WRITING
IELTS Writing ESSAY Part 2 Dos and Don'ts |
| DO NOT USE | USE | Example |
1 | etc. | Lists of examples should follow the pattern | One of the biggest problems in big cities is unemployment, crime and pollution. |
2 | Question mark (?) NEVER ask questions |
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3 | Exclamation mark (!) NEVER yell at the reader |
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4 | More and more, bigger and bigger (informal – only for speaking) | Increasing numbers of people a significantly larger number of... a growing increase in the number of … the number of people who … has increased |
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5 | Much more | A great deal larger |
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6 | big | Large / sizeable /significant |
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7 | And, but, or (as sentence starters) | In addition / Furthermore / However / Since / As a result |
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8 | No personal opinion in the body paragraphs, only in the introduction (opinion essay) or conclusion | Impersonal opinions | Some people think / other people believe / many people claim that / as far as some people are concerned |
9 | Contractions (Can't / shouldn't) | Cannot / should not | |
10 | Pronouns I / we / us / you (When you go abroad you will have a chance to experience new cultures.) | People, students, society | When a student goes abroad, they will have a chance to experience new cultures. |
11 | Tell the reader what YOU're going to do | This essay will show both advantages and disadvantages of ... | |
12 | Absolutes (all / every / none / only / always / never / completely / totally) | ||
13 | The word “thing” to name the object or action you're writing about | … things, such as ... |
Dos
1 | The first sentence in EACH body paragraph should be a key sentence, it should define the content of the paragraph in general terms. The number one job of the topic sentence is to tell the readers what they are going to read in that paragraph. |
2 | Subject-verb agreement (e.g. he plays, etc.) Mistake in Elementary grammar – forget about getting a good band score. |
3 | Articles |
4 | Singular / Plural When speaking in general about something, use the plural form. (People use computers in their offices every day.) |
5 | Countable / Uncountable (information, equipment, etc.) |
6 | Write your essay from a global perspective. Avoid relating to only your country. It should be about the world in general. (e.g. “When people travel down busy streets in urban areas during rush hours …” NOT “traffic in the city is a serious problem when you are travelling down Madison Avenue at rush hour”) |
7 | Use linking words and transition phrases at the beginning of all body paragraphs, and the conclusion. |
8 | Active tense can be changed into Passive tense |