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

Grammar for IELTS Writing

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Here are some common subordinators: 
„
After 
„
Though
„
Although 
„
Unless 
„
Because 
„
What
„
Before
„
When
„
Even though
„
Where
„
If 
„
Which
„
Since 
„
While
„
That 
„
Who
Simple Sentences 
A simple sentence is just one independent clause by itself. It may have one sub-
ject and one verb, or several subjects and several verbs.
„
Rain falls from the sky.
„
Susie and Karen play basketball on weekends. 
„
I like eating fast food. 
„
She went to the park yesterday.
„
They were last seen six days ago. 
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence is made up of two (or more) independent clauses. They 
may be joined by:
„
a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS*)
I like tea, but I prefer coffee.
„
a semi-colon
I like tea; I prefer coffee.
„
a semi-colon and a conjunctive adverb.
I like tea; however, I prefer coffee. 
*FANBOYS is an pneumonic device to help you remember the coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
Sentence Types

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Complex Sentences
A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent 
clause. 
The two clauses will be joined by a subordinator (although, because, since, 
as) or relative pronoun (who, which, that).
„
Although it was raining, I walked to work.
In this example, “although” is the subordinator and thus “Although it was rain-
ing” is a dependent clause. 
In a complex sentence, you can put the dependent clause first or second. It 
really doesn’t matter; however, you should be careful with the punctuation. If the 
dependent clause goes first in a sentence, it should be followed by a comma. If 
the independent clause comes first, no comma is needed: 
„
Although it was raining, I walked to work.
„
I walked to work although it was raining. 
The formula looks like this: 
independent clause + dependent clause
or
dependent clause + comma + independent clause
= complex
 sentence
You can drop the dependent clause, but you cannot drop the independent 
one.
„
I walked to work.
„
Although it was raining.
The first example is now a