Common grammar mistakes in IELTS Writing, and how to fix them

Grammatical Range and Accuracy is a quarter of your score, and accuracy is where most marks are lost. Band 7 asks for “frequent error-free sentences”; band 6 allows errors that “rarely impede communication”. The jump is not about fancier grammar. It is about removing the same few mistakes that appear again and again.

1. Joining words used twice

Each joining word does one job. Do not pair them.

Wrong: Although free education is expensive, but it helps many students. Right: Although free education is expensive, it helps many students.

The same applies to “because… so”: use one, not both.

2. Subject–verb agreement

Wrong: The number of students who works part-time are growing. Right: The number of students who work part-time is growing.

Find the real subject (“the number”) and match the verb to it, not to the nearest noun.

3. Articles (a, an, the)

Wrong: Government should invest in the public transport. Right: The government should invest in public transport.

Use the for something specific or already known; no article for general uncountable nouns (public transport, education, pollution); a/an for one of many.

4. Countable and uncountable nouns

Wrong: Students need more informations and advices. Right: Students need more information and advice.

Information, advice, research, equipment, knowledge and evidence are uncountable: no plural, and “much”, not “many”.

5. Which and who

Wrong: Students which cannot pay the fees drop out. Right: Students who cannot pay the fees drop out.

Who for people, which for things and ideas.

6. Run-on sentences and comma splices

Wrong: Many people live in cities, they need affordable homes. Right: Many people live in cities, so they need affordable homes.

A comma cannot join two full sentences. Use a full stop, a joining word, or a semicolon.

7. Small slips that add up

• “its” (belonging to it) versus “it's” (it is). “its'” is never correct.
• A lowercase “i” for the pronoun.
• A space before a comma, or none after it.

These look minor, but examiners count them. Our word counter catches these typing slips instantly. For words that sound alike but mean different things (affect and effect, rise and raise), see commonly confused words.

Leave three minutes at the end to read your essay once, slowly, looking only for your own most common mistake. Proofreading for one thing at a time catches far more than reading for everything.

Range without risk

You need a mix of simple and complex sentences, but a complex sentence with an error scores lower than a correct simple one. Build range with structures you control; the complex sentences guide shows six safe openers.

Find your mistakes

The essay checker lists every clear grammar, spelling and word error in your essay, each with a correction you can accept with one tap.