One of the most common mistakes people make with English vocabulary is being able to spot uncountable nouns and using the correct verb form to match. This lesson will test your ability to spot uncountable nouns and form correct sentences.

Questions 1-10: Choose the correct word or words to complete the sentences below. 

1. Luck/Lucks  play/plays  a part in all exams, including IELTS.
2. Grandparents often give excellent advice/advices.
3. During the war soldiers had to display a lot of courage / courages.
4. Economics/economic  play/plays  an important role in the development of a country.
5. My grandfather had a lot of wisdom/wisdoms.
6. It is hardly surprising that people struggle to find employment/employments in some cities where competition is high.
7. Without state-of-the-art equipment/equipments, a company will not be able to compete in the current market.
8. News is/are essential to keep abreast of.
9. A lot of pollution/pollutions in city centres can cause health problems for people living and working there.
10. My friend is almost completely bald. He has very few hair/hairs left on his head.

By the way, there is one question above that is not so easy. Pay close attention to the sentence and remember that some words can be both countable and uncountable depending on the context and wording in the sentence.

Answers

Answers are available below.

Click here: Answers for Uncountable Practice

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Complete the sentences below using the following prepositions.

Prepositions:

• A = down
• B= for
• C = on
• D = with
• E = over
• F = in
• G = no preposition required

Questions 1-6

Which of the above options can be used to complete these sentences.

1. Smaller family units have become more common ………. recent decades.
2. One of the main reasons ………. family units becoming smaller is finances.
3. There has been a fall ……….. in the number of families with more than four members.
4. Many children do not have a close relationship ………… their grandparents.
5. Nowadays, less emphasis is placed ……….. close relationships between the generations.
6. Children of working parents are often left alone ……. extended periods of time.

Answers

Click below to reveal the answers:

Answers

 

All the best

Liz

Below is a list of vocabulary for the topic of plants in IELTS speaking part 1.

Pot Plants

• Cactus (plural = cacti or cactuses)
• Peace lily (see picture above)
• Bamboo
• Palm
• Flowering plants
• Orchids
• Small plants for the window sill
• Easy to maintain

Balcony plants

Trailing plants / climbers

Plants and flowers attractive to bees and butterflies

Hanging baskets (flowering plants)

• Roses
• Geraniums
• begonia

Other vocab

• Leaves
• Stem
• Bloom
• Lush
• Soil
• Compost
• Plant feed
• Pruning
• Re-potting
• Drainage
• Watering (daily/ regularly)
• Automatic watering system
• Full sunlight / shade / exposure to sun
• North facing window
• Variety of colours
• Petals
• Herbs grown in pots
  • mint, parsley, coriander, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme
• Vegetables grown in pots
  • tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans
• to have green fingers

Sample Questions & Answers

You can see that some questions might produce shorter answers and other questions require more detail and explanation. This is normal in speaking part 1.

1. Do you like plants?
   1. Yes, I do. I usually have at least one indoor pot plant in my sitting room such as a peace lily.
2. Are you good at growing plants?
   1. No, I’m not. I definitely don’t have green fingers, unlike my grandfather who was really good with plants. I frequently have to buy new plants for my house when they die.
3. Why do people grow plants?
   1. I think some people grow plants because it’s a pleasurable hobby that they can enjoy all year round. It is very rewarding to grow a plant, particularly when the flowers bloom. For other people, it is a way to make their living environment better. What I mean is plants can provide not only clean air but also greenery which is supposed to be uplifting for the spirit.

See extra questions for this topic: Speaking Part 1 Questions for Plant Topic

Paraphrasing in IELTS is essential for a high score in IELTS. This page contains tips on paraphrasing to maximise your score. You need to learn to to identify paraphrases in IELTS listening and reading. For IELTS writing and speaking, you need to learn to paraphrase using your own words. Students who are good at paraphrasing will do better in all parts of their IELTS test.

This page will review 6 tips for paraphrasing in IELTS:

1. using synonyms
2. not changing all words
3. avoiding mistakes
4. changing word forms
5. changing sentence stucture
6. paraphrasing and band scores
7. paraphrasing practice lessons

1. Using Synonyms

In IELTS one way to paraphrase is to use synonyms. Using different words with a similar meaning shows the examiner a range of vocabulary which you need to get over band score 6. Here is an example of how a sentence can be re-written by using synonyms:

The reasons for increasing levels of pollution are the development of industry and air travel.

The sentence above can be paraphrased as:

The causes of rising levels of pollution are the growth and expansion of industry as well as the number of people travelling by air.

Here is a list of how the sentence was altered using synonyms.

• causes = reasons
• increasing = rising
• the development of = the growth and expansion of
• and = as well as
• air travel = travelling by air
• Notice: you can see that the words “levels of pollution” and “industry” have not be changed. This is fine. Not all words need to be changed. In fact, the word “pollution” is best not changed. See tip number 2, below:

2. Not All Words Need Changing

Not all words need to be changed for a high score in IELTS. You can see from the example above that some words have remained the same “levels of pollution / industry / air). This means you need to decide which words to paraphrase and which words to keep the same.

Decide which words you can successfully paraphrase and which ones you will keep. Be selective. A high level student knows when to change words and when now to change words.

If you try to paraphrase too much, you might:

1. make mistakes which will lower your score
2. change the meaning which might result in you going off topic
3. See tip number 3, below:

Here is a link to more practice paraphrasing for IELTS.

3. Avoiding Mistakes

The more mistakes you make with vocabulary in IELTS writing and speaking, the lower your score will be. Paraphrasing is a skill. Synonyms do not have exactly the same meaning and cannot always be used at the same time.

Watch this video below to get useful tips on paraphrasing for writing task 1 and writing task 2.

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/rlsqbSFOBCg”]

4. Changing the Word Form

Another way to paraphrase sentences is to change the form of the word. This means we use the same words as IELTS but change their form. Here is an example:

Many people are unhealthy because they fail to eat well and exercise.

This can be paraphrased by changing the word form of “unhealthy”, “fail” and “exercise”.

Many people have poor health because they are failing to eat well and are not exercising enough.

You can see from the above example, that many of the words are the same but the form is changed.

1. unhealthy = poor health
2. fail = failing
3. exercise = exercising

This demonstrates excellent vocabulary skills to the examiner and will help you get a good score for vocabulary. It shows that you understand the words very well and can use them in different ways.

If you watch the video below about writing an introduction for IELTS writing task 2, you will see again how words can be paraphrased by changing their form and using synonyms.

Writing an Introduction for an IELTS Essay

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/YngqHl_BLOU”]

Common Word Forms Examples

• developing = the development of
• increasing = an increase in
• pollution = being polluted
• explain = explanation

5. Changing Sentence Structure

Another way to paraphrase successfully is to change the order to words in a sentence. This means changing the structure of the sentence. Taking the example from above again:

Many people are unhealthy because they fail to eat well and exercise.

You can see there are two clauses “Many people are unhealthy” and the second clause “because they fail to eat well and exercise”.

We can change the order of the clauses:

Many people fail to eat well and exercise and, for that reason, they are unhealthy.

Lets make more changes to the sentence. Now we can also paraphrase by altering the word form as we did previously. The final sentence would be:

Failing to eat well and not exercising are the reasons that many people have poor health.

6. Paraphrasing & IELTS Band Scores

Of course paraphrasing will help your band score for the criterion of vocabulary.

Band Score 5

•  Minimum Range of Vocabulary
• Frequent Errors which cause problems with meaning

Band Score 6

• Adequate Range of Vocabulary
• Some Errors but the meaning is clear

Band Score 7

• Sufficient Range of Vocabulary
• Few Errors

Band Score 8

• Wide Range of Vocabulary
• Most sentences are Error Free

You can see that you need to show a range of words which means you need to paraphrase. But you also need to reduce your errors which means don’t try to paraphrase too much and don’t make mistakes.

Following the above tips (using synonyms, not paraphrasing all words, avoiding errors, changing the word form and changing the sentence structure) will help you achieve the highest score.

7. Paraphrasing Practice

It is essential that you practice paraphrasing and using synonyms. You can find some paraphrasing practice lessons on the links below.

• My IELTS Reading Main Page which contains lessons for paraphrasing and using synonyms as well as lots of lessons for TFNG and other question types that appear in IELTS reading.
• My IELTS Writing Task 2 Main Page which contains lots of tips for essay writing as well as paraphrasing practice.

 

Main IELTS Pages

Develop your IELTS skills with tips, lessons, free videos and more.

• IELTS Listening
• IELTS Reading
• IELTS Writing Task 1
• IELTS Writing Task 2
• IELTS Speaking
• Vocabulary for IELTS