In this post: the six grammar groups that cover almost every Task 1 sentence, and three questions to ask before you choose a tense, with right and wrong sentences from my own essays.
Task 1 Grammar · 5 parts
- 1. Six grammar groups and tenses (you are here)
- 2. Comparisons and the passive
- 3. Relative and participle clauses
- 4. Numbers and agreement
- 5. Rewrites, checklist and practice
✦ In this post
When I was sorting through my Task 1 essays, I noticed something a little surprising. Of my 27 Task 1 answers, 22 scored 7 for Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA), two scored 8 (the bioethanol process in Task 37 and the road spending bar chart in Task 40), one scored 7–8 (the university facilities table in Task 47), and only two dropped to 6 (the hospital roads map in Task 19 and the harbour map in Task 33). Both of those were maps. In other words, Task 1 grammar is not like Task 2, where almost anything can go wrong. The mistakes cluster in a few fixed places: tenses, comparisons, the passive, relative clauses, numbers with prepositions, and subject–verb agreement.
I have collected the common Task 2 grammar mistakes (articles, if conditionals, comma splices and so on) in IELTS Writing Grammar Mistakes. This post covers only the grammar that is specific to Task 1: the handful of sentence patterns you need every time you describe a chart. For each group I show good sentences and faulty sentences from my own essays. The faulty ones are kept exactly as I submitted them, followed by a correction.
1. Task 1 really uses only six grammar groups
Task 1 sentences look very alike. The subject is a number, a proportion or a place; the verb is something like rise, account for or be converted; and after that comes a figure or a location. If you master the six groups below, you will get about nine sentences in ten right.
| Grammar group | Mainly used in | Where I went wrong most often | Related post |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenses | Every task type; decided by your first sentence | Present perfect for past years; tenses shifting within one paragraph | Task 1 overview, maps |
| Comparatives / superlatives / multiples | Static charts; comparing two countries or two years | Missing the before superlatives; comparing unlike things; how to write multiples | static charts |
| The passive | Processes, maps | are been; missing be; forcing intransitive verbs into the passive | processes, maps |
| Relative clauses / participle clauses | Adding figures, joining sentences | Missing who/which; a past-tense verb after with; dangling participles | Section 5 of this post (Part 3) |
| Numbers and prepositions | Trend charts; any sentence with a figure | between … to, in 0.2 million, began at 6% increase | trend charts |
| Subject–verb agreement | Every task type | the percentage were, a new space … are | grammar mistakes |
2. Tenses: ask three questions before you write
The full tense table is in section 7 of the Task 1 overview. Here I have reorganised it as three questions, because every tense mistake I actually made came from not thinking these three things through before I started writing:
- Is there any time on the chart? No (for example, survey results or a process) → present simple.
- Is all of the time in the past? Yes → past simple. Use the past perfect only for “up to a certain past year” (By 2015, … had risen).
- Is there a now, today or a future date? With now/today → present simple for the current situation and present perfect for the change. With a future date → is expected to / will be + past participle / is planned to.
| Situation | Tense | Sentence frame |
|---|---|---|
| Trends in past years | Past simple | The figure rose to 40% in 2009. |
| The result up to a past year | Past perfect | By 2015, the number had fallen to 27 million. |
| Now vs the past (maps) | Present perfect (passive) | The fountain has been replaced by a rose garden. |
| Future plans (maps) | will be + p.p. / is planned to be + p.p. | A new bridge will be constructed. |
| Forecast figures | is expected / projected to + verb | The figure is projected to reach 60% by 2040. |
| Surveys or processes with no time | Present simple | Private studios account for 48% of classes. |
My own sentences: tenses right and wrong
✓ Good: Overall, it is planned to undergo dramatic changes; a number of housing areas and new facilities are going to be built in the future.
(Task 31, industrial area plan) A model answer for a future-plan map: is planned to + verb and are going to be built get the passive and the future right in one go.
✓ Good: By 2015, they had decreased slight to roughly 27m and 28m in 2015.
(Task 5) By + a past year with the past perfect is the right idea. What needs fixing is slight → slightly, and the final in 2015 repeats By 2015, so delete one of them.
✗ Original: Overall, the percentages of all three countries have increased.
→ Revised: Overall, the proportion of Internet users rose in all three countries.
(Task 28) The data cover 1999–2009, so the whole period is in the past and the past simple is enough. The present perfect implies that the effect continues to now, and the chart gives no such information. Also, the percentages of all three countries means “the countries’ percentages”; it should be “the proportion of Internet users”.
✗ Original: Overall, the sports centre planned to witness dramatic changes.
→ Revised: Overall, the sports centre is planned to undergo dramatic changes.
(Task 38) Future plans need is planned to / will. Writing planned to (past simple, active) turns it into “the sports centre intended to …” in the past, and a building cannot plan anything itself.
✗ Original: The pictures illustrate the transformation of Grange Park as it first be built in 1920 and it is today.
→ Revised: The plans show Grange Park when it first opened in 1920 and as it is today.
(Task 18) 1920 is in the past, so be built must become was built, or simply use the prompt’s own opened. The two clauses before and after and should also be parallel.
✗ Original: Overall, went to a cafe is a most common habit in all cities except Adelaide. … the highest and second highest percentage go to Sydney and Melbourne …
→ Revised: Overall, going to a café was the most common habit in every city except Adelaide.
(Task 16) The survey asked about behaviour “in the past four weeks”, so using the past tense throughout is safest. In my original I switched back and forth within one essay: bought and went in one place, is and go in another. A gerund used as a subject is going, not went.
Continue reading · Part 2 of 5
IELTS Notes in English · Task 1 Structure (post 7 of 7)
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✦ 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
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