Omitting Relative Pronouns
Adjective clauses, which are also known as relative clauses, give extra information about a noun or pronoun. As such, they are an essential part of English speaking and writing, and can add a huge amount of detail to our language. It’s no surprise, then, that they are important for students who want to get a better IELTS score. Video Lesson First, here’s a new video I just posted that explains the basics of omitting...
Participle Clauses
Participle clauses are a kind of adverbial clause in that they give extra information (such as reasons, time, conditions, or results) to the sentence. They are often used in formal writing, and as such, they make a very useful addition to an IELTS essay. What is a Participle Clause? Put simply, a participle clause normally appears at the beginning of a sentence, using the present or past participle, but taking its subject in the...
Should you use the Passive Voice for IELTS?
Students often ask me about the passive voice and whether or not they should use the passive voice for IELTS. Sometimes people will tell you not to use the passive as it can sound awkward, which is definitely true. However, the passive does have some practical uses. Therefore, the answer to “Should you use the passive voice for IELTS?” is… well, sometimes. What is the Passive Voice First, let’s take a moment...
Essential IELTS Grammar: Sentence Types
There are four types of sentence in English: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. In this chapter, we will learn how to form each of them. First, however, we must look at clauses. There are essentially two kinds of clause: independent and dependent. Independent Clauses An independent clause must have three elements: A subject A verb A complete thought It is relatively easy to understand those first two, but how do you know...
A Simple Guide to Noun Clauses
This short lesson outlines what a noun clause is and how you can use them to boost your IELTS score. Learning this part of grammar shouldn’t be difficult, but many textbooks make is sound so complicated. Read this short article and look at the PPT slideshow to master noun clauses today. What is a Noun Clause? Put simply, a noun clause is just a clause that acts as a noun in a sentence. Simple! But… what’s a clause? A...
A Complete Guide to the Future Tenses (for IELTS)
Introduction Finally, we come to the future tenses. Talking about the future tends to be more complicated than the past or present, at least in regards knowing when to use it, but thankfully it’s also less important for IELTS. This is because some future tenses have really limited uses and appear infrequently in our language. Look at the table below and consider how often in the IELTS exam you would ever need to say, “I...
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