Grammar for ielts writing a handbook by David S. Wills Contents

Grammar for IELTS Writing

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You can use the passive voice in the IELTS writing exam. It’s much less com-
mon in task 2; however, you will rely heavily upon it for task 1 if you need to de-
scribe a process.
For example:
„
Water is heated to 100 degrees.
„
The liquid is extracted from the mix.
„
Stones are put into the box.
„
Sand is removed from the pipe.
„
The payment is received by the merchant. 
In task 2, the passive voice can help make a text more formal. It is not used 
in every sentence, but some careful use can increase the quality of the writing: 
„
Hosting a major sporting event can be a huge expense for a city, but it 
does yield significant rewards. In the future, the city may be visited by 
more tourists, allowing the city government to recoup their expenses 
during and after the event. Furthermore, if the city’s profile is raised 
significantly, the long-term benefits may include increased tourism 
and international investment.
Here, two passive voice sentences have been used. In the first instance, the 
focus is placed upon the city rather than the tourists, and in the second we don’t 
need to mention who or what is doing the raising. This shows that the city is the 
focus, which helps keep our writing on-topic, and also sounds better than using 
a more basic active voice sentences. Finally, by mixing sentence types, we avoid 
repetition. 
Conclusion
The active voice is far more common than the passive voice in English, and there-
fore you should use it more in the IELTS exam. However, sometimes the passive 
voice is more appropriate. You should learn the passive so that you can better un-
derstand listening and reading passages, but also know when and how to use it 
yourself. There are times in the speaking and writing exams when you could use the 
passive voice. The most important is task 1 when you need to describe a process.
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