Useful Structures to Help You Get Band 7.

5+ in IELTS Writing

One of the biggest mistakes most IELTS candidates repeat in IELTS writing is they try to write
overly complicated sentences, which results in grammar mistakes and sabotage their IELTS score. 

Therefore, knowing how to make good use of complex structures for your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay is
an essential skill that can make the difference between getting and not getting the band score you
deserve. Nevertheless, bear in mind that we should use complex sentences in our writing rather than try to
make all of our sentences complex. Complex sentences can be Relative Clauses, Subordinate
Clauses, Conditional Clauses, Compound Sentences.

As you all know, grammar and vocabulary plays a very important role in IELTS. There are some sentences
that are simple to understand and some others are complex, and it is important to know the differences
between the two. You can go through the few useful structures below that help you to get a good band
score. This post will fully equip you with 12 useful grammar structures to help you boost your IELTS score.

No Structure Example

When Subject+Verb+Object, When a language dies out, a whole way of life

1
Subject 1 +Verb 1 + Object 1 disappears with it.

While some students drop out after a few years of

While Subject+Verb+Object,
2 studying, others finish academic courses with poor
Subject 1 +Verb 1 + Object 1
degrees.

Subject+Verb+Object, resulting in
Many people in the countryside migrate into big cities,
an increase/a decrease in + the
3 resulting in an increase in the demands for
number of smth/the demand for
accommodation, food, and services in urban areas.
smth

Subject+Verb+Object, giving rise Advertisements give people more choices on what they
4
to smth want to buy, giving rise to the consumer society

By doing smth, By spending money to protect minority languages,

5 Subject+Verb+Object governments can also preserve traditions, customs and
 CES essay behaviors.
 No Structure Example

Subject+Verb+Object and this will The use of private cars is increasing in Hanoi, and this
6
+Verb+Object. puts a strain on its infrastructure.

Instead of driving cars, people should use public

Instead of + Verb-ing + Object,
7 transport.
Subject+Verb+Object.
(đổi vế thay vì nói people should use... instead of...)

Subject+Verb+Object. This
The utilization of cheap labor helps companies to
allows/urges/encourage smth/smb
8 reduce production costs. This encourages business
to do smth (This will discourage
expansion.
smb from doing smth).

Compared to those who Compared to those who hold high school qualifications,
9 +Subject+Verb+Object, university graduates often have more employment
Subject+Verb+Object opportunities.

If air travel is restricted, people would opt for other

If Subject+Verb+Object, means of transport such as buses and cars.
10
Subject+Verb+Object  Vary different ways instead of using “should” in
CES

Subject + Verb + Object [that

I partly disagree with the idea that advertising has
Subject 1 + Verb 1 + Object 1],
11 negatively influenced our life because I recognize
because Subject 2 + Verb 2 +
several benefits it brings to society.
Object 2

When the government pays for tuition fees, the

When Subject+Verb+Object,
constraint (limitation) of finance is removed,
12 Subject 1 + Verb 1 + Object 1,
encouraging a greater number of students to attend
Verb-ing + Object.
academic courses

I hope this post can helps you to understand the marking criteria for complex sentences. When you are
practicing IELTS writing questions, try to think of what you want to say in simple sentences and then think
of how these might be linked into complex sentences. Use these examples as a template. After enough
practice, it will become a natural thing to do and your writing will really improve.