Common Grammar Problems and How to Fix them for IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 essays often contain repeated subject–verb agreement errors. Each one may seem small, but together they show the examiner that your control of basic grammar is limited.

Band 6 errors:

• People is more busy nowadays.
• A wide range of environmental problems is getting worse.
• The number of cars on the road are increasing every year.

Band 7 revisions:

• People are more busy nowadays.
• A wide range of environmental problems are getting worse.
• The number of cars on the road is increasing every year.

Upgrade routine:

• For phrases like “a number of,” “the number of,” “a wide range of,” first identify the real subject:
  • “A number of students are…”
  • “The number of students is…”
• In your final check, scan for “is/are” and “was/were,” and ask: “What is the real subject here?”

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 essays often jump between tenses without a clear reason, or use present simple for everything—even future effects and hypothetical situations.

Band 6 errors:

• Nowadays people use cars a lot and this led to pollution.
• If governments will invest more in public transport, fewer people will use cars.

Band 7 revisions:

• Nowadays people use cars a lot, and this leads to pollution. (general truth)
  • Use present simple for general truths, modal verbs for future results.
• If governments invested more in public transport, fewer people would use cars. (hypothetical)
  • Use second conditional for unreal/hypothetical situations.

Upgrade routine:

• Before each sentence, decide:
  • Am I talking about a general fact? → present simple.
  • A future result of a current trend? → “will/can/may + verb.”
  • A hypothetical or unlikely situation? → second conditional (“If + past, would + base verb”).
• In your final check, look for random switches between present and past, and correct them.

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Articles (“a, an, the”) and noun types cause constant trouble at band 6. Errors here are very noticeable to examiners.

Band 6 errors:

• The education is important for society.
• Many informations are available online.
• People need advices from experts.

Band 7 revisions:

• Education is important for society. (general concept → no article)
• A lot of information is available online. (information = uncountable)
• People need advice from experts. (advice = uncountable)

Upgrade routine:

• Learn common uncountable nouns you use often: “information,” “advice,” “research,” “traffic,” “pollution,” “equipment,” “progress.”
• For general ideas, remove “the”: “Technology has changed society,” “Education plays a vital role…”
• In your final check, pay special attention to phrases with “the,” “a,” “an,” and any plural forms of abstract nouns.

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 candidates often mix conditional structures or drop key parts, producing sentences that sound “off” to examiners.

Band 6 errors:

• If people would recycle more, pollution would be reduced.
• If governments will invest more in education, society will improve.

Band 7 revisions:

• If people recycle more, pollution decreases. (Zero conditional for general facts)
• If governments invest more in education, society will improve. (First conditional for real future)
• If governments invested more in education, society would improve. (Second conditional for unlikely/imaginary results):

Upgrade routine:

• Avoid using “will” after “if.”
• Choose one type of conditional and stick to it in the sentence.
• Practise writing short groups of three: one zero, one first, and one second conditional about the same idea.

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 writers often try to use passive voice to sound academic but make form errors.

Band 6 errors:

• Laws are implement by the government.
• Pollution is increase every year.
• Many crimes are happen in big cities.

Band 7 revisions:

• Laws are implemented by the government.
• Pollution is increasing every year. / Pollution is increased by factories.
• Many crimes are committed in big cities.

• Passive = subject + correct form of “be” + past participle.

Upgrade routine:

• When you write a passive, quickly ask: “Do I have be + past participle?”
• Keep a small list of common passive collocations: “is caused,” “is considered,” “is required,” “is influenced,” “is affected.”

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Relative clauses (“who, which, that, where”) add complexity, but at band 6 they are often mis‑attached or incomplete.

Band 6 errors:

• People move to cities, who causes overcrowding.
• Public transport, which is cheaper, they use it every day.

Band 7 revisions:

• People move to cities, which causes overcrowding.
• Public transport, which is cheaper, is used by many people every day.

Upgrade routine:

• Check what your relative pronoun refers to; it should clearly match the noun before it.
• Avoid repeating the subject after a relative clause.

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 essays often show confusion between different forms of the same word family.

Band 6 errors:

• Governments should make an improve in public transport.
• Children have a high addict to the Internet.
• This policy is very success.

Band 7 revisions:

• Governments should make an improvement in public transport.
• Children have a high addiction to the Internet. / Many children are addicted to the Internet.
• This policy is very successful.

Upgrade routine:

• When you learn a new word, record its family: “employ,” “employee,” “employer,” “employment;” “industry,” “industrial,” “industrialise,” etc.
• During editing, ask “Do I need the noun, verb, or adjective here?”

Also read:

Vocabulary Strategies for IELTS Writing Task 2

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 writers often use a few structures again and again (e.g., present simple, “because,” “there is/are”) and rarely show variety.

Band 6 patterns:

• “There are many problems…” in every paragraph.
• Over‑use of “because” and almost no “although,” “while,” “whereas.”
• Only active voice, never passive, even when passive would be more natural.

Band 7 expectation:

• A clear range of structures used accurately.

Upgrade routine:

• For each essay, decide to include at least:
  • 2 sentences starting with “Although/While/If/When…”
  • 2 correct passive sentences.
  • 1–2 conditional sentences.
• After writing, quickly highlight these structures. If you cannot find them, add one or two in your editing stage.

Also read:

Mastering Linking Words for Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Band‑6 essays sometimes mix direct and reported speech in an unnatural or incorrect way, especially when reporting what “people say,” “experts believe,” or “governments claim.” This can make your sentences sound spoken rather than academic, or simply ungrammatical.

Band 6 errors:

• Many people say that governments should “pay more attention to the environment” and they think it is important.
• Experts are saying we “must reduce pollution” which shows the issue is serious.
• Some researchers said that “invest in public transport can make people use less car.”
  • Random quotation marks.
    
  • Half‑spoken, half‑formal style.
    
  • Inconsistent tenses in reported speech.

Band 7 revisions:

• Many people say that governments should pay more attention to the environment.
• Experts argue that we must reduce pollution, which shows how serious the issue has become.
• Some researchers suggest that investing in public transport can significantly reduce car use.
  • In Task 2, you almost never need direct quotes. Use reported speech in a consistent, academic way.

Upgrade routine:

• Avoid using quotation marks and “spoken” direct speech.
• Use reporting verbs such as “argue,” “claim,” “suggest,” “believe,” “point out,” and follow them with “that + clause.”
• Keep the tense logical: if you describe a general opinion, present simple is usually enough (“Experts argue that…”, “People believe that…”).

Also read:

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Moving from band 6 to 7 in IELTS Writing Task 2 is less about learning “advanced” grammar and more about controlling the fundamentals and showing a reliable range. By deliberately targeting these areas, using the upgrade routines in this article, and building habits of checking specific grammar points in your final minutes, you can make your writing look more accurate, more varied, and much closer to band 7.

An Introduction to IELTS Academic Test

Everything You Need to Know about IELTS Academic Writing Test

An Overview of IELTS Writing Task 2

How IELTS Writing Task 2 is Assessed

What is Task Response in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Task Response Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

How to Generate Ideas for 5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Question Types with WH- Questions

How to Stay on Topic in IELTS Writing Task 2

How to Develop Your Position in IELTS Writing Task 2

Writing Thesis Statements for IELTS Writing Task 2 Essays

What is Coherence and Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Coherence and Cohesion Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Upgrading Coherence in IELTS Writing Task 2

How to Apply 5 Introduction Approaches to 5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Question Types

Paraphrasing in IELTS Writing Task 2 for Introduction

Practical Topic Sentence Writing Skills for Better Coherence in IELTS Writing Task 2

Practical Body Paragraph Writing Skills for Better Coherence in IELTS Writing Task 2

How to Apply 5 Conclusion Approaches to 5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Question Types

Summarizing IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay in Conclusion

Upgrading Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

Mastering Linking Words for Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

Mastering Reference Words for Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

Mastering Substitution for Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

Mastering Ellipsis for Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

Mastering Lexical Cohesion for Cohesion in IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Lexical Resource in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Lexical Resource Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Vocabulary Strategies for IELTS Writing Task 2

Collocation Strategies for IELTS Writing Task 2

Spelling Strategies for IELTS Writing Task 2

Paraphrasing Strategies for IELTS Writing Task 2

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to reach Band 7+?

Typical Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pitfalls in IELTS Writing Task 2

Common Sentence Structure Problems and How to Fix Them for IELTS Writing Task 2

Common Punctuation Problems and How to Fix Them for IELTS Writing Task 2

An Introduction to the 5 Question Types in IELTS Writing Task 2

An Introduction to 14 Common Topics for IELTS Writing Task 2

General Test Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

Time Management Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

Proofreading Skills for IELTS Writing Task 2

Common Mistakes to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

An Overview of IELTS Writing Task 1

How IELTS Writing Task 1 is Assessed

What is Grammatical Range and Accuracy in IELTS Writing Task 1 and how to reach Band 7+?