In this post: Why small grammar slips can hold you at 6.5, then singular and plural mistakes and articles.
Grammar Mistakes · 3 parts
- 1. Why 6.5, plurals and articles (you are here)
- 2. Prepositions, if-clauses and tenses
- 3. Comma splices and a final check
✦ In this post
In the period when my writing went from 6.5 to 7.0, what I saw most every day was not “your argument isn’t good enough” but small things circled one after another: a missing s, an extra the, the wrong preposition, a comma forcing two sentences together. Each of these mistakes is tiny on its own, but when a 300-word essay contains more than ten of them, it is very hard for the grammar criterion (Grammatical Range and Accuracy, GRA from here on) to reach 7.
This post turns three sources into a list of the grammar mistakes I made most often: the “grammar toolkit” in my Google Docs notes, my essay corrections (where capitals mark the corrected words and brackets show what I originally wrote), and the original versions of the 50 essays I had marked between May and July 2024. Every ✗ sentence is one I really wrote at the time, and every ✓ is the correction. As you read, ask yourself: do I make this mistake too?
1. Why grammar can keep your writing stuck at 6.5
Start with the numbers. Of those 50 essays, 4 scored 6 for GRA: the gap year essay (Trial essay 1), the advertising essay (Trial essay 3), the hospital map (Task 19) and the Porth Harbour map (Task 33). Most of the rest scored 7, and a few scored 8. In other words, my grammar was not “bad”; it consistently had a few errors, which put it right on the border between 6 and 7.
| Band | Key points of the public band descriptors (my understanding) | What it meant for me |
|---|---|---|
| GRA 6 | A mix of simple and complex sentences, but more errors in the complex ones; some grammar and punctuation errors, which rarely get in the way of understanding | In my essays that scored 6, the errors clustered in singular/plural, subject-verb agreement and sentences missing a verb |
| GRA 7 | A variety of complex structures, frequent error-free sentences, good control of grammar and punctuation, though a few errors may remain | The key is that error-free sentences should be the majority, not that you use difficult structures |
| GRA 8 | The majority of sentences are error-free, with only very occasional slips | This depends on checking before you finish and cleaning out the basic errors |
My analysis: the difference between GRA 6 and 7 is not whether you can write participle clauses or inversions, but the proportion of sentences with errors. Early on I loved long sentences, such as “…, providing…, further leading to…, which…”. The longer the sentence, the easier it was to get the subject’s number wrong, forget an s on the verb, or put a comma where a full stop should go. Later I switched to “mix long and short sentences, and check the subject and verb after every long one”, and my error rate dropped noticeably.
2. Singular and plural: each/every, people are, uncountable nouns
2.1 each / every + singular noun + singular verb
This was the first rule in my notes, and also a mistake I kept repeating. The rule is simple: each and every are followed by a singular noun, and the verb is singular too. Remember two exceptions:
- Each of + plural noun: the noun is plural, but the verb is still singular. Each of us has a wonderful time. (not have)
- every + number + time period: this can take a plural. My mother has to visit the hospital every five weeks.
| What I wrote (✗) | Correction (✓) | What’s wrong |
|---|---|---|
| ✗ I am going to discuss why each views have its own opponents. | ✓ why each view has its own supporters | After each, both the noun and the verb are singular; opponents was also the wrong word, as I meant “supporters” |
| ✗ it is mendatory for each students to study for more than a decade | ✓ it is mandatory for each student / for all students | If you want a plural, use all, not each + plural |
| ✗ the frequent trade between nations make each businesses more difficult to hold the market share | ✓ makes it more difficult for each business to hold its market share | Also, the subject trade is singular, so the verb should be makes |
2.2 people is plural: people are, not people is
People is plural in itself (one is a person), so it is always followed by are / have / do. Chinese has no change like this, so I often missed it when writing quickly. Similar cases: those who takes a plural verb, and so does the elderly (meaning older people as a group).
| What I wrote (✗) | Correction (✓) |
|---|---|
| ✗ since people is so busy to search the functions or characters of goods (Trial essay 3) | ✓ since people are too busy to search for the functions and features of goods |
| ✗ those who is poorer or work for unsatisfactory job (Task 1) | ✓ those who are poorer or work in unsatisfactory jobs |
| ✗ the old people tends to make an appointment with the doctors | ✓ older people tend to see their doctors on a regular basis |
2.3 Uncountable nouns: no s, and no a on their own
This is the category I was corrected for most. The table below is my own “uncountable blacklist”: the left shows how I got it wrong and the right shows the correct use. Advertising, information, police and research in particular come up a lot in Task 2.
| Noun | How I got it wrong | Correct use | How to say “many” or “one” |
|---|---|---|---|
| advertising (the industry / activity) | — | Advertising is a key tool… | For individual ads, use advertisement(s) |
| information | ✗ do not believe those information on advertisement | ✓ do not believe the information in advertisements | pieces of information / a great deal of information |
| police | ✗ Polices, firefighters, and soldiers | ✓ Police officers, firefighters and soldiers | Police is a collective noun and is plural in itself: The police are… |
| time (as an amount) | ✗ spend a tremendous time using smartphones | ✓ spend a tremendous amount of time | a great deal of time / hours |
| money | ✗ which always costs thousands of money (Task 15) | ✓ costs thousands of dollars | a large amount of money / a certain amount of money |
| research | ✗ various research say (Task 7) | ✓ various studies show / research shows | For a countable noun, switch to study / studies |
| knowledge | ✗ teach those related knowledges | ✓ teach the relevant knowledge | a body of knowledge |
| advice | ✗ asked for the advices with regard to their career | ✓ asked the elderly for career advice | a piece of advice / suggestions |
| productivity | ✗ most workers’ productivities decrease | ✓ most workers’ productivity decreases | — |
| infrastructure | ✗ to construct infrastructures | ✓ to build infrastructure | Usually used in the singular |
| pollution | ✗ it creates pollutions | ✓ it creates pollution | air and water pollution (separate by type) |
| legislation / prison (as an institution) | — | be sent to prison, legislation is… | laws (countable) |
2.4 The other way round: these words need an s
The opposite mistake is leaving out an s that should be there. Most of the words on the “can add an S” list in my notes are nouns that conceptually come in more than one. They are very common in Task 2:
| Words that often lose their s | Example (✓) | What I originally wrote |
|---|---|---|
| consequences / effects | it results in negative consequences for the public | Task 25: negative consequences to the public (the s was right, but the preposition should be for) |
| salaries / incomes / payments | households with lower incomes; receive higher payments | households with lower income (Task 21) |
| qualifications | jobs that require high academic qualifications | jobs require high academic qualification (Task 25) |
| environments | people who work in dangerous environments | work in dangerous environment (Task 25, Trial essay 1) |
| lives | in their personal and professional lives | in our personal live |
| shocks / bills / costs | external shocks, pay their bills, maintenance costs | external shock, their bill, maintenance cost |
| greenhouse gases | greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide | greenhouse gas likes carbon dioxide |
One more common trap: in a sense of belonging, belonging takes no s. In Task 17 I wrote build sense of belongings, getting both the article and the s wrong at once. Belongings with an s means “personal possessions”, which is a completely different meaning.
3. Articles: the Internet, the younger generation, and words that do not take the
Articles are the final boss for anyone whose first language has none, and Chinese has no articles at all. In the end I stopped trying to “understand every rule” and simply learned the nouns that come up most in Task 2, sorted into three groups.
| Category | Takes the | No the | Takes a / an |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed expressions | the Internet, the environment (meaning the natural world), the government, the public | society (in general), nature, technology (in general) | a sense of belonging, a financial burden, a wide range of |
| Groups of people | the younger generation, the older generation, the elderly, the financially disadvantaged | young people, older people (plural, in general) | — |
| Abstract nouns | When limited by an of phrase: the mental well-being of workers, the competitiveness of society | productivity, unfairness, pollution, education (in general) | a higher salary, a fair salary |
| Proper nouns | the National History Museum (the name contains a common noun such as Museum or University) | COVID-19, Taiwan, Facebook, YouTube | — |
My real mistakes and corrections
| What I wrote (✗) | Correction (✓) | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ✗ a good choice for younger generation (Trial essay 1) | ✓ a good choice for the younger generation | Groups of people take the |
| ✗ National History Museum in Taiwan, which is free of charge (Task 21) | ✓ The National History Museum in Taiwan | The name of an institution containing a common noun takes the |
| ✗ The COVID-19, which influenced worldwide (Task 23) | ✓ COVID-19, which affected the whole world | Names of diseases take no the; influence is transitive and needs an object |
| ✗ the importance of art in the society (Task 21) | ✓ the importance of art in society | Society in general takes no the |
| ✗ undeniably leading to an unfairness (Trial essay 1) | ✓ undeniably leading to unfairness | Unfairness is an abstract uncountable noun |
| ✗ results in financial burden of museums | ✓ results in a financial burden for museums | Burden is countable, so it needs a; the preposition is for / on |
| ✗ leading to a higher productivity | ✓ leading to higher productivity | Productivity takes no article |
| ✗ do not get fair salary | ✓ do not get a fair salary | Salary is countable |
Continue reading · Part 2 of 3
IELTS Notes in English · Writing Language (post 1 of 4)
Task 1 Structure · Task 2 Structure · Topic Guides · Writing Language · Band Score Samples · Practice Methods · Speaking & Study Tips
✦ Target Your Future
Some days you practise for hours and the score still does not move. I hope these notes remind you that the setbacks are part of the road: every recording you replayed, every essay you rewrote and every sentence you finally dared to say is progress you have already made.
I wrote this down so the next person can take fewer detours. You do not have to follow my method exactly. Find a rhythm that works for you, rest when you need to, and come back for the next small step.
I hope what you take away is more than a number on a score report: a little more confidence in yourself, and the courage to step a bit closer to the world.
— Ting
← Back to IELTS notes in English
Leave a Reply