iPhone, which was invented in 2007, changed communication."

### Participle Clauses
**Present participle (-ing):**
"Having studied abroad, I understand different cultures."
"Living in the city, I appreciate urban conveniences."

**Past participle (-ed):**
"Influenced by social media, young people's behavior has changed."
"Built in the 19th century, the building requires renovation."

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## 📊 Articles (A, An, The)

### Indefinite Articles (A/An)
- First mention: "I saw a movie yesterday."
- One of many: "He's a teacher."
- General categories: "A car is expensive to maintain."

### Definite Article (The)
- Specific items: "The book you recommended was great."
- Second mention: "I bought a car. The car was expensive."
- Unique items: "The sun rises in the east."
- Superlatives: "The best solution is..."

### No Article (Zero Article)
- General plural/uncountable: "Dogs are loyal." / "Water is essential."
- Abstract concepts: "Education is important."
- Proper nouns: "London is expensive."

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## 🔄 Reported Speech

### Reporting Verbs
**Basic:** say, tell, ask
**Advanced:** claim, suggest, argue, maintain, assert, contend

### Tense Changes
- Present → Past: "I am happy" → He said he was happy.
- Past → Past Perfect: "I worked" → She said she had worked.
- Present Perfect → Past Perfect: "I have finished" → He said he had finished.

### Time/Place Changes
- Today → that day
- Tomorrow → the following day  
- Here → there
- This → that

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## 💡 Advanced Grammar for Band 7+

### Inversion
**After negative adverbs:**
- "Never have I seen such a beautiful sunset."
- "Rarely does he arrive on time."
- "Not only is it expensive, but it's also impractical."

**In conditionals:**
- "Were I to study abroad, I would choose Canada."
- "Had I known earlier, I would have helped."

### Cleft Sentences (Emphasis)
**It-cleft:** "It was John who helped me." (not someone else)
**What-cleft:** "What I need is more practice." (not something else)

### Subjunctive
**After suggest, recommend, insist:**
"I suggest that he study harder."
"It's important that she be on time."

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## ❌ Common Grammar Mistakes

### Article Errors
- ❌ "I'm studying the medicine"
- ✅ "I'm studying medicine"

### Preposition Mistakes
- ❌ "I'm interested about sports"
- ✅ "I'm interested in sports"

### Verb Form Errors
- ❌ "I am agree with you"
- ✅ "I agree with you"

### Word Order Problems
- ❌ "I like very much chocolate"
- ✅ "I like chocolate very much"

### Countable/Uncountable Confusion
- ❌ "I need some informations"
- ✅ "I need some information"

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## 📚 Grammar for Each IELTS Skill

### Writing Task 1
**Essential structures:**
- Present/past tenses for data description
- Passive voice: "The graph shows..."
- Comparative/superlative: "higher than," "the highest"
- Sequencing: "Initially," "Subsequently," "Finally"

### Writing Task 2
**Essential structures:**
- Complex sentences with subordination
- Conditionals for hypothetical situations
- Modal verbs for recommendations
- Passive voice for formal tone

### Speaking
**Focus on:**
- Natural use of tenses
- Conditional sentences for hypothetical questions
- Perfect tenses for experiences
- Modal verbs for opinions and advice

### Reading/Listening
**Recognition of:**
- Complex grammatical structures
- Passive voice
- Reported speech
- Conditional sentences

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## ⚡ Practice Strategies

### Daily Grammar Practice
1. **Identify target structures** in your writing/speaking
2. **Transform sentences** (active to passive, simple to complex)
3. **Use grammar in context** rather than isolated exercises
4. **Self-correct** by recording yourself speaking

### Error Correction
1. Keep an **error log** of your common mistakes
2. **Categorize errors** by type (articles, prepositions, etc.)
3. **Practice specific problem areas** regularly
4. **Get feedback** from teachers or native speakers

### Integration Practice
1. **Combine grammar with vocabulary** study
2. **Use new structures immediately** in writing/speaking
3. **Read extensively** to see grammar in natural context
4. **Focus on accuracy first, then fluency**

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## 🎯 Grammar Checklist for Band 7+

**Variety:**
- [ ] Use mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences
- [ ] Include different tenses appropriately
- [ ] Use both active and passive voice
- [ ] Include conditional sentences

**Accuracy:**
- [ ] Consistent subject-verb agreement
- [ ] Correct article usage
- [ ] Appropriate prepositions
- [ ] Proper verb forms

**Complexity:**
- [ ] Use relative clauses effectively
- [ ] Include participle clauses
- [ ] Use advanced modal verbs
- [ ] Demonstrate range of conjunctions

**Natural Usage:**
- [ ] Grammar serves communication, not just complexity
- [ ] Structures fit the context and task
- [ ] Errors don't impede understanding
- [ ] Shows control of language rather than memorization