IELTS Writing

Teacher: Vu Mai Phuong

1. All members of the religious community keep
these fasts.
2. During Ramadan they fast from dawn to sunset.
3. It is true that driving fast car brings people a
great sense of excitement.
4. The rate of unemployment is going up very fast.

The word FAST is a noun in 1, a verb in 2, an

adjective in 3 and an adverb in 4.
1. Noun
• used to name a person, place, thing or idea.
Ex: transportation, technology, happiness, travel,
higher education, work place, job satisfaction
Main functions:
1.1. Subject
1.2. Direct or indirect object
1.3. Object of proposition
1.4. Apposition
1.1. Subject
performs the action of or acts upon the verb.

• Immigration has a significant impact on the

contemporary society.
• The main reason of immigration is a strong desire
of better life quality and safe future.
1.2. Direct or indirect object
follows a transitive verb.

• Sometimes immigration causes more problems

(direct object) than it solves.

• The reading habit brings people (direct object) a

variety of benefits (indirect object).
1.3. Object of proposition
follows a preposition and completes the meaning of
the prepositional phrase.

• Vegetarianism is a valid choice in life.

• A lot of people move to developed countries in
search of better employment opportunities, and
therefore, higher incomes.
1.4. Appositives
modifies or explains another noun phrase.

• Mahatma Gandhi, father of the Indian nation, led a

non-violent struggle to attain independence from
the British.
2. Pronoun
• used in the place of one or more nouns

• so that language is not cumbersome with the

same nouns being repeated over and over in a
paragraph.
Subject pronouns I, he, she, they, we, it
Object pronouns me, him, her, them, us, it
Reflexive pronouns myself, himself, themselves
Indefinite pronouns each, everything, someone
Possessive pronouns his, hers, mine, yours, theirs,
its
Relative pronouns who, which, that, whose,
whom, when, where, why
Demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, those
• Some people become vegetarian because they
believe that this will benefit their health.
• Most of the refugees who arrived in the European
Union were escaping from wars.
• Other reasons that force whole families to cross
borders are wars and various cultural conflicts in
their homeland.
 3. Adjective
• used to describe a noun or a pronoun.
• come before the nouns they modify or after ‘to be’
and stative verbs (look, sound, seem, taste).
Ex: beautiful, high, advantageous, clear, reasonable

This idealistic point of view is very attractive, but it

is hard to judge whether it is correct.
 4. Verb
• used to express action or a state of being.
 Modal verbs: should, can, have to, must, dare
 Dynamic verbs: affect, increase, buy, believe, tell
 Stative verbs: to be, feel, think, remember, seem

• However, provided that they continue to eat

healthily, their parents should not raise any
objections.
• It does not suit everybody, and I doubt whether it
will ever be a universal choice.
 5. Adverb
• used to modify a verb, an adjective or another
adverb.
• modifies a word by telling where, when, how, or to
what extent (how much or how long).

Ex: increasingly, fast, well, strongly, undoubtedly

• Undoubtedly, eating too much meat, especially

too much red meat, is not to be recommended.
• However, exams need to be carefully designed
and supplemented with other forms of
assessment
6. Conjunction
• used to join words, phrases or clauses.
Ex: and, but, so, or, yet, however, in addition,
although, because, therefore, in conclusion.

• On the other hand, some test-takers perform

poorly in exams simply because of anxiety.
• Moreover, research shows that vegetarians tend
to be healthier in many ways than meat-eaters.
 7. Preposition
• used to show the relationship of a noun or a
pronoun to another word in the sentence.
Ex: in, on, at, with, for, of, among, up, down

Examinations are one of the most common methods

of measuring learning in education systems
throughout the world.
 8. Interjection
• used as an exclamation that can stand alone.
Ex: Oh, hey, ouch, hurrah

• Hey! I said enough!

• Ouch! That must have hurt.
 PRACTICE
Find all nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in the following
paragraph.
Medical researchers and governments are primarily
interested in overall statistics and trends and in money-
saving schemes, which fail to take into consideration the
individual's concerns and rights. While immunisation against
diseases such as tetanus and whooping cough may be
effective, little information is released about the harmful
effects of vaccinations, which can sometimes result in
growth problems in children or even death.
Nouns: … Adjectives: …
Pronouns: … Adverbs: …
Verbs: … Conjunctions: …
Prepositions: …
 PRACTICE
Nouns: researchers, governments, statistics, trends, money-
saving schemes, consideration, individual's concerns, rights,
immunisation, diseases, tetanus, cough, information, effects,
vaccinations, growth problems, children, death
Pronouns: which
Verbs: are, fail, take, may, be, is, released, can, result
Adjectives: medical, interested, overall, whooping, effective,
little, harmful
Adverbs: primarily, sometimes, even
Conjunctions: and, while, such as
Prepositions: in, to, into, against, about, of
 PRACTICE
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:

Modern communications mean that it’s no longer

necessary to write letters.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this
statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any

relevant examples from your own knowledge or
experience.
Write at least 250 words.
 PRACTICE
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
In years gone by, before the age of the telegraph or
telephone, letter writing was the main means of
________________ (communicate) for most people.
Since then we have developed faster and more
direct ways of contacting people, and ___________
(person) mail has become ____________ (relate)
rare.
 PRACTICE
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
It is true that in many cases where our parents
would have written a letter, we prefer to pick up the
phone, to email or even to text instead. These are
__________ (perfect) suitable ways of inviting
friends to call round or exchanging news with a
family member, for example, and they have the
advantage that the communication is immediate and
we can receive a reply very _________ (quick). In
business, fax and email are also __________
(extreme) __________ (use).
 PRACTICE
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
However, in my opinion, there are times when there
is no ____________ (alter) to a letter. Letters are
___________ (general) more formal and ___________
(care) composed than emails. This makes them
more suitable for occasions when they are likely to
be kept and re-read, perhaps several times, by the
__________ (receive), as with formal letters of
thanks or ___________ (sympathize). In addition,
letters provide a written record, unlike telephone
calls, so they are also a better way of setting out an
important or complex _________ (argue), as in
___________ (office) complaints or legal matters.
.
 PRACTICE
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
In __________ (conclude), I would __________
(definite) agree that there are fewer times when we
need to write letters than in the past. On the other
hand, I feel there are still some __________
(importance) occasions when a letter is the most
appropriate form of communication.
 KEY
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
In years gone by, before the age of the telegraph or
telephone, letter writing was the main means of
communication (communicate) for most people.
________________
Since then we have developed faster and more
personal
direct ways of contacting people, and ___________
relatively
(person) mail has become ____________ (relate)
rare.
 KEY
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
It is true that in many cases where our parents
would have written a letter, we prefer to pick up the
phone, to email or even to text instead. These are
perfectly (perfect) suitable ways of inviting
__________
friends to call round or exchanging news with a
family member, for example, and they have the
advantage that the communication is immediate and
quickly (quick). In
we can receive a reply very _________
extremely
business, fax and email are also __________
useful
(extreme) __________ (use).
 KEY
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
However, in my opinion, there are times when there
alternative
is no ____________ (alter) to a letter. Letters are
generally
___________ carefully
(general) more formal and ___________
(care) composed than emails. This makes them
more suitable for occasions when they are likely to
be kept and re-read, perhaps several times, by the
recipients (receive), as with formal letters of
__________
sympathy
thanks or ___________ (sympathize). In addition,
letters provide a written record, unlike telephone
calls, so they are also a better way of setting out an
important or complex _________
argument (argue), as in
official
___________ (office) complaints or legal matters.
.
 KEY
Give the correct forms of the words in the brackets.
conclusion (conclude), I would __________
In __________ definitely
(definite) agree that there are fewer times when we
need to write letters than in the past. On the other
important
hand, I feel there are still some __________
(importance) occasions when a letter is the most
appropriate form of communication.
THE END