The speaking section is the shortest part of the IELTS exam, which is why you need to impress the examiner as much as you can in the short amount of time you have. Show off your proficiency by using advanced grammatical structures accurately within each answer.Making a small grammatical mistake here and there is fine, but if you repeatedly make the same one, it can negatively impact your speaking band score. For this reason, it’s crucial that you revise the following grammar rules before taking the speaking test.

1. Grammar Rules

1.1. Subject-verb agreement

If your subject is singular, your verb needs to be too!

For example
Incorrect: My favourite book are “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Correct: My favourite book is “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

1.2. Using linking words correctly

Your sentences need to flow well and make sense. If two contrasting ideas are being joined together, you have to make use of a contrasting linking word.

For example
Incorrect: I enjoy reading novels, and I don’t have much free time.
Correct: I enjoy reading novels, but I don’t have much free time.

1.3. Gerunds and infinitives

Some verbs are followed by gerunds, and others are followed by infinitives. Using the wrong form even changes the meaning of the sentence in some cases. Saying “I remember to call Peter” has a different meaning than “I remember calling Peter.”

For example
Incorrect: I agreed helping her with the work.
Correct: I agreed to help her with the work.

1.4. Sentence structure

Don’t  only speak in simple sentences; use a combination of structures, including more complex ones. Just make sure that your meaning is clear and the word order is correct.

For example
Incorrect: Running through the park, the flowers were beautiful.
Correct: While I was running through the park, I noticed the flowers were beautiful.

1.5. Relative pronouns

These are excellent to use to create complex sentences and add more volume to your cue-card answers as they provide extra information.

For example
Incorrect: The movie, that features Brad Pitt, was amazing.
Correct: The movie, which features Brad Pitt, was amazing.

1.6. Conditionals

Use the correct sentence structure to express regret, wishes, or possibilities.

For example
Incorrect: If I have time, I would visit my mom.
Correct: If I have time, I will visit my mom.

1.7. Tenses

There are 12 tenses in the English language; it’s crucial that you know when to use them to be able to answer questions and tell stories on a native level.

For example
Incorrect: Last year, I was going to Italy for a vacation.
Correct: Last year, I went to Italy for a vacation.

1.8. Articles

There are two types of articles: Definite (the) and indefinite (a/an). It’s essential that you use them accurately and when needed.

For example
Incorrect: I don’t enjoy majority of sports people play
Correct: I don’t enjoy the majority of sports people play.

2. Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Grammatical range and accuracy are two of the IELTS speaking assessment criteria you are scored on. For band 9 in an IELTS speaking mock test, produce error-free sentences and be able to use a variety of sentence structures flexibly and correctly.

The more grammar mistakes you make in your IELTS-speaking answers, the harder it becomes for the IELTS-speaking examiner to understand what you’re trying to say. At the same time, if you only use basic, simple sentences in all of your speaking answers, your score will be significantly lower.

3. What are some of the tips for band 9 in IELTS speaking grammatical range and accuracy criteria?

Develop a reasonable understanding of all the rules and practice as much as possible. You can do so with a friend or alone by recording yourself talking and playing it back. Alternatively, book a speaking mock test with one of the Benchmark IELTS Speaking experts.

This way, you can identify your weak areas in grammar. Often times, IELTS test takers tend to lack in one grammar aspect or another. For instance, some candidates might struggle to apply the right tense when speaking on a cue card involving talking about an event in the past. Others make mistakes in subject-verb agreement, and so on. Fixing these weak areas alone may improve your grammar score by 0.5 or more.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to correct yourself. If you accidentally use the wrong linking word or tense and pick up on it while you’re speaking, remain calm and correct yourself in front of the examiner. By doing so, you’re demonstrating an understanding of the rule, which will count in your favour. However, you don’t want to overdo it; too much self-correction will impact your fluency and might bring down your score instead.

4. Speaking Sample

Let’s further explore how these grammar rules can be implemented by analysing the following sample answer for a speaking part 2 question. While reading it, see how many grammatical errors you can identify.

5. Candidates Answer

I attend a memorable celebration at my cousin’s wedding a while ago, held at a beautiful beach resort. It was for their marriage ceremony. It was very fun. I was participating in various festivities, dancing, and enjoyed a delicious feast. It was memorable because of the stunning setting, the joyous atmosphere, and the chance reuniting with family members, which I haven’t seen in a long time.

6. Why did this answer not obtain Band 9?

Even though this candidate had good content and portrayed an excellent understanding of the question, due to the abundance of grammatical errors, they were unable to achieve the band score they wanted.

7. Quiz