More grammar to improve your band score.
We’re talking about mixed conditionals today to end our short series of posts on the “conditionals”.
Attention to grammatical detail, especially using the more complex grammar accurately, can easily put you in the band 7 category.
Using any of the conditionals in your writing and speaking will improve the calibre of the contents and the more complicated the conditional you use, the more impressive the substance of what you write or say will be.
Let’s consider the use of mixed conditionals.
This structure is quite complex, as is the use. You will brighten your examiner’s day if you have one of these sentences in your writing or your speaking. If the examiner is happy with you then your marks will be happier [sic].
I always think a mixed conditional makes a good ending to what you have been either talking or writing about. Once you understand the structure, it’s a very easy format to include in any IELTS speaking presentation or IELTS writing task two.
The following is a brief and general explanation of its form and use and then, at the end of the post, you will have the opportunity to reinforce your knowledge in a text with relevant gap fill examples.
There are two reasons to use the mixed conditional:
a) To talk about an event in the past with a result in the present.
If+past perfect+would+infinitive
If she had got the job, she wouldn’t be crying.
Did she get the job? No (past event)
Is she crying?-yes (result in the present)
b) To talk about a present state that has influenced the past
If+past simple+would+have+past participle
If I could ride a bike, I would have taken part in the charity bike ride.
Can I ride a bike? No (present state)
Did I take part in the charity bike ride? No (influenced the past)
I came to London to study and after I graduated, I stayed in London and found a job.
If I (not come)______________ to London to study, I (not work) ____________here today. I also met my future husband in my first job and this year we are celebrating 15 years of marriage. If I (not find) _________that first job, where I met him, I (not be) __________happily married 15 years later. Having married, we decided to buy a beautiful house in central London and have children. When the children arrived, I gave up work and opened a day-nursery in my house. My business is really successful. If I (not have) _____________children and stayed at home, the business (not be) _________so successful today. I love my life and give thanks that I made such wise decisions all those years ago. I (not love) __________my life so much if I (not make) ________________those wise decisions in my life.
Try to include complex grammar in your writing and speaking. It will earn you extra marks and could make the difference between achieving Band 6 or Band 7+. If you do use it, though, it must be used accurately to be effective. As with everything in life, poor execution equates to poor performance and poor marks.
To your IELTS success,
James
P.S. These and other lessons in english grammar can be found in both [easyazon-link asin=”1427204349″]Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing[/easyazon-link] [easyazon-image-link asin=”1427204349″ alt=”Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51t15EtariL._SL75_.jpg” align=”center” width=”75″ height=”58″]and [easyazon-link asin=”0521537622″]English Grammar In Use with Answers and CD ROM: A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Students of English[/easyazon-link] [easyazon-image-link asin=”0521537622″ alt=”English Grammar In Use with Answers and CD ROM: A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Students of English” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wO2t9lUAL._SL75_.jpg” align=”center” width=”55″ height=”75″].
P.P.S. The other posts in this series can be found by clicking the following links: IELTS Test 2nd Conditional and IELTS Test 3rd Conditional. For ways to improve your grammar for the IELTS Test Click HERE
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