by Erica L. Meltzer | May 13, 2021 | Blog, GMAT, Grammar (SAT & ACT), IELTS
Image by Charlotte May from Pexels
In theory, parallel structure is a relatively easy concept to master: it simply refers to the fact that items in a list, as well as constructions on either side of a conjunction such as and or but, should be kept in the same format (all nouns or all verbs).
In very simple sentences, e.g., I went to bed late but woke up early, this rule is generally quite simple to apply.
When sentences are long and contain a lot of information, however, things get a bit trickier. Keeping forms parallel requires the writer to keep track of and understand how words and phrases in different parts of a sentence relate to one another.
One very common issue involves the use of main verbs after modal verbs such as can, should, or might. As anyone who speaks English at a reasonably high level knows, main verbs are never conjugated in this construction, e.g., one would say it might work, not it might works. But when the two verbs are separated, there’s a common tendency forget about the first one and to stick an -s on the second.
This is an issue that appears in the writing of both native and non-native English speakers, but it’s particularly rampant in IELTS essays. It may also be tested in GMAT Sentence Corrections. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | May 3, 2021 | Blog
When I was putting together my IELTS grammar guide, I read dozens of practice essays, primarily by students who had scored in Band 6 on previous exams. It quickly became apparent that many test-takers were struggling with similar grammatical concepts, and one of the most common ones involved the use of articles with a specific group of “quantity” words.
On one hand, this is entirely understandable: a(n) and the are notoriously tricky for people whose native languages do not use articles the way English does, and it is often not fully clear to them why these words even need to be used at all. As a result, they may not realize how omitting them can change the meaning of certain statements and/or make their English seem unnatural.
In everyday life, this is unlikely to seriously impede communication; however, in terms of the IELTS—and particularly IELTS Writing—it can create real problems. Phrases involving words like majority and number are relevant to most IELTS Task essay questions (Task 2 as well as Task 1 Academic Training) and may need to be used multiple times within a given response. Furthermore, these terms are frequently used in introductions, and errors there can subtly influence a reader’s impression of an entire essay—a poor first impression can be hard to counteract.
So that said, here is what you need to know. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 30, 2021 | Blog, ESL, IELTS
Over the past several months, I’ve read an enormous number of essays written by non-native English speakers, and in addition to the expected difficulties, I’ve noticed a handful of recurring issues that rarely get addressed — I suspect because most native English speakers don’t realize that the particular concepts in question can get confused in those particular ways.
One of the most common of these issues is the confusion between the simple present and the conditional, and more specifically between can and could.
Errors involving these forms are often fairly subtle; they’re not absolutely wrong in the same black-and-white way as errors involving, say, confusion between the present perfect and the simple past (e.g., I have graduated from university last year rather than I graduated from university last year), and I think that’s also why they tend to get missed. Using could correctly is often more about implication and context than adhering to a clear-cut rule, which is why even very advanced speakers may still struggle with it. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 28, 2021 | Blog
If you’re studying for the IELTS, you’re probably aware that obtaining a high score in Writing tends to be more difficult than obtaining a high score in Listening, Reading, or Speaking. In fact, it is common for Writing scores to be lower than the others by a full band, sometimes more. The statistics kept by the British Council indicate that this pattern holds true across countries and native languages, including English.
In many cases, candidates score in the 8-9 range without too much trouble in Listening and Reading, and often above 7 in Speaking, but then find themselves stuck—sometimes repeatedly—at 6 or 6.5 in Writing.
This is not entirely surprising. Expressing oneself in a foreign language generally is more challenging than understanding one, and unlike in speaking, tone of voice and facial expressions cannot be used to convey or support written meaning—if a person doesn’t say precisely what they mean, the reader will become confused. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 25, 2021 | Blog
A sharp-eyed reader recently called to our attention a mistake involving switched names in the questions and explanations accompanying the Booker T. Washington/W.E.B. DuBois paired passages that appear on p. 293.
We were under the impression that the errors had been fixed a very long time ago, and we’re still trying to figure out how they made it through so many rounds of checking without anyone noticing, but please know that the pages have now finally been corrected.
If you already have the 3rd or 4th Edition of The Critical Reader, you can download them here (also available on the Errata page):
p. 294
p. 298
We apologize for the inconvenience.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 24, 2021 | Blog
Photo by Andy Barbour from Pexels
In all the discussions of why IELTS Writing scores are routinely lower than scores for Listening, Reading and Speaking, there is one very important factor that is virtually never mentioned: the placement of the Writing Test within the structure of the overall exam.
I suspect that this relationship is not entirely a coincidence and that, on the contrary, it may play a hidden role in some candidates’ difficulty to achieve their goal in that portion of the exam. Just how large of a role is impossible to say. But it seems plausible to assume that it may sometimes act as a “tip” factor that, when combined with the myriad other factors that make IELTS Writing so challenging (for starters, the need to juggle grammar, vocabulary, syntax, tone, and content), results in just enough errors to push candidates’ scores to the next half-band down—often, I would imagine, from 7.0 to 6.5. (more…)
