How do I Score Well on IELTS® Grammar?

Scoring well on the IELTS® grammar test requires a command of English grammar, including verb tenses, modals, relative clauses and punctuation. Grammar isn’t explicitly tested on the IELTS® tests, but it is assessed through both the speaking and listening sections of the test. Learning to use all of the different aspects of English grammar properly is the best way to score well on the IELTS® grammar assessment.

The IELTS® tests are required by many different educational institutions if you wish to study for a high school, college or degree-level course. Degree students are required to take the academic test, but most people, including prospective immigrants to Canada, New Zealand and Australia, are just required to take the general test.

Taking a diagnostic grammar test is a good idea for anybody who wishes to score well on the IELTS® grammar assessment. Diagnostic grammar tests present questions, and then identify areas in which the test-taker needs to improve based on their questions. This can help many students, because it is understandably difficult to identify areas in which your own grammar is flawed, particularly if you don’t fully understand all the concepts.

Many aspects of grammar are looked at for the IELTS® grammar assessment, and understanding more complex grammatical ideas is the best way to score well. Test takers should be able to use gerunds and infinitives correctly, for example. A gerund is an “ing” form of an ordinary noun, such as “working,” which is the gerund form of “work.” Infinitives are verbs with “to” before them, such as “to read.”

To score well on IELTS® grammar testing, it is also vital to use verb tenses and subject-verb agreement correctly. Test-takers can use verb tenses if they can identify which form of a verb to use in different tenses of speech. For example, in the simple past tense, the verb “call” becomes “called,” and can be used in a sentence as “I called you yesterday.” Subject-verb agreement is concerned with the correct use of singular and plural forms of verbs, meaning that plural verbs must be paired up with plural nouns.

Some aspects of English grammar cause confusion for non-native speakers, and understanding these aspects of grammar is a good way to score well on the IELTS® grammar assessment. These include punctuation and capitalization, run-on sentences and correct use of idioms. Idioms are colloquial phrases that aren’t meant to be literal, such as “hold your horses," which has nothing to do with horses; it simply means be patient.