Four common mistakes at IELTS Advanced

1. the before general concepts

????????We use the before nouns which describe a general type of thing rather than a specific example of that thing.

????????The is also used before abstract nouns which describe a situation, a quality, a process or a change. These words are often followed by of something.

????????We use the development/improvement, etc. of something to describe a general process of change, but developments/improvements, etc. in something to describe specific changes.

2.?a/an before noun phrases?

????????Don’t forget to include a/an before an adjective + singular noun combination.

? ??????Notice the position of adverbs (very, really, quite, etc.) in these phrases.

????????Some common noun phrases to be careful with:

? to a certain extent/degree: I agree with you to a certain degree.

? a wide range/variety: We have a wide range of books to choose from.

? a(n) large/small/equal number/amount: an equal number of men and women

? a high/large/small/greater proportion/percentage: a small proportion of patients

? a long time: I haven’t seen her for a long time.

3.? When do I use the capital letters?

? ??????Capital letters are always used for nouns in the following groups:

? countries

? towns, cities, states and regions

? nationalities, ethnic groups and religions – referring to people, languages or things from a country, region or culture

? months and days of the week

????????Capital letters are not used for the seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter

? names of organisations and institutions

????????Where a word like museum, university, station or hospital is part of the name of an institution, it has a capital letter. However, when these words are not part of a name, they do not have a capital letter

????Also remember: the Earth (but not the World), the Third World/a Third World country, AIDS, CD/DVD (plural CDs/DVDs).

4. When do I use when, if, whether??

????????We use when to talk about an event or situation that we believe will happen.

????????We use if to talk about a hypothetical possibility, especially in conditional sentences.

????????We also use if in certain polite requests.

I would appreciate it if / would be grateful if you could call me back.

Would you mind if I asked you a few questions about the accident?

?????????We use whether where we are considering two possibilities.

????????We use whether after certain verbs (and nouns) which involve considering two options.

-----from a excerpt of? "Common Mistakes at IELTS Advanced: And how to Avoid them",?

Julie Moore,?Cambridge University Press.?