IELTS preparation tips for IELTS speaking, writing & reading sections come in handy if you are looking to ace the IELTS exam. With the help of the below-given tips, you can avoid common English grammar slip-ups.
IELTS preparation - Common mistakes
Learn to avoid these English grammar mistakes and be more confident in your English language communication.
1. Placement of apostrophes
Apostrophes are easy to use but usually, we use them in the wrong place. Most of the times an apostrophe is used to form the plural of a word, especially if the word ends with a vowel, which makes the word look odd with an S added to make it plural.
The rules:
Apostrophes mean possession, i.e. something belonging to something or someone else.
For indicating something which belongs to a person, the apostrophe is placed before the 's'. For example, "The boy's pencil."
For indicating something which belongs to more than one person, the apostrophe is placed after the 's'. For example, 'The boys' room."
Apostrophes also indicate a contracted word. For example, "he'll" uses an apostrophe to indicate that the word is missing the "wi" from "he will".
Apostrophes never make a word plural, even when a word is a number, e.g. a date.
Mistakes to avoid:
The cow's are in the field
Pencil's for sale
In the 1990's
The boys suits are ready for them to collect
Correct use:
The cows are in the field
Pencils for sale
In the 1990s
The boys' suits are ready for them to collect
2. Your/you're
The rules:
"Your" means possession something belonging to you.
"You're" is a contracted word for "you are".
Mistakes to avoid:
Your tall
Do you know when your coming home?
Can I have one of you're dresses?
Correct use:
You're tall
Do you know when you're coming home?
Can I have one of your dresses?
3. Its/it's
The rules:
"It's" is only used when it is contracted word for "it is".
"Its" signifies something having a place with something that isn't manly or feminine (like "his" and "hers", yet utilized when you're not discussing an individual).
Mistakes to avoid:
Its raining outside
The chair looks great with it's new cover
Correct use:
It's snowing outside
The chair looks great with its new cover
4. "Could/would/should of"
The rules:
"should of", actually means "should have".
The contracted word for "should have" is "should've".
"Should've" and "Should have" are both correct; the latter is used in formal communication.
Mistakes to avoid:
We could of gone there tomorrow
I would of done it sooner
You should of said
Correct use:
We could've gone there tomorrow
I would have done it sooner
You should've said
5. There/their/they're
The rules:
Use "there" to mean a place that's not here "over there"
"There" is utilized to state something "There are no cakes left"
"Their" means possession a thing that belongs to them.
"They're" is short for "they are".
Mistakes to avoid:
Their going to be here soon
We should contact they're agent
Correct use:
They're going to be here soon
We should contact their agent
We hope that you have found the above IELTS preparation tips as a useful reference as you continue your endeavour to become a fluent English language user and get ready to ace IELTS exam.
