Advanced grammar to boost your exam score
- Irina
- Apr 26, 2023
- 2 min read
Is it possible to make yourself clear in English without using ‘too much grammar’? Definitely. Does vocabulary carry more meaning in a conversation than grammar? It does.
Yet, there is a limit to how much you can achieve in English using basic grammar. For one thing, your ‘grammatical range’ is assessed in most language exams - it’s not just about how few mistakes you make, it's also about how complex and varied your grammar is.
The good news is that you don’t really need to memorise the labels (e.g. ‘relative clause’ ‘gerund’ or ‘cleft sentence’, aka the 'metalanguage'). Try to pay attention and pick up interesting structures from the texts you read or listen to.
Here are some advanced structures that will tick the right boxes on the examiners’ mark sheets, and thus help you achieve better scores.
1. I don’t really like to play team sports, nor do I enjoy watching other people play.
How does it work? - Use ‘nor’ to add a negative statement to another negative statement. Pay attention to the word order - it is reversed after ‘nor’ (like in questions).
2. Manchester is a great student destination, and it’s nowhere near as expensive as London.
How does it work? - You’re probably familiar with the structure ‘as + characteristic + as’ used for comparisons. If you put ‘nowhere near’ or ‘not nearly’ first, that will help you talk about things that are vastly different
3. Having worked in marketing for the last five years, I now want to pursue a career in education.
How does it work? - Use ‘having + done something' to mean ‘after doing something’ or ‘now that I have done something’. This is a participle clause. It’s also great for adding a counter argument as an alternative to ‘on the other hand’:
I think it would be better if no one used swear words around children. Having said that, it is hardly possible to raise them in a sterile environment.
4. I love reading articles and watching videos in English, but what I enjoy the most is using the language to exchange ideas with people from other countries. / but it’s the exchange of ideas with people from other countries that I enjoy the most.
How does it work? - Use ‘It is … that…’ or ‘what… is…’ to put extra emphasis on what you’re saying. This is a cleft sentence. It’s really easy to put together and use in a speaking exam.
5. I don’t like being told what to do / I need to be praised from time to time in order to stay motivated.
How does it work? - Use ‘being + done' and ‘to be + done’ (passive gerunds and infinitives). This will help you sound more ‘advanced’ than saying ‘when people tell me what to do / when people praise me'.
Play around with these structures - try them on your work colleagues, in social media posts or casual conversations in English. If you've go someone around to give you some feedback - that's even better!🙂
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