Another way to improve your IELTS Band Score

I’ve said before how use of complex grammar during the IELTS Test can impress the examiners and transform your IELTS band score to IELTS band 7 or higher.

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.

Today I’d like to consider the use of the third conditional.

 

The structure of this conditional is quite complex, as is the use. The examiner will sit up and take notice if you have one of these sentences in your writing or your speaking.

I always think a third conditional makes a good ending to what you have been either talking or writing about.

Once you have learned the structure and can remember the structure, it’s a very easy format to include in any IELTS speaking presentation or IELTS writing task two.

Here is a brief and general explanation of its form and use and then you will have the opportunity to reinforce your knowledge in a text with relevant gap fills, see below at the end of the blog post.

The third conditional is used to talk about things that have happened, which means it is impossible to change the result, however, you try to imagine a new result.

‘yes’ form

If + past perfect simple/continuous, +would+have+ past participle

If=a conditional idea

‘If ‘ can be replaced by other words

If my brother had done what I wanted him to, I would have stayed calm.

Did my brother do what I wanted him to? No

Did I stay calm? No.

Can I change any of what happened? No

Am I imagining a different result? Yes

‘no’ form

If I hadn’t argued with my younger brother, my mother wouldn’t have taken my favourite book away.

Gap fill example for you to try:

My husband wanted to go and live in Spain, so I left my job and we both went to live in Spain. When we got there our life was so different that all we did was argue. As a result of all the arguments, I decided to come back to England and we got divorced. My previous place of work re-employed me, after that I was able to afford a beautiful new flat and made a new life again in England.

If my husband (not want) __________________ to go and live in Spain, I (not leave) my job.

If our life (not be ) ______________so different, we (not argue). If we (not argue)___________

So much, I (not decide)______________________ to come back to England and we (not divorce)

________________. If my previous place of work (not employ) ______________, I (not able) ______________ to afford a beautiful new flat and (make) _____________a new life in England.

I will post the model answers to the questions in the comments section of this post on the website in week or so.

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.

To your IELTS success,

James

P.S. These and other lessons in english grammar can be found in both Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing and English Grammar In Use with Answers and CD ROM: A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Students of English. Both are available from Amazon.

 

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