IELTS Preparation Series 3, Episode 11: Grammatical Range in the Speaking Test

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Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.

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Knowing how to compare and contrast is something you are likely to need for the IELTS Speaking

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Test.

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There are a number of grammatical structures that you can use to make comparisons and express

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differences.

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Listen to this candidate comparing and contrasting his teachers:

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What differences in teaching styles have you experienced with different teachers?

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Well, I think, you have to make a difference between a teacher's knowledge and personal

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style. Some teachers, you know, are very knowledgeable and have a lot of experience and everything.

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Both my history and science teachers knew their subjects really well, but my maths teacher,

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who was much older - maybe that's why - just didn't have the skills to convey all that

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to the students. If I were to compare all my classes, I would say his were the most

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boring. My history teacher, on the other hand, he knew how to communicate to students and

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his lessons were more enjoyable and we learnt faster.

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He said that "both my history and science teachers knew their subjects".

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He uses the word 'both' to say 'the two together'. They're similar in the way they know a lot

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about their subjects. He then contrasts them to the maths teacher by using the word 'but'.

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Listen:

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Both my history and science teachers knew their subjects really well, but my maths teacher,

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who was much older - maybe that's why - just didn't have the skills to convey all that

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to the students.

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To justify the contrast he compares the ages of the teachers. The maths teacher is much

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older. Older is a comparative adjective. Someone who is 50 is older than someone who is 40.

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'Much older' is a way of saying the difference is larger - someone who is 80 is much older

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than someone who is 40.

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He also compares the teaching styles of his teachers:

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If I were to compare all my classes, I would say his were the most boring.

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This time he uses the superlative - the most boring, because he is comparing more than

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2 things. He does this using a conditional 'if' sentence which is a polite way of criticising

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someone:

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If I were to compare all my classes, I would say his were the most boring.

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He goes on to talk about his history teacher. How does he show that he is comparing him

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to the boring maths teacher? My history teacher, on the other hand, he

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knew how to communicate to students and his lessons were more enjoyable and we learnt

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faster.

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He says 'on the other hand' to show that he is now talking about a different style of

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teaching. And again he uses comparative forms - more enjoyable and faster - to express this

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difference.

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Now listen to another candidate responding to a question designed to encourage her to

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compare and contrast:

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Is it better to grow up in the city or in the countryside?

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Well, I think that, mm, both places have their pros and cons. I've grown up in a city, and

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I've lived in a city all my life. And sometimes when I see those families who have their kids

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in the countryside I envy them, because they can run about, you know. They are free and

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the environment is cleaner and safer, but then, on the other hand, you know, living

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in a city gives you other, um, opportunities to socialise, have more contact with culture,

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and better opportunities for education. So, I don't know. It's difficult to say. Both

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things have advantages and disadvantages.

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She begins by saying that "both places have their pros and cons". Saying 'both' means

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she is referring to the city and the country. Pros and cons is an idiom meaning advantages

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and disadvantages. Then she establishes that her point of view is that of a city person:

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I've grown up in a city, and I've lived in a city all my life.

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Then she says what the advantages - the pros - of living in the country are:

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Sometimes when I see those families who have their kids in the countryside I envy them,

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because they can run about, you know. They are free and the environment is cleaner and

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safer.

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The advantages are that in the country you can run about and be free. She also uses the

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comparative adjectives 'cleaner' and 'safer' to describe the country compared to the city.

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Often you use comparatives with 'than' a word that means 'in comparison with'.

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The country is cleaner than the city.

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She chooses to contrast with the word 'but' and talk about the advantages of living in

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the city:

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They are free and the environment is cleaner and safer, but then, on the other hand, you

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know, living in a city gives you other, um, opportunities to socialise, have more contact

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with culture, and better opportunities for education.

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Like the previous candidate, she uses the phrase 'on the other hand' to show she is

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talking about something different - the city.

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And again she uses the language of comparison, this time the irregular comparative form of

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good, 'better'. Listen again:

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They are free and the environment is cleaner and safer, but then, on the other hand, you

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know, living in a city gives you other, um, opportunities to socialise, have more contact

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with culture, and better opportunities for education.

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Now let's listen to the way she rounds off her comparison of city and country living:

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So, I don't know. It's difficult to say. Both things have advantages and disadvantages.

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She ends by saying both have advantages and disadvantages which means that one isn't better

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than the other. You don't have to say that one thing is better than another if you don't

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think so. The phrase for this is 'as good as'. She thinks that the country is as good

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as the city.

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The structures you use to compare things in the speaking test are assessed as grammatical

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range and accuracy, one of the IELTS marking criteria. Other things that are assessed in

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this area are the number of mistakes you make and the range of sentence types you use.

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Don't be overly concerned about being perfectly correct all the time. Some mistakes will occur

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in your speech.

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It's good to review the rules for forming comparatives.

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One syllable words have the -er comparative form: big, bigger

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You need to memorise the forms for 2 syllable words because they can be either -er or have

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'more' before them: narrow, narrower

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useful, more useful

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Words of 3 syllables and longer have the 'more' form:

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intelligent, more intelligent spectacular, more spectacular

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You can emphasise the degree of difference and say 'much older'.

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With 'more intelligent', you say 'much more intelligent' and with 'more spectacular',

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you say 'much more spectacular'.

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And don't forget to review irregular comparative adjectives like:

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good, better bad, worse

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far, further or farther

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Whenever a question has a comparative adjective in it, you can be confident that you are expected

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to reply with the language of comparison.

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That's all for now. To find more information about grammatical range and accuracy in the

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Speaking Test visit our Study English website. The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish.

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Good luck with your studies. Bye.

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