Band 9 Speaking Grammar Examples from an ex-IELTS Examiner

In today’s tutorial, we discuss Band 9 Speaking grammar examples from an ex-IELTS Examiner.

According to band descriptors to get a Band 9 in Speaking in GRA (grammatical range and accuracy), it says that the test taker:

• uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately
• produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’ characteristic of native speaker speech

Below are three Band 9 speaking grammar examples. Each one will illustrate an aspect of English grammar considered “complex” and, as such, the kind of grammar you should be using in IELTS Speaking to obtain a really high band score.

Conditional Sentences

The first example refers to conditional sentences. A great opportunity to show the examiner how well you handle this structure is in that typical Part 1 question which ends that 4-question sequence of short questions. Take this one on photography:

Would you like to learn more about photography?

Dunno. Maybe, I mean if it didn’t take up too much time, I might. It’s not that I want to be a professional or anything but it’s always nice to learn new things, isn’t it? Yeah, I guess if I had the chance...

My example is invented but I’m trying to show how spoken English, and therefore spoken grammar, is not exactly the same as the formal written variety. The conditional parts are there (if it didn’t take up too much time, I might// if I had the chance) but the “sentences”, if we can call them that, are different to written English. They appear less complete, a lot of things are left unsaid, for example, I might ....what?

Ellipsis

Leaving things unsaid in grammatical terms we call ellipsis. In written English, it plays a part but is never considered complex or that frequent. A simple example would be:

I had one hamburger but Ben had three.

We just omit the second use of “hamburgers”.

But in spoken English, especially when we are exchanging information, the ellipsis is much more frequent. We are using shortcuts all the time. Going back to the photography example. The first word was Dunno. It’s perfectly acceptable in everyday, informal conversation.

Let me read that again. How many other examples are there of ellipsis?

Dunno. Maybe, I mean if it didn’t take up too much time, I might. It’s not that I want to be a professional or anything but it’s always nice to learn new things, isn’t it? Yeah, I guess if I had the chance ...

Let’s see:

...I might be interested in learning more about photography

...a professional photographer

...if I had the chance to (learn more about photography/take a course in photography)

Going back to the Band 9 descriptor, it refers to the “full range of structures naturally and appropriately”. I am saying that this use of ellipsis is exactly what we need to show off that naturalness and appropriateness.

Question Tags

The third example is from what the grammar books call “question tags”. It’s something that most language books and courses tend to neglect. I mean, you don’t often find it mentioned that much.

But it does play such an essential role in what we could call “establishing or negotiating meaning in conversation. Let’s go to Part 3 Speaking. A test taker is asked about whether it’s better to read the book before seeing the film or the other way around.

That maybe depends on the type of book we’re talking about, doesn’t it? I mean, take for example, a murder mystery, an Agatha Christie for example. It’s just a narrative, a story, isn’t it? The dialogues might be important but the characters don’t have too much depth, do they? So, I guess it could be better, couldn’t it, the film first that is.

If you feel that your spoken English is not as natural sounding as you’d like, visit this page where you’ll find some great ideas, activities and professional advice to help you reach your goals.

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