Grammar in IELTS Listening

You might think that grammar in IELTS listening won’t play such a big part. However, without proper punctuation and grammar, your answers in the listening section could be considered incorrect.

In this lesson we look at some useful tips for making sure you use the correct grammar in this section of the test. Grammar is of course mainly relevant to fill in the blank type questions rather than multiple choice, where you are writing a letter (a, b, c or d) rather than words.

Hearing the ‘s’

It’s common for candidates to be unsure if they heard an ‘s’ in the audio. This can in particular occur in relation to subject verb agreement and plurals. 

Subject Verb Agreement

Subject-verb agreement is crucial when it comes to questions like summary completions or anything that requires filling in missing words. Always identify the subjects and verbs in a sentence so that you can ensure they match. The rule is that if your subject is in singular form, the verb needs to be as well.

For example: 

What you hear:

• “Every day in the morning I let the dog out in the yard and it runs around.”

Fill in the Blank:

• The dog _________ in the yard every morning.

Explanation:

From just listening you might not be sure if it was ‘run’ or ‘runs’ but you can rely on the grammar for the answer – since ‘the dog’ is a singular subject, the correct verb form should be ‘runs,’ not ‘run.’

Plurals

In the listening test you must get singular and plurals correct. If the noun was plural then you must have an ‘s’ at the end of your answer otherwise it will be marked incorrect.

A good tip is that if there is not an indefinite article (a/an) before the answer you need, it’s most probably a plural noun as ‘a/an’ come before singular nouns. 

You hear:

• “It’s ok to eat mushrooms that are pale or dull.”

Fill in the Blank:

• Eating __________ that are not colourful is safe.

There is no article in the audio or answer so it’s most likely plural.

In the situation of singular and plural nouns in IELTS listening, subject verb agreement also becomes useful again. In the example above, as ‘are‘ is used, the noun will be plural. Let’s look at another example of this:

You hear:

• “The pupils had to follow the instructions from the teacher.”

Fill in the Blank:

• The ___________ were to take a number of pictures.

You might not be sure of you heard ‘instruction‘ or ‘instructions’ but ‘were’ tells you that it must be a plural noun.

Word Classes

Identifying the word class when completing a fill-in-the-missing-word exercise can be really useful for grammar in IELTS listening. It will help you know what to listen out for when the recording starts.

Let’s practice implementing this strategy with a couple of example questions:

Fill in the gap:

• They decided to go to the _______ for a hiking trip next Saturday.

Explanation:

So again articles become useful. Because the definite article “the” is being used, you can assume that it would be followed by a noun in the sentence as of course articles come before nouns (though adverbs and/or adjectives may come between the article and noun).

Now it’s your turn; see if you can figure out the word class of the missing word for the following. In the box at the end of each sentence, decide whether it is an Adjective, Noun, Pronoun or Adverb.

Misinterpreting Information

Not understanding grammar in IELTS listening can also lead to misinterpreting the information in the recording, which can lead to wrong answers. Familiarise yourself with modal verbs and conditionals to avoid making mistakes when certainty is being expressed.

Let’s look at an example of how this can lead to an incorrect answer in m. In this example, a manager is discussing potential changes in the workplace:

What you hear:

• “We might implement flexible working hours next month. Also, if the new policy is approved, employees will also have the option to work from home twice a week.”

Question:

1. What change is happening next month?

Explanation:

The modal verb “might” and the conditional “if” both tell you that nothing is definite yet. So the answer is (D). 

Tenses

Lastly, a common mistake that candidates often make is writing down the answers in the wrong tense. When you have a complete-the-summary type of question, answering “is walking” instead of “was walking” would be considered incorrect.

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