1. Diagnose a pattern before learning another rule
IELTS tests Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking; grammar work supports those skills rather than forming a separate test section. See the official IELTS Academic overview. This lesson is a language diagnostic, not an IELTS paper or a band-score calculator.
Choose an answer for each sentence before opening the key. If you are unsure, make a choice and mark it with a question mark in your notebook. A correct guess still deserves review. After checking, explain the rule in ordinary language and create a new sentence. The point is to find a pattern you can use in your own writing or speech.
All fourteen questions have a best answer in the context provided. The sentences use everyday study and community situations so you can focus on grammar rather than specialist vocabulary. Work without a timer first.
2. Complete fourteen original diagnostic questions
Choose one option in each pair. Keep the sentence’s meaning and time reference unchanged.
- The list of workshop dates is / are on the noticeboard.
- The website provides useful information / informations about local courses.
- We have lived / live in this neighbourhood since 2021.
- Last Saturday, Mina joined / has joined a community gardening session.
- He is studying at a / an university near his home.
- I keep fewer / less apps on my phone now.
- If the library opens early tomorrow, I will study / would study there before work.
- The notebook which / what I bought yesterday is already full of ideas.
- I enjoy learning / to learn practical skills from other people.
- We decided to leave / leaving before the roads became busy.
- The broken window was repaired / repaired by a local company yesterday.
- This explanation is clearer / more clearer than the first one.
- Although / Despite the timetable was clear, I checked the wrong date.
- The workshop started at six; we arrived at six fifteen. By the time we arrived, it had started / has started.
Before revealing an answer, identify the clue. Is it the head noun, a time expression, the form after a particular verb or the structure following a linking word? Finding the clue is more transferable than remembering the question number.
3. Check every answer and its reason
1. Subject–verb agreement
is. The head of the subject is the singular noun “list”. “Of workshop dates” describes the list; the plural “dates” does not control the main verb. Compare “The dates are on the noticeboard.” Your new sentence: describe a collection, group or list with a clear singular head noun.
2. Countable and uncountable nouns
information. In this use, information is uncountable and does not take a plural ending. You can say “some information”, “useful information” or “two pieces of information”. The adjective “useful” does not change the noun’s countability. Try a sentence with “advice” using the same pattern.
3. An ongoing situation with since
have lived. The sentence connects a starting point in 2021 with a situation continuing now. The present perfect expresses that connection. “Since” introduces the starting point; “for” would introduce a duration, such as “for five years”. “Have been living” would also be possible, but it is not one of the options.
4. A completed event at a finished past time
joined. “Last Saturday” gives a finished past time, so the past simple is the appropriate choice here. “Has joined” would fit a different context without that finished-time reference, such as an announcement that Mina has recently become a member.
5. Article choice follows the starting sound
a. “University” begins with a consonant sound, like the beginning of “you”, despite its first written letter being a vowel. Use “a university”. Compare “an umbrella”, which begins with a vowel sound. Choose the article by pronunciation, not the letter alone.
6. Comparing a number of countable things
fewer. Apps are countable: one app, two apps. “Fewer apps” compares their number. “Less” is appropriate with an uncountable amount, such as “less time” or “less storage space”. Here the contrast is between individual applications, not the amount of space they occupy.
7. A possible future condition
will study. The sentence presents a real future possibility. The if-clause uses the present simple, “opens”, and the main clause expresses the future result with “will”. A hypothetical version would change both parts: “If the library opened earlier, I would study there.”
8. A relative clause describing a named thing
which. The relative clause describes the already named noun “notebook”. “What” does not follow that noun in this structure. You could also say “the notebook that I bought” or omit the object relative pronoun: “the notebook I bought”. These alternatives keep the same relationship.
9. The form after enjoy
learning. When another verb follows “enjoy”, use the -ing form: “enjoy learning”, “enjoy reading”, “enjoy cooking”. The sentence is about taking pleasure in an activity. Learn the verb pattern with a meaningful example rather than assuming every verb takes the same form.
10. The form after decide
to leave. “Decide” is followed by a to-infinitive when stating the chosen action: “decide to leave”. This differs from the pattern after “enjoy”. A different construction is possible with a noun phrase, such as “decide on an earlier departure”, but it is not the structure in this question.
11. A past passive construction
was repaired. The window receives the action; it does not repair something itself. The past passive uses “was” plus the past participle “repaired”. The phrase beginning with “by” identifies the company that performed the action. In an active version, “A local company repaired the window.”
12. Avoid a double comparative
clearer. The -er ending already makes the comparative, so do not add “more” to “clearer”. “More clear” can occur as an alternative, but “more clearer” doubles the marking. A longer adjective uses another pattern, such as “more useful”, without adding -er.
13. A linking word followed by a clause
Although. What follows contains a subject and a finite verb: “the timetable was clear”. “Although” can introduce that clause. “Despite” normally takes a noun phrase or -ing form: “despite the clear timetable” or “despite checking the timetable”. Both express a contrast, but their structures differ.
14. One event before another past event
had started. The starting happened before the later past event of our arrival. The past perfect makes that earlier relationship explicit. “Has started” relates the event to the present and does not fit the past reference point introduced by “By the time we arrived”.
4. Edit a paragraph with seven grammar problems
Rewrite the paragraph below. Correct the grammar while preserving the speaker’s meaning. There are seven targeted problems, including more than one in some sentences.
My friend have suggested a new routine. I study English since March, but I used to spend too much time on informations. Last weekend I have chose a short task. It was more easier to review, although of the limited time. Now I check mistakes before to start something new.
Read the corrected paragraph
My friend has suggested a new routine. I have studied English since March, but I used to spend too much time on information. Last weekend I chose a short task. It was easier to review, despite the limited time. Now I check mistakes before starting something new.
- Have → has: the subject “my friend” is singular.
- Study → have studied: “since March” links the start of an ongoing activity to now. “Have been studying” is also a natural correction.
- Informations → information: the noun is uncountable here. The idea could be made more specific in a later style edit, but the grammar correction removes the plural ending.
- Have chose → chose: “last weekend” requires the finished past event form in this context. Changing only “chose” to “chosen” would leave the time-reference problem.
- More easier → easier: use one comparative form.
- Although of → despite: the following words form a noun phrase, “the limited time”. Alternatively, rewrite the clause as “although time was limited”.
- Before to start → before starting: after “before” used as a preposition, use the -ing form. “Before I start” would also work as a clause.
A second edit could improve vocabulary and specificity. For example, “spend too much time collecting information without using it” explains the problem more clearly. Keep grammar correction and meaning development separate enough to notice what each change achieves.
5. Use the patterns in your own sentences
Combine these three ideas without losing their meaning: The room was small. It was quiet. We could concentrate. Write one version with “although” and one with “despite”.
See two possible combinations
“Although the room was small, it was quiet enough for us to concentrate.”
“Despite its small size, the room was quiet enough for us to concentrate.”
The first uses a clause after “although”; the second uses a noun phrase after “despite”. Both connect the contrasting detail to the useful result. They are not automatically better than two clear simple sentences; choose the structure that expresses your intended relationship.
Choose two diagnostic errors and write three new examples for each. Then use one pattern in a short speaking answer or a paragraph about your study routine. Check it again after a break. If you can choose the right option but repeatedly miss the pattern in your own work, focus on editing a real response rather than taking more isolated quizzes.
Test-section reference checked on 15 October 2026. All diagnostic sentences, explanations and editing exercises are original. A total out of fourteen, if you keep one yourself, measures only this short exercise and has no IELTS band conversion.